Brian Dooley to share his experience as a human rights defender in Ukraine at Derry Féile
Irish human rights author Brian Dooley is looking forward to visiting Derry to talk about his experiences on the frontline of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
"I am really honoured that Holywell Trust invited me to talk about local responses to a big power conflict. There is nowhere better than Derry to discuss these issues,” said the writer and activist who is senior Advisor at Washington DC based NGO Human Rights First.
For over 30 years Brian has worked with other human rights activists in war and conflict zones including Lebanon and Gaza on behalf of Amnesty International.
Since 2022, Brian has made 20 trips to Ukraine on behalf of Human Rights First.
In a talk entitled ‘View from the Frontline: The local impact of Global Conflict’ at the Holywell Trust as part of Féile 2025 he will share his first hand account from Ukraine, and outline his perspective on how global conflict can have profound local impacts.
“I’ve seen how a local community responds to war, often without any support from the authorities. How civilians in a city organise to provide food and shelter to the vulnerable, and rescue people from the front line.
"Much of this work is unseen and undervalued, but Kharkiv has responded to the crisis through solidarity and volunteerism,” he said.
Mr. Dooley will detail examples of local people meeting the humanitarian needs of their citizens.
He will also share his views on the state of human rights generally with global tensions are at an all time high.
The event takes place on Wednesday, August 13 at 7pm in the Holywell Trust and is free to attend.