Collaborative on Global Children's Issues

In Ukraine, tens of thousands of children have been separated from their families, communities, and country and forcibly transferred to Russian-occupied territories or deported to Russia and Belarus. Some have been placed in Russian foster and adoptive families and given Russian nationality. Others have been sent to camps and other facilities, where Russian officials have said they are integrated and receive patriotic education. Some have been militarized, unwillingly prepared to fight against their homeland. It is an egregious violation of international law, a crime against the future, and the basis of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin and his commissioner for children’s rights. And yet, mechanisms for enforcement and accountability are failing. We are witnessing the total ineffectiveness of the global child protection system.

Amid these challenges, ordinary people—mothers, grandmothers, civil society innovators, and artists—are doing extraordinary things: creating solutions and communicating in new ways when all else fails.

Among such creative responses, the Metropolitan Opera has commissioned a new opera about the forced deportation of Ukrainian children by Russia. Written by Ukrainian composer Maxim Kolomiiets with a libretto by American playwright George Brant, The Mothers of Kherson tells the story of a group of mothers who undertake a perilous journey to rescue their daughters from a camp inside Russian-occupied Crimea. The story draws on real accounts from Ukrainian mothers who traveled 3,000 miles into Russian-occupied territory and back to recover their children from Russian custody. The mothers’ bravery is matched and supported by Mykola Kuleba and his organization, Save Ukraine, which has facilitated the return of more than 900 children to Ukraine, including those whose stories are represented in the opera.

This event is an opportunity to engage intimately with three social creatives who are fighting crimes against children with truth-telling, performance, and the art of getting things done.