Ihor Kharchenko: “Each of Us Today Is a Diplomat”
As part of the «Roots and Wings: A History That Unites» program, participants in training based on Natalia Omelchuk’s «Memories in Boxes» methodology met with Ihor Kharchenko, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine, Candidate of Historical Sciences, and Chief Consultant to the Pylyp Orlyk Foundation. The meeting took place at the Foundation’s office and became a separate part of the educational program for history teachers.
For more than three decades, Ihor Kharchenko has worked in diplomacy and international relations, representing Ukraine on the international stage and taking part in building Ukraine’s diplomatic service after the restoration of independence. Today, at the Pylyp Orlyk Foundation, he focuses on international policy issues, strategic communications, and the development of international partnerships.
Speaking with the educators, the ambassador emphasized that both diplomacy and the teaching of history begin with understanding one’s audience.
“You need to know your audience, what they want to hear, and how to convey to them what is needed,” he noted.
Ihor Kharchenko paid particular attention to working with children aged 9–12. In his view, this age is decisive for shaping interest in history, culture, and one’s own country. What a child hears and experiences during this period often stays with them for life.
According to the diplomat, historical education matters far beyond the school classroom. It helps a person answer basic questions about who we are, where our community comes from, and what exactly we are right to pass on to future generations. In times of great trials, this takes on particular significance.
“It is important for us not to lose, amid this nightmare, the very thing for which we set out. Our children and grandchildren must know who we are, where we are from, and be able to explain it,” Kharchenko emphasized.
One of the most vivid episodes of the meeting was his account of his work at the United Nations. The ambassador recalled how, at an international school in New York, he spoke to eleven-year-old students about Ukraine. When he saw that most of the children knew almost nothing about his country, he understood the key rule of international communication: you can engage a person not with dry facts, but with a living story.
That is why, in his words, both a diplomat and a teacher must carry out a similar mission — helping others discover Ukraine for themselves.
“Diplomatic work comes down to one thing: making as many friends as possible for your country. And you do exactly the same thing every day,” he told the educators.
In Kharchenko’s view, today diplomacy extends far beyond the profession. Every Ukrainian who tells the world about their country, its history, and its values becomes, to some extent, its representative.
“Each of us today is a diplomat,” he noted, stressing that in today’s conditions it is especially important to restore Ukraine to its rightful place in the European cultural and historical space.
The meeting was an important addition to the training based on the “Memories in Boxes” methodology, authored by Natalia Omelchuk, coordinator of educational projects at the Pylyp Orlyk Foundation. The methodology helps children study history through objects, personal stories, family memory, and museum practices, forming a living connection with the past.
Ihor Kharchenko’s address became for the participants not only a conversation about diplomacy but also a reminder that history begins with personal memory. It is through such stories that an understanding of one’s own country is formed, and knowledge of the past becomes the foundation for the future.
