Ukrainian Teenagers Win Peace Prize For Developing Apps To Help Migrants

Three Ukrainian teenagers have won the International Children’s Peace Prize for developing apps to help young migrants. Sofia Tereshchenko, 18, Anastasiia Feskova, 17, and Anastasiia Demchenko, 17, have been awarded this year’s International Children’s Peace Prize at an award ceremony in London, the capital of England and the United Kingdom.

The trio developed a pair of apps to help refugee children. The app was aimed at helping young migrant children who fled their country. The app helped migrant children to understand where they were and how to seek help. The trio also developed another app for older children. The app helped them to understand how to integrate into the countries they successfully sought refuge after fleeing from the war. 

International Children’s Peace prize

The prestigious award ceremony was held in the UK for the first time on Friday. Mpho Tutu, the daughter of Desmond Tutu, lauded the three teenagers. She said, “The children are speaking. No, they are screaming.”

The International Children’s Peace prize is one of the most prestigious awards. It was first awarded in 2005. Malala Yousafzai was awarded the prize in 2013. Greta Thunburg was awarded the prestigious prize in 2019.

Who are Ukrainian teenagers?

Sofia Tereshchenko, 18, fled Ukraine with her mother and relocated to Ely, Cambridgeshire, UK, because of the Russia-Ukraine war. However, her father and brother still remain in Ukraine. Anastasiia Feskova and Anastasiia Demchenko both follow in the footsteps of Sofia Tereshchenko to develop the app. Anastasiia Feskova and Anastasiia Demchenko also left Ukraine because of the war.

They were developing a mobile app together when Ukraine was invaded by Russia in 2022.

KidsRights, the Dutch children’s rights organization behind the initiative, said, “The teenagers´ pioneering work to provide support for refugee children fleeing war in their home country and around the world, have made them beacons of hope and a true inspiration for others across the globe.”