Hanna Hopko

Hanna Hopko
Ганна Гопко
Head of the Committee on foreign affairs of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
Assumed office
27 November 2014[1]
People's Deputy of Ukraine
8th convocation
Assumed office
November 27, 2014
Personal details
Born (1982-03-04) 4 March 1982
Hanachivka, Peremyshliany Raion, Lviv Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, USSR
Nationality Ukrainian
Spouse(s) Oleksandr Zhuk
Children Sofia (born in 2011)

Hanna Hopko (Ukrainian: Ганна Миколаївна Гопко, born 4 March 1982)[2] is a Ukrainian politician (Member of Parliament) and the Head of the Committee on foreign affairs of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. She is also a member of the executive committee of reforms of the National Council of Reforms[3] and the Anti-Corruption Action Centre (AntAC).[4]

Early life and education

Hanna Hopko was born on 4 March 1982 in Hanachivka,[5] Peremyshliany Raion, Lviv Oblast. In 2004, she received a MA in International Journalism at Lviv University and a CEP Diploma for achievements in ecological teaching from the Civic Education Project. In 2008, she completed the Leadership Program in TC at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In 2009, she was awarded a PhD in Social Communications at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.[6][7] In 2012, she studied at the Ukrainian School of Political Studies. In 2017, she completed the Transformational Leadership: Leadership at the Edge (Saïd Business School, University of Oxford).

Career

Early career

In her early career Hanna was active as an expert in advocacy, media and political communications, and also worked as a journalist.

In 2001, she worked as a correspondent of the Inter TV channel in Lviv. In 2002 led the radio program "EcoHarmony" on the radio "Lux". In 2004, correspondent of the First National TV channel in Lviv. In 2005, the author of the program "Life of the Forest".

She achieved many awards and honors, winning different national and international competitions. She was a finalist of the 2nd European Audiovisual competition for young journalists "Sustainable Development in News" in Paris (France). She also coordinated the movie "Advocacy in Ukraine" production.

Civil society activities

Hanna elaborated various kind of training programs for Ukrainian and foreign civil society activists (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Georgia, Belarus).

From 2005 to 2007, Hopko worked as the communications manager of the Ukraine Citizen Action Network (UCAN/ISC, USAID contractor) in Kiev. She led environmental journalism training programs held in Donetsk Oblast, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.

In 2009, she co-founded the "Life" Regional Advocacy Center (the primary partner in Ukraine of the Bloomberg Initiative to reduce tobacco use, ENSP and FCA member, WHO partner in Ukraine) and served as a deputy director until April 2012. In 2009, she became an advocacy coordinator of the National Coalition of NGOs and Initiatives For Smoke-Free Ukraine. She successfully advocated for five laws in tobacco control (on total tobacco advertising and sponsorship ban and on complete smoking ban in all public and working indoor area, implementation of Decree on pictorial graphic warning implementation on cigarette packs, tobacco tax increase). According to the World Health Organization's 2011 report on tobacco, Ukraine moved from 4th to 29th in the world in terms of the prevalence of smoking.[8]

In January 2012, she became a member of the Board of Trustees of the Ohkmatdyt National Children's Specialized Hospital.

From 2010 to 2012, Hopko was an adviser for the Morality, Spirituality and National Health parliamentary group. From January 2011 to September 2014, she was an advocacy expert at the Institute of Political Education (expert at seminars for assistants, advisors of Members of the Parliament, civic activist) and at the National Democracy Institute (NDI).

From February to September 2014, she worked as a coordinator of the Reanimation Package of Reforms initiative[9] and served in an inter-factional parliamentary group, Platform of the Reforms.

Political Career

During the parliamentary elections that followed the EuroMaidan revolution, Hanna headed the list of the Samopomich (of Self Reliance) Party and was elected into the Parliament of Ukraine where she was appointed as Chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee on 4 December 2014.

Hopko was part of a group of young MPs who rode the 2014 revolutionary wave of youth into the upper echelons of Ukrainian politics. Proponents of these young politicians see them as less corruptible because they were largely excluded from the country's old elite networks that mainly consisted of men who gained wealth and power through backdoor deals following the fall of Communism.

Supporting the ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, she stated: "It is a demonstration of readiness to build a rule-of-law state in which it is possible to punish for crimes against humanity and genocide."

On 31 August 2015, Hopko and four other MPs of the Self Reliance party voted in support of amendments to the Ukrainian Constitution that would lead to decentralization. Though formerly number one on her list for the party, her and her fellow MPs were ousted from the party "with great honor". Hopko stated that the constitutional amendment was "an important step towards comprehensive change in Ukraine" and contained "no concessions to Russia".

Now she is non-affiliated People's Deputy.

In May 2017 Hopko was a prominent sponsor on a bill by the Ukrainian parliament that required 75% of national television programming and 50% of local broadcasting be in the Ukrainian language. Hopko and her associates believe that widespread usage of the Russian language undermines Ukrainian statehood.

Honors and awards

  • National Democratic Institute 2014 Democracy Award, (December 2014)[10]
  • Certificate of Merit (October 2014), Georgetown Leadership Seminar, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University.
  • Leading Global Thinker (2014), Foreign Policy magazine.[11]

References

  1. ↑ "CEC registers 357 newly elected deputies of 422". National Radio Company of Ukraine. 25 November 2014. Archived from the original on 4 December 2014.
    "Parliament to form leadership and coalition on November 27". UNIAN. 26 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "Народний депутат України VIII скликання: Гопко Ганна Миколаївна" [8th convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada: Hanna Mykolayivna Hopko] (in Ukrainian). Verkhovna Rada.
  3. ↑ http://reforms.in.ua
  4. ↑ http://antac.org.ua
  5. ↑ "Hanna Hopko". Self Reliance.
    • "АВТОБІОГРАФІЯ" [Autobiography] (PDF) (in Ukrainian). Self Reliance. 12 September 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 August 2015.
  6. ↑ Kozlowska, Hanna (23 May 2014). "The Revolution Has Not Been Finalized". Foreign Policy.
  7. ↑ Kauffmann, Sylvie (26 April 2014). "Ukraine's Activists Are Taking No Chances". The New York Times.
  8. ↑ "WHO report (Which?)".
  9. ↑ http://platforma-reform.org/
  10. ↑ "New Ukrainian Leaders Honored at NDI Democracy Dinner". National Democratic Institute. 10 December 2014.
  11. ↑ "Hanna Hopko: For carrying Ukraine's revolution beyond the Maidan". Foreign Policy.

Media related to Hanna Hopko at Wikimedia Commons

  • "Ukraine Incognita. TOP 25. Supporting Ukraine's struggle, the world is helping itself". day.kiev.ua.
  • Article in "The Day" newspaper "After the meeting with Biden"
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