“African Horizon of Ukraine”: Scientific and Educational Dimension of Intercultural Dialogue

On May 20, the Oles Honchar Dnipro National University hosted a roundtable discussion “African Horizon of Ukraine”, organized by the Faculty of Social Sciences and International Relations together with the Faculty of History. The event became an important intellectual platform for understanding the role of the African continent in the modern system of international relations, as well as for determining the prospects for deepening cooperation between Ukraine and African states in the political, cultural, educational, scientific and humanitarian spheres.

 

The roundtable discussion was particularly relevant in the context of the celebration of International Africa Day and the modern rethinking of place of Africa in global processes. Today, African states are increasingly actively influencing the formation of a new architecture of world politics, acting as independent subjects of international dialogue, developing their own models of political modernization, economic integration and cultural representation. In this context, Ukraine should consider the African direction not as a peripheral vector of foreign policy, but as a space for strategic partnership, mutual respect and long-term inter-civilizational communication.

 

Students, university teachers, representatives of the academic community and the general public took part in the round table. The participation of the Dean of the Faculty of History, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor Dmytro Arkhireysky, as well as the Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Special Branches of Historical Knowledge and Didactics of History Olga Dyachenko, gave the event an important scientific, organizational and substantive significance. Their speeches expanded the problem area of the round table, giving the discussion a distinct historical and cultural dimension, since the analysis of modern international processes, in particular the Ukrainian-African dialogue, requires a deeper understanding of the historical dynamics of the development of peoples, regions and civilizations.

Dean of the Faculty of History, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor Dmytro Arkhireyskyi delivered a report entitled “Africa and Ukraine in the Processes of Decolonization: Common and Distinct.” The report examined the specifics of the processes of decolonization in Africa and Ukraine, their common features and differences, as well as the influence of historical, political, and cultural factors on the formation of national identity and statehood.

 

Candidate of Historical Sciences, Acting Head of the Department of Special Branches of Historical Knowledge and Didactics of History, Olga Dyachenko, presented a report entitled “Educational Systems in African Countries.” The report focused on the specifics of the functioning of educational systems in African countries, the problems of access to quality education, the influence of the colonial past on the development of the educational sphere, and modern trends in reforming the educational process.

Special attention was paid to the issues of Ukrainian-African relations. Candidate of Political Sciences, Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Department of International Relations Pavlo Petrov delivered a report entitled “Ukraine and Africa: Prospects for Political, Cultural and Economic Partnership”. The speaker emphasized that effective interaction with African states requires not a declarative, but a systemic approach based on knowledge of the regional specifics, political culture and socio-economic priorities of partners.

Candidate of Political Sciences, Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Department of International Relations Ivan Holovko presented a report entitled “Cultural Diplomacy of Ukraine in Africa: How to Form Mutual Understanding between Societies”. The speech considered cultural diplomacy as one of the key tools for shaping a positive international image of Ukraine, deepening intercultural communication, and overcoming established stereotypes in the perception of Ukrainian and African societies. It was emphasized that it is culture, academic exchanges, artistic initiatives, and educational contacts that are capable of forming long-term channels of public trust that complement traditional diplomatic mechanisms.

 

A separate direction of the discussion was presented in the speech of Oleksandr Koptev, PhD in International Relations, Associate Professor of the Department of

 

International Relations, who delivered a report “Ukraine’s Soft Power in Africa: Culture, Medicine, Humanitarian Initiatives”.

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