The Open Dialogue Foundation (ODF), formerly known as the Open Dialog Foundation, (Polish: Fundacja Otwarty Dialog), is an international non-governmental organization, founded in 2009 in Poland and currently headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights and the rule of law in the post-Soviet area and – since 2018 – within the European Union.
In 2014-2016 and again since February 2022 it has focused on delivering humanitarian aid to Ukraine and supporting refugees fleeing that country.
History
ODF was founded in 2009 in Warsaw, Poland and officially registered in 2010 by Lyudmyla Kozlovska, Ukrainian national from Sevastopol, Crimea. Kozlovska moved to Poland after the Orange Revolution in order to study. She had been a civic activist since the age of 13, when she opened the first Ukrainian library in Sevastopol. As a teenager she organized protests under the headquarters of the Russian Federation's Black Sea Fleet.
Kozlovska launched ODF following a human rights forum on Central Asia she had organized in Poland in 2008 with activists from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan and after having met Andrzej Grzyb MEP, who invited her to the European Parliament to speak on human rights in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Initially, ODF based its activities on experiences of student movements and civic organisations that developed from the Orange Revolution.
Activities
Ukraine
ODF became known in Poland following its support for the Euromaidan revolution in Ukraine. The foundation organised 3 monitoring missions between November 2013 and January 2014 with Polish MPs Michał Jaros, Tomasz Makowski, Michał Szczerba and Marcin Święcicki and 3 concerts at the Euromaidan. In January 2014 it started a long-term monitoring mission and opened a permanent tent at the Euromaidan with the goal to "monitor the situation, support visits of international observers and share knowledge on the European Union". The mission lasted 56 days and included around 30 volunteers on the ground, with a total of 480 volunteers involved with the foundation between January and April 2014. The ODF tent was the only permanent presence of an NGO from the European Union at the Euromaidan.
ODF organised a mass humanitarian support campaign for the Euromaidan, sending a total of 35 tons of medicine, medical supplies, bulletproof vests and helmets to the protesters, journalists and observers, 10 tons of which went to the Donbas region. The total value of humanitarian aid delivered by ODF to Ukraine in 2014 was over PLN 1.000.000. Following its involvement in Ukraine the foundation became a target for Russian propaganda.
From late February 2014 until early June 2016 ODF run a support centre in central Warsaw for Ukrainian refugees under the name "Ukrainian World". The centre was estimated to have supported over 30.000 people during its functioning. At later stages the centre changed its focus to promoting Ukrainian culture in Poland.
Since 2014 ODF has been campaigning for Russia's release of Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko and the imposing of sanctions on Russia following her detention, as well as that of Oleg Sentsov and numerous other Ukrainian war and political prisoners illegally held in Russia.
In October 2016 ODF co-organised a "march of solidarity with Ukraine" in Warsaw.
In October 2019, following his release by Russia after five years in a gulag, Oleg Sentsov was received together with Lyudmyla Kozlovska by French president Emmanuel Macron. During the meeting, the head of the Foundation presented Macron with a list of 86 Ukrainians still imprisoned by Russia.
The foundation has also been advocating for democratic reforms and greater integration of Ukraine and the EU.
Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, ODF focused on supporting refugees fleeing Ukraine and delivering humanitarian aid, especially defensive equipment to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Until June 2023 ODF has provided aid worth over PLN 35 million.
ODF regularly organises humanitarian missions to the frontlines, including to Bakhmut, together with a group of 5 Polish Members of Parliament, and to Kherson following the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam, where ODF delivered PLN 100.000 worth of aid from the City of Warsaw. Following the mission, Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski and ODF's Martin Mycielski were awarded decorations by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
The foundation also manages the relocation of refugees to Western countries through an assistance point run at Warsaw's Eastern Railway Station and runs four "Homes for Independent Moms" for Ukrainian refugee women.