ANNUAL REPORT 2023 Oleksandra Matviichuk Head of the Organization Center or Civil Liberties way. Therefore, it is important to develop a type of social capital called ‘bridge’, which brings different groups of peo- ple together to achieve a goal. We need to be able to build bridges between groups with different experiences, dif- ferent visions, and different emotional responses. Because we all have the same goal: to build a country in which the rights of every person are protected, which has a successful economy, which is able to protect its citizens from external aggression. Victimhood is dangerous, especially for oneself. When we work with victims of war crimes, we don’t say that they have a war trauma, we say that they have a war experience. Yes, this experience is terrible, and I would very much like us all to avoid it. But it is what it is. We should not be locked in vic- timhood. We should move on. Dramatic times provide people with the opportunity to show their best quali- ties. We can never choose the country we are born in or the time we are born, but we can always make a choice and take responsibility. 5 Our task is to stitch the country together