Partners at work: EU and UNICEF

Partners at work: EU and UNICEF

Children in difficult life circumstances (Khmelnytsky region)

Children in difficult life circumstances (Khmelnytsky region)

Health of children (Chornobyl area)

Health of children (Chornobyl area)

HIV/AIDS prevention among the youth (Kyiv, Odesa, Mykolayiv)

HIV/AIDS prevention among the youth (Kyiv, Odesa, Mykolayiv)

The Convention on the Rights of the Child

The Convention on the Rights of the Child

 

Children in difficult life circumstances (Khmelnytsky region)

Project “Support to Children in Difficult Life Circumstances”

This project with a budget of EUR 465,974 is an integrated part of the EU funded programme ’Women’s and Children’s Rights in Ukraine’. It employs a multi-disciplinary approach and combines the development of good policies and good practices. It focuses on piloting community-based gatekeeping services for orphaned children, children left without parental care and other vulnerable children at risk of institutionalisation. It aims to create pre-conditions for developing gatekeeping mechanisms nationally after the completion of the project and thus supports a transformational change of the current institutions-based state child care system into a family-based system.

«The main goal of our joint project with the EU is to help the Government of Ukraine to transform the current institutions-based system of state care of children without parental care into a family-based system. I hope that experience accumulated during implementation of this project will be valuable for developing and introducing comprehensive social services for children at the regional and national level» states Yukie Mokuo, UNICEF Representative in Ukraine

On the level of a pilot Khmelnytsky Oblast, the project address issues of at least 2.500 vulnerable children. Family placement of at least 100 institutionalised children at the pilot Oblast will be helped. At least 400 children will be prevented from unnecessary entering institutions.

As a result the project should lead to the following outcomes:

• The current system of decision-making and service provision for institutionalised and other vulnerable children will be assessed and overhauled to function in the best interests of each vulnerable child
• Needs-based support and prevention services for at least 2.500 institutionalised and other vulnerable children will be piloted and documented in coordination with the Khmelnytsky Oblast government.
• Methodological materials and regulations on gatekeeping development for institutionalised and other vulnerable children will be prepared, piloted, and made available for approval by relevant central level ministries.

The project is being implemented by State Social Service s for Family, Children and Youth of Ministry of Family, Youth and Sport of Ukraine as well as Khmelnytsky Oblast State Adminsitration