Ukraine and Refugee Response Appeal

The ongoing war continues to threaten and impact the lives and well-being of children across Ukraine. Since February 2022, the United Nations has verified 791 children killed and 2,752 children injured due to war. Civilian casualty figures as of 2 June 2026 were 20 per cent higher than for the same period in 2025, largely due to the increased use of long-range weapons. The use of explosive weapons in populated urban areas such as Kyiv – which resulted in a 160 per cent increase in child casualties in 2025 compared with 2024 – are driving this risk, along with fighting in front-line areas. Children in territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation remain largely inaccessible to humanitarian assistance.

Attacks on energy infrastructure escalated in October 2025, with 50 per cent of Ukraine's energy generation capacity along with 60 per cent of natural gas production now offline. Power outages lasting up to 12 hours per day disrupt heating and water services in much of the country, including Kyiv, leaving families highly susceptible to cold-weather hazards during the winter. Cumulative damage to heating infrastructure is expected to leave families highly vulnerable going into winter 2026–2027.

Poverty has increased by 70 per cent since 2021, and 4 out of 10 children now live in poverty. Thirty-nine per cent of households with a single female caregiver face extreme needs. Reports of gender-based violence have surged by 36 per cent since 2022, with adolescent girls increasingly at risk of sexual violence.

Protection concerns remain paramount, with children at heightened risk of violence. Half of all children are at risk of mental distress, with displaced children and those in front-line areas disproportionately affected. Children with disabilities, returning from abroad or in alternative care are among the most vulnerable. 

Despite progress in reopening schools, 10 per cent of children (316,000 students) are learning fully online and 21 per cent (681,000 students) in blended learning. These children are vulnerable to disrupted learning outcomes, isolation and exposure to mental health risks. At least 1,611 schools have been damaged or destroyed, including 348 between January and September 2025.

WASH infrastructure has suffered $7.8 billion in damages, with 1,109 km of water supply networks, 82 water pumping stations and 327 km of sewerage networks destroyed or damaged. District heating systems have sustained $2.5 billion in damage.

Half of the residents in front-line regions report worsening barriers to healthcare access, including high cost of medicines, lack of transportation and damaged facilities. Seventy-four per cent of respondents cite cost as the main reason for limited access to healthcare or medicines.

In line with government and inter-agency response plans, UNICEF aims to help save lives, alleviate suffering, maintain dignity and protect the rights of children under four strategic priorities, as well as in response to the intensifying, overlapping energy and winter crises, to ensure children have access to essential services. 

For the most vulnerable children and families who remain close to the front line, mobile teams provide critical child protection, health and education services. Water is trucked to the most affected areas. Where safe, UNICEF partners offer group mental health and psychosocial support, gender-based violence prevention and response and catch-up learning. Water and district heating utilities receive technical and financial assistance for emergency support to water, sanitation and heating systems. UNICEF also rehabilitates school and health facility shelters to ensure children can continue to safely access education and health services. 

UNICEF provides cash assistance to families with children affected by evacuations. Life-saving child protection and health services and WASH supplies are available at transit and collective centres, where children also benefit from child-friendly spaces and improved and inclusive sanitation facilities. 

Immediately following air strikes, UNICEF partners are on site providing mental health and psychosocial support, case management and supplies, including hygiene items. UNICEF provides cash assistance to those affected and conducts quick repairs to reopen damaged schools and kindergartens. Damaged water and heating systems are also repaired. Through a case management approach, UNICEF addresses the immediate and medium-term needs of affected children and their families. 

For the most vulnerable displaced families, UNICEF ensures access to life-saving services, including case management. UNICEF also provides a multisectoral response for children returning from abroad (from the Russian Federation and the European Union) and in territories of Ukraine temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation, including those in alternative care and affected by the war. 

In response to the energy and winter crises, UNICEF supports water, sanitation and heating services along with social infrastructure (e.g., health, education and social/child protection facilities) with alternative power and heating solutions to ensure children can access critical services. This is complemented by cash for winter assistance for vulnerable front-line families through government systems. Shock-responsive cash will reach families across the country who lose power, water or heating.

UNICEF uses feedback mechanisms and engagement to design/adapt to the needs of affected populations and ensure gender-responsiveness of interventions and protection from sexual exploitation and abuse. UNICEF’s response is informed by gender analysis, and engagement will continue with local organizations advancing the rights of women and girls. 

Emergency preparedness is central to UNICEF planning, ensuring readiness to respond to new situations. UNICEF leads the WASH and Education Clusters and is supporting the transition from the Child Protection Area of Responsibility to a Child Protection in Emergencies Task Group under the Social Protection Working Group.

Five years into displacement, refugee children and families from Ukraine continue to face a precarious future in Central and Eastern Europe. Experts’ analyses highlight the complexity and uncertainty of the situation, suggesting that instability and displacement are likely to remain prolonged. Humanitarian and protection needs continue to be significant, compounded by increasing demographic and economic pressures amid growing anti-refugee sentiment, misinformation and regional fatigue.

More than 1.42 million refugees remain in Poland, Romania, the Republic of Moldova, Bulgaria and Belarus. While access to safety and services has improved, inclusion is constrained by legal, administrative and socioeconomic barriers that sustain vulnerability and strain host systems. Across the region, services remain overstretched. Limited absorption capacity, language barriers and rising living costs restrict access to education, protection, health and social protection. Economic insecurity, discrimination and narrowing social assistance schemes further compound these pressures, leaving the most vulnerable families dependent on humanitarian aid. These include children without parental care; children in institutions; adolescents; persons with disabilities; Roma refugees; older persons; and women-headed households.

Education disruption remains a major concern. Refugee children continue to face difficulties enrolling in and integrating into host-country schools due to language and curriculum barriers. Overcrowded classrooms and shortages of trained teachers, especially those providing language support, hinder learning. Adolescents face heightened exclusion and limited access to skills training or vocational pathways. Analyses indicate a growing number of refugee families may permanently resettle in host countries, increasing the number of Ukrainian children entering national education systems.

Protection concerns persist. Unaccompanied and separated children require case management and specialized care, while social service workloads remain heavy, particularly in Poland and Romania, and capacities limited in Bulgaria and the Republic of Moldova. Children with disabilities face multiple barriers to support, while reports of gender-based violence continue.

Demand for mental health and psychosocial support for refugee children and caregivers continues to rise. In Poland, 21 per cent of children aged 0–17 report mental health problems, yet only 1.5 per cent of these children receive care, reflecting major access bottlenecks. Across the region, costs, language barriers and limited specialized staff restrict access to services.

Healthcare remains uneven and often unaffordable for uninsured refugees, especially for maternal and child health and primary care. Rising costs of living have pushed many families below the poverty line, further eroding access to care.

While the European Union has extended temporary protection until March 2026, benefits are narrowing and social tensions rising. Families without stable employment remain at risk of poverty, exploitation or loss of legal status. These factors underscore a protracted yet evolving situation. Many refugees are achieving self-reliance, yet significant pockets of vulnerability persist. For children, the cumulative risks of exclusion, violence and poor mental health are severe. Sustained, system-linked humanitarian support remains vital to safeguard their protection, inclusion and well-being.

In partnership with host governments, UNHCR and humanitarian partners, UNICEF will strengthen national responses in Belarus, Bulgaria, the Republic of Moldova, Poland and Romania to meet the needs of vulnerable refugee children and families, as well as host community members facing comparable hardships. Guided by national leadership and priorities, efforts will reinforce systems and institutions for durable, inclusive support and ensure alignment with Ukraine Situation: Regional Refugee Response Plan January 2025–December 2026. 

UNICEF will sustain access to essential services for children and women in protection, mental health and psychosocial support, education, social protection and social cohesion, while staying ready to respond to new displacements or emerging needs. Work will strengthen and complement national systems to reach those most at risk, close service gaps and preserve capacities for rapid scale-up. 

UNICEF will promote refugee inclusion within national systems, ensuring essential support is gradually transferred to national authorities and that activities no longer needed are responsibly phased out. UNICEF will work with ministries and local authorities to facilitate enrolment of Ukrainian children and adolescents in host-country schools; provide language and remedial support; and expand flexible learning options – and prioritize strengthening systems to deliver inclusive, quality learning for all, particularly adolescents at risk of dropout and children with disabilities.

Child protection is central to UNICEF’s response. Programmes will reinforce national prevention and response systems and strengthen linkages with social protection, health and education. UNICEF will support case management, family tracing and reunification, mental health and psychosocial support and parenting interventions. Priorities include reducing institutionalization, preventing family separation and enabling community-based mechanisms to identify and assist at-risk children, including children with disabilities and survivors of violence. UNICEF will also build the capacity of national and local social workforces to deliver quality, inclusive services across refugee and host communities. 

UNICEF will sustain access to social protection, including predictable, life-saving cash assistance for vulnerable households, while supporting governments to extend such benefits equitably and sustainably. Prevention of gender-based violence and protection from sexual exploitation and abuse remain cross-cutting priorities, advanced through capacity-building, awareness-raising and stronger referral pathways. UNICEF will promote social and behavioural change to foster cohesion, counter misinformation and enhance accountability through community engagement. 

UNICEF will foster collaboration between the Government of Ukraine and host countries on child protection, deinstitutionalization, education, mental health and psychosocial support and social cohesion. UNICEF will maintain coordination capacities across the region to meet evolving needs while advancing nationally owned, system-linked solutions. UNICEF will strengthen preparedness for potential new refugee arrivals through risk analysis, contingency planning and readiness measures at national and subregional levels.