Ukraine

Viktoriia and Nikol sit on a colourful, puzzle- floor mat in the corner of the UNICEF-supported Blue Dot Hub – a one-stop shop where Ukrainian refugees can receive support – in Košice, Slovakia. They play with toys scattered around them as Mark, Nikol’s older brother, runs around the room. Nikol is very interested in a box with paper stickers…

The language of instruction plays a key role in refugee children’s integration into host country schools, as children spend most of their time at school and this is also where their meet their peers and socialisation take place. Knowledge of the language of instruction enables them to continue their education and learning, fully participate in the…

The world has made tremendous progress against polio in the past three decades, vaccinating over 2.5 billion children and reducing cases by 99 percent. But this progress is fragile, and we cannot afford to lose focus. Millions of children are still missing out on routine vaccinations because of pandemic disruptions, conflict, climate disasters and…, On the ground, Six-year-old Mykhailyk during his vaccination medical examination, conducted by the nurses at the clinic. Six-year-old Mykhailyk’s parents bring him for two comprehensive vaccinations – a booster dose of diphtheria, tetanus and polio, and MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella). It takes just a few minutes for the doctor to examine him, and then seconds…

On the picturesque banks of the river in Horenka village near Kyiv, 14-year-old Nelya gazes into the distance while her 13-year-old sister Lilya braids her hair. Today, the girls have dressed in colourful vyshyvankas and come to the river to take photos and cheer themselves up. Over a year and a half into the full-scale war, days like these help…

Today, five-year-old sisters Eva and Milana have an appointment with their ‘therapist’ at a metro station in Kharkiv, a city in northeast Ukraine. The therapist is just nine years old and her name is Julie. She is a golden retriever who has been helping children in Kharkiv overcome stress since the beginning of the full-scale war. As soon as Eva…, Helping children heal, Eva and Milana arrived in Kharkiv with their parents after fleeing Kherson, where intense fighting is taking place. The girls have cats and a dog back home.  Eva misses her pets and loves to spend time with the animals at the Spilno Child Spot.  "The dog's name is Snizhok (‘ snowball’) because he is snow-white and fluffy,” she says, sadly. Eva…, Finding safety underground, Lately, the fighting in Kharkiv has become intense again. Air raid sirens sound several times a day, each time causing distress for children, who desperately need a safe place to shelter. Last night, Victoria and her seven-year-old daughter Adelina barely slept. "There was huge shelling at night,” says Victoria, who did not hesitate to come to the…, Overcoming stress and sadness, Trainer Natalia has lived in Kharkiv since the very first days of the full-scale war. While hiding in the metro with her family, she noticed how depressed the children around her were. She then came up with the idea to organise dog classes as therapy. "The first class was difficult both for me and my dogs,” she recalls. “Severe shelling occurred…

GENEVA/KYIV, 6 October 2023 – “Today’s deadly attack on a civilian area in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, has reportedly killed a 10-year-old boy and injured an 11-month-old baby. “This morning’s attack followed a strike yesterday on the village of Hroza, also in the Kharkiv region which killed dozens of people including a six-year-old girl. It…

Municipalities have been providing children and women from Ukraine with access to essential services since the war in Ukraine escalated 18 months ago, leading to millions of people seeking safety across Europe and beyond. Thanks to solidarity and the  Temporary Protection Directive , assistance for Ukrainian refugees across Europe has been…, From emergency responses to long-term integration strategies, Bratislava has set up local coordination structures to support the inclusion of refugees. It uses data collection and analyses to develop a strategic approach for including people with foreign backgrounds at the local level. Miroslava Hapalova, Programme Specialist at the Refugee Response Office established by UNICEF in Bratislava, coordinates…, It all starts with data gathering, Although Bratislava is a vast city, it needs specific funding as the needs of Ukrainian refugees differ from those of other groups. UNICEF supports the local level to develop coordination structures with different actors. Thanks to this cooperation, municipalities can overcome the lack of data about the number of refugees, their location and needs…, How to support children, All children need to be supported by strong communities and services at the local level. The challenge to receive such support is significantly more salient for refugee and migrant children who suddenly find themselves in situations and in localities where their carers might lack resources to provide for them. In addition, they lack knowledge of…, The origins – the one-stop shop, Despite European cities’ efforts, it seems complicated to establish when to shift from the first emergency to long-term inclusion. Hapalova states, “we cannot separate it because it happens in parallel. In the last two weeks, more people have come to Bratislava, so considering completely closing the current services to move towards an integration…, Work in progress, “I just would like to ask people not to abandon the Ukrainians because they still need help. Even though the security situation has changed, they are still coming from war zones to our country, and their psychological situation is still complicated,” says Markova. “Through its partnership with UNICEF, Eurocities is proud to support cities on that…

KYIV, 21 September 2023 – The World Health Organization (WHO) Europe has declared an outbreak of poliovirus in Ukraine, detected in October 2021, officially closed. The comprehensive outbreak response initiated by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine in December 2021 has successfully stopped transmission of the virus and prevented its spread to other…

GENEVA, 6 September 2023 - “Yet again, Ukraine’s children have today been subjected to another horrific attack. This time a market area in Kostiantynivka, in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine has come under fire during the middle of the day. There are reports of at least one child among those killed. The number of casualties is likely to rise…

Twelve-year-old Nika and her family have been forced to move home several times since 2014, when fighting in Ukraine first began. As a result, Nika has struggled to find her feet in school.  When the war escalated in February 2022, Nika's family spent weeks in a bomb shelter. Nika was terrified. But leaving home in Kramatorsk with its memories,…

The escalation of the war in Ukraine on 24 February 2022 created a humanitarian and human rights catastrophe. Millions of children were uprooted from their homes, separated from their families and put at risk of violence. Around 5.4 million people remain displaced across Ukraine one year after, and humanitarian needs continue to grow. In Europe, 5…

Twelve-year-old Vlada is getting nervous as a new school year approaches. Due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, she has already changed schools four times since first grade. "Here, I have new classmates, everything is new," she says. Last February, as the war escalated, Vlada and her mother fled to the Czech Republic. They had hoped to stay just a…