War in Ukraine: Support for children and families
The war has been devastating for every child. UNICEF and partners are on the ground providing support for those in need.
Three years since the war in Ukraine escalated, ongoing attacks continue to take a staggering toll on children and their families. Millions of children are living in constant fear as they endure relentless hostilities, prolonged displacement and severe shortages of essential resources including safe water, electricity, and other necessities.
For many children inside and outside Ukraine, the war has wiped out three years of schooling, playtime with friends, and moments spent with loved ones, robbing them of their education and happiness, wreaking havoc on their mental state.
UNICEF was in Ukraine before the war escalated and has since increased its reach, staying to deliver for children. We stand with the children of Ukraine and will continue working with partners to support them through the war and beyond.
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What’s happening in Ukraine?
Ukraine’s children are paying an extraordinary price in lives lost and upended. The war has resulted in death, injuries and mass displacement, with millions of people forced to flee their homes. Children are being robbed of their childhoods, of time with friends and family, of a peaceful life. They bear invisible scars and trauma that may take a lifetime to heal.
The war has caused significant damage to vital infrastructure, severely impacting access to electricity, heating, water and telecommunications. Families’ incomes and access to services have been decimated. Pre-schools, primary and secondary schools have been damaged or destroyed by bombing and shelling, disrupting the education of Ukraine’s children, with potentially lifelong consequences. The upheaval of war has created a particularly challenging situation for displaced children, those living in institutions, and children with disabilities.
Education disrupted
Schools and other educational facilities are not only places of learning – they also provide a crucial sense of structure and safety for children. Millions of children across the country continue to have their education disrupted, with many schoolchildren unable to access in-person school at all.
Meanwhile, many children who have sought refuge in neighbouring countries are also struggling to access education, health care, and protection services, and, as the war rages, face the prospect of long-term displacement and deprivation.
Psychosocial effects
The war in Ukraine is robbing children of stability, safety, school, friends, family, a home and hopes for the future. The mental wounds of the war could affect children well into adulthood. To avert a generation of children scarred by the conflict, their mental health and psychosocial needs must be prioritized. This should include age-appropriate actions to provide nurturing care, build resilience, and especially for older children and adolescents, give them opportunities to voice their concerns and realize their own agency.
Support must also be provided to parents and caregivers to help them deal with the distressing effects the war and displacement have had on them. This will ultimately equip them to also better support their children’s mental well-being.
Impact beyond Ukraine
The war sparked displacement on a scale and speed not seen since World War II – with far-reaching impact across the region and beyond.
UNICEF welcomes the international solidarity shown to Ukraine’s children and to those across the globe negatively impacted by the war. But as the conflict and displacement continues, sustained support is needed across the region to ensure refugee children are not left out.
How is UNICEF helping children and families?
UNICEF was in Ukraine before the conflict broke out, and since its escalation has stayed and delivered. In countries hosting refugees, UNICEF works with national and local authorities, as well as civil society organizations, to deliver emergency assistance and support services to families fleeing war in Ukraine.
Inside Ukraine, this includes:
- Continuing to work to ensure the functionality of heating infrastructure and providing cash assistance, solid fuel, winter clothing and blankets to keep children warm.
- Rehabilitating school shelters, training teachers, and engaging children in formal and non-formal education, including catch-up classes
- Reaching children and caregivers with mental health and psychosocial support including through mobile teams, training of social workers and supporting community-based social service providers.
- Enabling access to safe water for people living in areas where water supply networks have been damaged or destroyed, rehabilitating water networks and systems for more efficient services and providing sanitation and hygiene supplies.
- Improving access to healthcare through home-visits provided by trained nurses, strengthening the primary health care system and with supplies distributed in frontline areas.
- Reaching vulnerable households inside Ukraine with multi-purpose cash assistance.
In neighbouring countries, UNICEF support includes:
- Working with local governments and refugee-hosting municipalities to provide access to formal and non-formal education for refugee children.
- Enabling access to safe water for drinking and domestic needs.
- Supporting ministries of health in neighbouring countries to provide access to primary health services to refugee women and children.
- Reaching households with cash transfers.
Moving forward
To better protect Ukraine’s children and prioritize their future, UNICEF calls for:
Peace, for every child. Children in Ukraine need a real and sustained peace in which every child can realize their rights, develop, learn, and thrive again, and actively contribute to development efforts.
Protection for every child from the ongoing impact of war, including ending grave violations against children and protecting civilian infrastructure on which children rely, such as health facilities, schools, social services, water and sanitation, heating and energy infrastructure.
Prioritizing recovery and development efforts for every child, including ensuring that development plans and budget allocations prioritize children and their best interests now and, in the days, months and years to come.
Investment in early childhood development for a better start to life and higher returns later in life, including strengthening the health system to prevent maternal and child mortality.
Equipping children and young people with better learning and skills to supercharge development, including scaling up access to safe and conducive in-person schooling which tackles learning losses and supports children’s mental health and wellbeing.
Prioritizing safe and nurturing family environments to ensure better care for every child, including strengthening families and keeping them together by addressing child poverty and investing in social and child protection systems and services.
Prioritizing flexible and quality funding to maintain lifesaving assistance and scale-up development work.
Updated 21 February 2025
