Themes by tag: children

International Day of Families is observed on May 15. Recently, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, announced the reform of the boarding school for orphaned children, which will be implemented with the help of the European Union. 30 Ukrainian NGOs appealed to international donors with the plea not to fund the reconstruction of destroyed children’s orphanages. They note that children who grow up in such boarding schools are more likely to have delayed cognitive and physical development, and legal problems in the future.

Zinaida Kyianytsia, Deputy Director at international charitable organization Partnership “For Every Child,” former Deputy Minister of Family, Youth and Sports of Ukraine can tell:

•  how the reform of boarding schools for orphaned children is progressing;
• about the lives of adoptive families, families that adopted children after russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine;
•  about the problems that families raising children most often face during the war (loss of housing, problems with payments, moving abroad)
• during the war, many families with children are forced to live in uninhabitable living conditions: how you can help them. 

• children

During the press conference, representatives of Save Ukraine rescue network will present the evidence of crimes committed by the aggressor country against Ukrainian children, which are manifestations of genocide. The evidence was obtained during one of the rescue missions carried out by the network’s team, which resulted in the return of 96 children.

A family of mother and daughter, brought home as part of the sixth mission, will talk about the circumstances of the child’s deportation to russia and the intentions of the aggressor country regarding the girl’s future.

Participants: Svitlana Popova, mother of a girl deported to russia; Alina Kovaleva, a girl, returned after being deported to russia; Mykola Kuleba, Founder of “Save Ukraine”, Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for Children’s Rights (2014-2021); Myroslava Kharchenko, a lawyer at “Save Ukraine”; Kateryna Rashevska, Legal Expert at the Regional Center for Human Rights (RCHR) NGO.

The press conference will be held on May 11, at Media Center Ukraine — Ukrinform. Registration is required.

• children
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

Students of the Ukrainian Leadership Academy brought a 50-kilogram book “Crime without Punishment” to Europe. This book contains information on russia’s crimes in Ukraine. The book is 6,000 pages long, which symbolizes the 6,000 children kidnapped by the russian occupiers. The activists were “inspired” to create the book, the title of which is an allusion to the russian classics, by the arrest warrant for Maria Lvova-Belova, the children’s ombudsman of the russian federation. The book will arrive in Ukraine in a few days.

• children
• culture
• russian crimes

The Victoria Drone School project goal is to create a talent pool for both the Armed Forces (future UAV operators and engineers) and civilian industries where drones are used. 

The three-block classes are a theoretical part, simulator exercises, and practical classes where teenagers can try flying a quadcopter independently. The training school is free of charge and accepts children aged 12 to enter. 

• children
• Poltava

On May 4, 2023, Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, will hold a large press conference in Kyiv.

The Commissioner is ready to speak about the atrocities he saw with his own eyes: torture chambers in the liberated regions of Ukraine, mass burials in Izyum, testimonies of people who were in occupation and who know from their own experience what the conditions in the torture chambers were like, the return of Ukrainian children kidnapped by the russian federation, communication with the russian Commissioner for Human Rights regarding humanitarian issues, the results of this communication, the return of Ukrainian soldiers who were in russian captivity, problems with the return of civilian hostages currently held by the russian federation.

Accreditation is required.

• children
• military
• occupation
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

Luke Tomich, an American neurosurgeon with Ukrainian roots, will come to Lviv for the third time to operate on Ukrainian children with brain diseases. The neurosurgeon will work at St. Nicholas Hospital for Children from April 30 to May 6. Together with his Ukrainian colleagues, he has already planned to perform surgeries and hold a series of consultations.

The doctor’s visit will be supported by the Razom for Ukraine charitable foundation, founded by Luke Tomich with his Ukrainian wife in 2014.

• children
• doctors
• Lviv

In Horodnya, Chernihiv region, construction of a multifunctional educational center has started in a shelter of a school. This is “first aid” for education in communities affected by the war. The center located in the shelter is a safe space for learning, where the educational process will not be interrupted by air raid alerts. The center is comfortable and cozy, it has furniture, electronic devices, books, and other learning aids. Two more such centers will be set up in Anysiv and Kolychivka of Ivanivka community, Chernihiv region.

Digital educational centers for children are already in operation in Kyiv and Chernihiv regions.

For reference: Digital educational centers are locations for learning and leisure, located on school grounds (with some exceptions).The work of centers is managed by mentors. In particular, centers provide entertainment and relaxation activities.

• children
• Chernihiv
• Kyiv

Lviv Defense Cluster manufactures light body armor and hands them over to the women in the military. Instead of the standard 20 kilograms, the body armor made by Lviv Defense Cluster weighs only 7-8 kilograms. Recently, female border guards serving in Kharkiv region received such bulletproof vests.

In addition, children’s protective kits featuring helmets and bulletproof vests, which are manufactured by Lviv Defense Cluster, are also in active use on the frontlines. For example, in Donetsk region, every crew of “White Angel” — local police officers who help to evacuate people — have children’s helmets and bulletproof vests made by Lviv Defense Cluster.

For reference: Lviv Defense Cluster unites specialists of defense enterprises, volunteers and production facilities from all over the country to provide the Defenders of Ukraine with high-quality and well tested body armor. The Cluster has its own laboratory for testing finished products.

• children
• military
• women

To help children and their parents overcome the psychological implications of the occupation, mobile teams of psychologists from the Children’s Voices charity foundation visit villages and small towns with no specialists, suitable institutions, or stable public transportation. They organize individual and group psychological and psychosocial support for children and parents.

Currently, such mobile teams of psychologists are working in Kyiv and the region, Mykolaiv and Vysoke. During the year of the full-scale war, the foundation provided psychological and psychosocial assistance to 4,700 children and more than 1,800 adults.

• children
• psychological support
• Kyiv
• Mykolaiv

On April 13, a “Classrooms of Safety” will be opened in one of the educational institutions of Bila Tserkva with the participation of employees of the State Emergency Service. Rescuers will teach children the rules of mine and fire safety, as well as tell them how to provide medical aid.

For reference: The government approved the opening of “Classrooms of Safety” throughout Ukraine last September. These classrooms are well-equipped to provide fire and mine safety training. Among other things, children are taught what to do in the event of an emergency and during air raid alerts. Specialists of the State Emergency Service and the National Police, medical workers, combatants and other experts are involved in the work of “Classrooms of Safety.”

• children
• Kyiv