EU boosts education and protection support for children hit by Ukraine conflict
KYIV/BRUSSELS, 17 July 2017 – A new European Union-funded UNICEF project will strengthen vital education and protection services for children caught in the on-going conflict in eastern Ukraine.
The half a million EUR project will provide 13,800 children and young people living along the 'contact line' which separates government controlled areas from non-government controlled areas, and where fighting is most severe, with life-skills training, improved access to education and psychosocial support.
The new funds will also provide essential school supplies, including 4,800 education kits for school-aged children, 350 kits for kindergartens, school furniture, and educational games. The supplies will help equip 30 schools reaching 8,300 children.
UNICEF will also provide specialized training to over 350 teachers and school psychologists to help address the emotional needs of children affected by conflict.
“Providing educational opportunities for children and youth affected by the conflict, and addressing the trauma that many of them have experienced, is a priority of the EU's humanitarian aid to Ukraine," said Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Hugues Mingarelli. "We must help these children and young people caught in situations of emergency regain a sense of normality and give them stability and hope for the future.”
The European Union and UNICEF established a partnership to support children in Ukraine in 2013, working together in the areas of water, hygiene and sanitation, education in emergencies, and child protection.
“The EU has been vital in providing essential support to children who have been caught in conflict for more than three years. Not only does this new grant provide critical services but it strengthens children’s resilience to cope in this volatile and unpredictable situation,” said UNICEF Ukraine's Representative Giovanna Barberis.
UNICEF estimates more than 200,000 children live inside the 30 km-wide 'buffer zone' stretched along the 'contact line' where armed hostilities occur every day.
