War in Ukraine: ‘We are on the side of children’

Children & Youth

Feb 25

Grieg Foundation donates NOK 3 million to SOS´emergency assistance to vulnerable children and families in Ukraine.

"We all feel helpless, and we all want the war to stop. Our top priority is to protect as many children as we can. We want children to grow up without hate, ” says Serhii Lukashov, National Director of SOS Children’s Villages in Ukraine.
"I am in close contact with SOS Children’s Villages in Russia and Belarus. We are on the same side – on the side of children. We will continue our work to protect children from the horror of war.”

On 24 February 2022, the Russian Federation launched a full-scale invasion on Ukraine. Martial law is in effect in Ukraine. Massive shelling is reported in the town of Stanytsia Luhanska, where the social centre of SOS Children’s Villages has been closed since 17 February, and part of the staff relocated. Until now, we have not been informed of any casualties among the children, parents and staff from the programmes of SOS Children’s Villages in Stanytsia Luhanska.

At around 12:00 pm local time (CET+1), the town of Brovary, Kyiv region, was under attack. The colleagues and programme participants who were in the SOS Children’s Village Brovary at the time, took temporary refuge in a bomb shelter. All are unharmed. Ground battles are being fought in Starobilsk, in eastern Ukraine, near the social centre of SOS Children’s Villages.

Response Strategy Goal:
Prevent family separation and ensure that unaccompanied and separated children receive care and protection in a timely, safe, and appropriate way in accordance with their rights and best interest.

Current Russian attacks are targeting mostly Ukrainian critical infrastructure. SOS CV Ukraine foresees an increase in infrastructure disruption and supply chain, which will trigger a further increase of basic needs and access to basic services such as WASH, health, food, banking system, etc.

First priority: Foster families under our supervision. 177 people (children and caregivers). SOS assumes that two-thirds will move away and will need new permanent accommodation, one-third will stay, but (at least for a while) will lose the regular financing from municipalities due to the collapse of the system.

Second priority: Other foster and kinship families: 68,000 children. SOS assumes that one quarter will be affected: some of them will have to move, some will stay, but will loose financing and psychosocial support from the municipalities.

Third priority: All families with children, touched by a new stage of the conflict, especially children who lost their parent/s, caregiver/s as a result of the conflict and categories of highest risk.

SOS Children’s Villages in Ukraine

SOS Children’s Villages began working in Ukraine in 2003.

Programs of SOS Children's Villages in Ukraine include:

Family Strengthening: Since 2003 we have been supporting families who are at risk of breaking down. The help we provide varies depending on the needs of each family but can include counselling, social and material support. We also run workshops on topics relating to child protection and health.
Foster Family Care: Children without parental care find a loving home in one of the SOS families. The families have the legal status of "foster families" and receive all the support they need from SOS Children's Villages. We also provide short-term care for children in crisis situations. The children stay with us (usually less than six months) until they can return to their families or move to another form of family-based care.
Emergency Response: We support both families who are living in the conflict areas and those who have been internally displaced. We provide medical, educational, and social support. The need for psychotherapy has tri[1]pled since autumn 2015. In 2015, and despite the dangerous working conditions, we reached over 300 internally displaced children in the Kyiv region and over 160 in the Lugansk region.
Youth Program: We support young people to gain the necessary skills and develop their talents to help them find employment and become independent.
Advocacy: SOS Children's Villages works with the government and other agencies to promote social reform that improves the rights of children in the country.

Learn more about SOS Ukraine: https://sos-ukraine.org/