In 2022, when Russia started a full-scale war against Ukraine, thousands of people volunteered to help Ukrainian children. Thanks to caring Ukrainians and foreigners, the Foundation in one year was able to support thousands of children affected by the war.
After February 24, 2022, the Voices of Children had to quickly reorganize its work and start operating not only in the East of the country, but throughout the entire territory. For the first three months of the full-scale war, we provided emergency assistance to families and children. Psychologists provided online and on-site counseling, the team delivered humanitarian aid to the settlements where it was needed, and evacuated families from the danger zones. Over the past year, thanks to people's support, we provided psychological, psychosocial, rehabilitation and humanitarian assistance to families.
As of the end of 2022, the Voices for Children Charitable Foundation had:
- 52 professionals in the team;
- 64 psychologists;
- 700 volunteers from all over the world;
- 9 branches in Kyiv, Lviv, Truskavets, Chernivtsi, Ivano-Frankivsk, Berehove, Kryvyi Rih, Kharkiv and Vysoke, where we provided psychological and psychosocial support to families with children;
- 4 mobile psychological assistance teams in the Kyiv and Mykolaiv regions;
- over 42,000 children and parents whom we have helped.
Last March, we launched an online psychological support hotline. Over the year, the team processed more than 700 requests. Our psychologists held 2379 sessions with children and parents.
Last summer, we started opening branches in different cities. As of the end of last year, there were already 9 of them. There, specialists provide ongoing support to children and families. This includes individual and group psychological and psychosocial sessions. Last year, we held 1792 individual and 2383 group sessions. More than 250 participants completed our training programs for psychologists, teachers and social workers.
We launched the Camp+ psychosocial rehabilitation program for families who lost family members at war. We also launched training programs for psychologists to support and rehabilitate children with cerebral palsy and ASD.
The war forced us to significantly extend our humanitarian aid. We were able to cover the basic needs for safety, food and medical care for 13 thousand families with children.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, we have been monitoring Russian war crimes against Ukrainian children and documenting them in our reports. Voices of Children took part in writing a joint report of Ukrainian and international non-governmental organizations for the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. Our team was actively involved in advocating for children's rights, speaking at human rights conferences, talking to journalists, and meeting with representatives of government agencies and international organizations.
To mark the anniversary of the full-scale invasion, the Foundation published a unique book, War through the Voices of Children. It includes about 100 emotional children's quotes about the war, illustrated by famous artists from around the world. The funds raised from donations for the book are used to provide psychological assistance to children.
A film made in partnership with the Voices of Children, A House Made of Splinters by Danish director Simon Lereng Wilmont, has shaken the world community. The film about the problems of Ukrainian children from frontline Lysychansk won numerous awards at international film festivals and became the second film in the history of independent Ukraine to be shortlisted for an Oscar.
In 2022, the Voices of Children Charitable Foundation became a member of Ukrainian and international organizations, secured the support of dozens of business partners from Ukraine and abroad, and received an award from the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights. But most importantly, from the moment of its foundation to the present day, the Voices of Children Charitable Foundation has been committed to its mission: no child in Ukraine should be left alone with the experience of war.
Learn more from the 2022 report:
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