Caritas in Ukraine continues to provide child-friendly spaces that prioritize the wellbeing of war-affected children in the country. These spaces have been instrumental in offering a supportive environment where children can heal, learn, and grow despite the challenges they have faced. They are playing a crucial role in addressing the needs of children affected by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. These spaces offer a safe and nurturing environment for children to engage in recreational activities, receive psychosocial support, and access educational resources.
One of the primary objectives of these child-friendly spaces is to support the emotional and psychological well-being of war-affected children. Trained professionals, including psychologists and social workers, are present in these spaces to provide counseling and therapeutic support to children who may have experienced trauma and are in need of emotional healing. Through individual and group sessions, children are encouraged to express their thoughts, feelings, and experiences, helping them process their emotions in a safe and supportive environment.
To this point 13 Child Friendly Spaces have been established, and up to 10,000 children and young people have had the opportunity to be children, make friends, receive learning support, switch off from everyday life in these locations.
The impressive development of Alina*
Alina is 10 years old. The girl lives alone with her mother in avillage near Odessa. The father does not take care of the child since the divorce of the parents. Alina's mother has lost her job because of the war and sometimes works in temporary jobs. The family is in a difficult financial situation. Together they live with friends of the mother, because she does not have her own apartment.
When Alina's mother learned about Caritas' offer of help, she immediately came forward to get help for her child. Alina needed psychological support and social interaction, as the child had lost contact with friends and peers first due to the Covid quarantine and then due to the war. This caused her to become withdrawn and very sad.
At the Caritas Center, the girl received social and psychological support. At the beginning Alina kept away from other children, but after 2-3 sessions she changed: she became more relaxed, friendly and open-minded towards everyone who surrounded her. According to her, she liked the creative classes and the psychological trainings the most.
During the six months of classes at Caritas, Alina became more confident, open and responsible. After working with a psychologist, she even acquired the knowledge of how to help her mother with panic attacks that occur as a result of the war.
* Name changed to protect the client
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The ongoing conflict in the country has significantly impacted the mental well-being of children, and Caritas Austria recognized the importance of addressing this issue. Caritas Austria established counseling and psychosocial support services to address the psychosocial and mental health needs of children affected by the conflict. Additionally, they trained local staff and volunteers to provide individual and group counselling sessions to children and their families. The counselling sessions aimed to help children cope with trauma, anxiety, and stress, and to provide them with the tools to process their experiences and emotions.
Caritas Austria also implemented programs to promote mental health awareness and education in the communities they serve. They organized workshops and seminars for parents, teachers, and community leaders to raise awareness about the importance of mental health and to provide them with the skills to support children's mental well-being. In addition, Caritas Austria implemented community-based support groups for children and their families. These groups provided a safe space for children to share their experiences, emotions, and feelings and to receive support and guidance from their peers and trained facilitators.
Overall, Caritas Austria's psychosocial and mental health support programs played a crucial role in addressing the mental well-being of children affected by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. They provided children with the necessary support and resources to help them cope with their experiences and to improve their overall mental health.
What does this support mean for individuals?
Olga (name changed to protect client’s privacy) was a bright and outgoing child who lives in Eastern Ukraine. The ongoing fighting in her community had a traumatic impact on her mental health. She became withdrawn and stopped attending school, struggling with severe anxiety and stress.
Olga's family reached out to Caritas for help, and she was enrolled in the organization's counseling and psychosocial support program. She began attending individual counseling sessions, where she was able to talk about her experiences and emotions with a trained counselor. She also participated in community-based support groups, where she was able to share her feelings and experiences with other children who were also affected by the conflict.
Through the counseling and support groups, Olga was able to process her trauma and learn coping mechanisms to help her manage her anxiety and stress. She was able to return to school and reconnect with her friends and community. Her family also benefited from the program, as they received education and guidance on how to support their daughter's mental well-being.
Support for children in Ukraine in numbers:
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In total, about 14.7 million Ukrainians have been displaced by the war: about 5.3 million refugees abroad, and 7.1 million internally displaced individuals.
Of the more than 13 million displaced Ukrainians, 7.14 million people are internally displaced, including 2.1 million children. In total, 5.7 million children are disrupted from normal school learning, with around 10% of IDP’s children that are totally out of schooling, with potential negative effects on their future lives.
Additionally, up to 1.8 million children forced to flee urgently need psychosocial and mental health support to overcome the traumas suffered during the war. Providing these children with educational measures and learning support gives back a sense of normality and daily routine for the children. It is also a sustainable and long-term investment in their future development and personal lives.
In addition to classical educational measures and learning support, Caritas Austria's education projects also include essential accompanying measures (psychosocial and mental health support) that help children to process what they have experienced and enable them to follow and absorb the content taught in class. Such psychological measures are essential in ensuring that the traumas witnessed during the war don’t have such negative effects on the future lives of children.
Within the 14 centers and projects currently, that support more than 7,000 children until the end of 2022, the following activities, among others, are provided:
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