Posted on Jun 9, 2022
War displaced two-thirds of Ukraine's children. Keeping them safe isn't easy
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https://www.npr.org/2022/05/29/ [login to see] /ukraine-children-displaced-orphanage-russia-war
In this town on the outskirts of Lviv in western Ukraine, on the unkempt grounds of a rambling concrete school building, a gaggle of school-aged children in brightly patterned baseball caps is playing on bicycles and skateboards. This is the temporary home of 31 children, the youngest just 5 years old.
They arrived here as a group evacuated from the northeastern city of Kharkiv in early March.
The evacuation happened really fast, explains Olga Dolgareva, one of the two caregivers who came east with these children. Russian airplanes started bombarding Kharkiv, and local officials and volunteers helped them move — first about 140 miles south to Dnipro by bus, and then all the way across the country in a jam-packed train. For many of them, says Dolgareva, it was their first time on a train, ever.
The United Nations estimates that two-thirds of Ukraine's children have had to leave their homes at some point in the three months since Russia invaded the country. Among those are tens of thousands for whom home, before the war, was an institution. Their fates underscore the daunting task of providing care and stability to all the country's children amid the chaos.
In this town on the outskirts of Lviv in western Ukraine, on the unkempt grounds of a rambling concrete school building, a gaggle of school-aged children in brightly patterned baseball caps is playing on bicycles and skateboards. This is the temporary home of 31 children, the youngest just 5 years old.
They arrived here as a group evacuated from the northeastern city of Kharkiv in early March.
The evacuation happened really fast, explains Olga Dolgareva, one of the two caregivers who came east with these children. Russian airplanes started bombarding Kharkiv, and local officials and volunteers helped them move — first about 140 miles south to Dnipro by bus, and then all the way across the country in a jam-packed train. For many of them, says Dolgareva, it was their first time on a train, ever.
The United Nations estimates that two-thirds of Ukraine's children have had to leave their homes at some point in the three months since Russia invaded the country. Among those are tens of thousands for whom home, before the war, was an institution. Their fates underscore the daunting task of providing care and stability to all the country's children amid the chaos.
War displaced two-thirds of Ukraine's children. Keeping them safe isn't easy
Posted from npr.org
Children
Safety
Russia
Ukraine
Posted 2 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."The war has caused an acute child protection crisis, including family separation, violence, abuse, sexual exploitation, and trafficking. Some children have been forcibly deported to Russia, "where children are placed in foster care or adopted in violation of international humanitarian law," Ukraine's U.N. Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya told CBS News.
"Without an urgent ceasefire and negotiated peace, children will continue to suffer – and fallout from the war will impact vulnerable children around the world," UNICEF's Executive Director Catherine Russell said.
UNICEF says that most of the children exposed to the war "need safety, stability, child protection services, and psychosocial support… and UNICEF continues to call for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and to protect all children from harm."
"More than anything, they need peace," UNICEF said."
..."The war has caused an acute child protection crisis, including family separation, violence, abuse, sexual exploitation, and trafficking. Some children have been forcibly deported to Russia, "where children are placed in foster care or adopted in violation of international humanitarian law," Ukraine's U.N. Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya told CBS News.
"Without an urgent ceasefire and negotiated peace, children will continue to suffer – and fallout from the war will impact vulnerable children around the world," UNICEF's Executive Director Catherine Russell said.
UNICEF says that most of the children exposed to the war "need safety, stability, child protection services, and psychosocial support… and UNICEF continues to call for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and to protect all children from harm."
"More than anything, they need peace," UNICEF said."
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