The current conflict in Ukraine has severely affected children and families, increasing poverty, displacement, and insecurity. Institutionalised children, particularly those with disabilities, face evacuations and uncertainty.
The momentum from Ukraine’s EU accession process has sparked renewed efforts to reform the child protection system. The government’s draft strategy for 2024-2028 aims to ensure that every child can grow up in a family environment, supported by measures in the “Plan for the Ukraine Facility” to facilitate deinstitutionalisation.
However, despite this ongoing national reform aimed at deinstitutionalisation, progress has been delayed by limited resources and societal unpreparedness. The recent research, “Behind the Closed Doors: Children’s Dreams in Institutional Care” conducted through a partnership with Save the Children Ukraine, Ukrainian Child Rights Network, European Disability Forum, «Social Synergy», NGO «Voices of the Children», Youth platform «Dyimo» and the Office of Ombudsman, aims to amplify the voices of children in institutional care, including those with disabilities and high support needs, and support the renewed efforts to reform the system.
By highlighting their perspectives, authors hope to foster ongoing collaboration that ensures children’s views are integral to future reforms.
Key figures and outcomes of this research were presented on 15 October in Kyiv during a high-level event with civil society, youth with experience of institutionalisation and Ukrainian gathered to discuss main priorities and recommendations based on children’s voices and experiences.
Some of the outcomes of the research include:
- Many children with disabilities expressed a strong desire for family connections, including 90% asking for a stable, permanent adult in their lives.
- 89% expressed a desire to be able to do things independently and showed a desire to move more freely without restrictions
- Children who are confined to beds or lying in their wheelchairs – due to lack of support – have shown high levels of concerning behaviour, including self-harming or aggression. These behaviours and emotions changed dramatically when they were allowed to move on the floor and interact with other children, the researchers, and toys and movies.
The research reasserts that “As the government of Ukraine moves ahead with the implementation of these plans, it should take into account the opinions and interests of children with disabilities and high support needs during the planning and implementation of the Strategy for ensuring the right of every child in Ukraine to grow up in a family environment.”
Watch a short video on Instagram to learn more about the project (in Ukrainian).
Explore the report “Behind closed doors: children’s dreams in institutional care. (PDF)