Ukraine Crisis One Year On: Our Response Report

Read our Ukraine One-Year-On Response Report to learn about our challenges and successes, stories of the families we’ve supported, and our ambitions for the future.

Before the war, Ukraine had one of the largest orphanage systems in Europe. An estimated 105,000 children and young people resided in various forms of institutions across Ukraine, employing more than 60,000 staff across almost 700 facilities. Nearly 1.5% of all children in Ukraine were incarcerated without family in some form of residential institution – one of the highest rates of child institutionalisation in the world.

The war has made the situation of Ukraine’s most vulnerable children worse. And it has pushed children and families who were not previously at risk to crisis point. At the same time, the international community and the EU’s response to Ukraine marks an opportunity to address the country’s legacy of institutions, and rebuild its future, without replicating the mistakes of the past.

Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, and the bravery of our Ukrainian team, who have been working towards care reform in the country since 1998, we’ve been able to respond on a scale none of us had planned a year ago. This report shares our challenges, successes, stories of the children and families we’ve supported, and our joint ambitions for the future.