Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, more than 14 million Ukrainian refugees have crossed borders seeking safety. Child helplines across Europe have expanded their services to cater to the needs of these individuals, offering Ukrainian-speaking counselling services.
Together with our child helpline members in Ukraine (La Strada), Poland (FDDS), Hungary (Kék Vonal), Slovakia (Linka Detskej Istoty), and Romania (Asociația Telefonul Copilului) we have been responding to the war though our Children’s Voices Ukraine project. In its third phase, and in partnership with Terre des Hommes Netherlands, the project aimed to maintain and improve the child helpline services for Ukrainian children and young people affected by the war. One of the main objectives of the project was to amplify children and young people’s voices by generating evidence of their contacts to child helplines in Ukraine and its surrounding countries.
In early phases of the project, we discovered that – despite the availability of services in host countries – many Ukrainian children and young people were not utilizing these resources. This gap in service usage prompted the Children’s Voices Ukraine project to investigate the barriers preventing children from utilizing the services and addressing their needs more effectively. Country Reports, summarizing country-specific research and surveys, as well as an overarching Community Report, were made available last year.
We collected data from these five members, on the contacts they received in each quarter from children and young people, regarding various
issues related to the war. These issues could range from anxiety about the war spreading (mental health), to bullying in school (violence), and accessing the local education system (access to services), to name but a few. The collected data is intended to amplify the voices of children and young people affected
by the war, to guide policymaking and practice, and to generate a reliable and objective image of help-seeking behaviour.
