This was said in a press release published on the UNICEF website.
"The United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF) will extend development services for families with children in communities in eastern Ukraine, financed through a EUR 10 million grant made available by the German Government through KfW," the statement reads.
In 2019-2020, UNICEF launched the KFW-funded “SPILNO. Social Services for Families in Communities” project in 12 pilot communities in eastern Ukraine. The new contribution will allow to expand to new programmatic areas and communities in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
The project is targeted at creating best practices for the provision of social services in the recently amalgamated communities, and at supporting those new administrative structures to effectively tackle the responsibility transferred to them as a part of the decentralization process.
The project will develop social services in communities, promote the value of inclusive education, secure access to safe and clean water, and youth civic engagement, and will improve the accessibility of education facilities. Together, these will contribute to social cohesion and welfare of families in conflict-affected communities.
Over 500,000 people in eastern Ukraine will benefit from the project.
A major focus is on families with children, including vulnerable ones, such as families raising children with disabilities, internally displaced families and others.
"COVID-19 has deepened the crisis in regions that have been suffering from armed conflict for six years. Over the last year, the demand for social services in communities in eastern Ukraine has grown significantly," said Lotta Sylwander, UNICEF Representative in Ukraine.
UNICEF is inviting new communities to participate in the project in eastern Ukraine.
