Play, Support, Care: How Child-Friendly Spaces Strengthen the Mental Health of Children and Parents

All projects of Responsible Citizens NGO focus on supporting people living near the front line, and participation in such events helps strengthen our work and ensure more systematic and coordinated assistance to communities.

Within the framework of the LIVES programme, our team implemented humanitarian initiatives in frontline communities in eastern Ukraine. The activities covered settlements located near the line of contact, as well as transit centres where people received assistance immediately after evacuation from dangerous areas.

Despite constant shelling threats and a volatile security situation, eight mobile psychosocial support teams in Donetsk region provide daily assistance to children and their families. Specialists in psychology, speech therapy, and social work operate in communities where access to basic services is limited or entirely absent.

A community grows stronger when each of its members has access to quality support. In the context of ongoing humanitarian challenges, the role of professionals who help people overcome difficulties, tap into inner resources, and build strong social bonds becomes crucial.

In eastern Ukraine, especially in frontline areas of Donetsk region, shelling is intensifying and civilian infrastructure is being heavily damaged. Under these conditions, mobile teams from the NGO Responsible Citizens are working directly in affected communities, offering comprehensive support to those who need it most.

Rapid response to the consequences of shelling is one of the key areas of work of the project implemented by the NGO “Responsible Citizens” in partnership with Mercy Corps Ukraine with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom.

The event became an important platform for discussing how every child can grow up in a caring family environment rather than under institutional care.

Together with the National Social Service of Ukraine and UNICEF Ukraine, and with the support of the Government of Sweden, NGO Responsible Citizens joined a vital initiative aimed at reinforcing Ukraine’s social service sector during crisis.