How Psychosocial Support Operated in Donetsk Region in 2025
The year 2025 in Donetsk Region meant constant work in close proximity to the front line, frequent displacement, and high levels of psychological strain among both children and adults. In communities where stability was more the exception than the norm, Child-Friendly Spaces became places of safety, predictability, and support.
Within the framework of the partnership with UNICEF Ukraine, the team of the NGO “Responsible Citizens” worked both in the Spaces and through mobile psychosocial support teams. This format made it possible to respond quickly and flexibly—going to where needs arose suddenly due to evacuations, shelling, or new waves of displacement.
“Throughout the year, the work focused on stabilizing the emotional state of children, supporting parents, providing individual and group trauma-focused support, and developing stress-coping skills. For many families, this assistance became a critically important point of support amid daily uncertainty,” comments Oksana Ivatina, Project Coordinator in Donetsk Region.
The work was carried out within the framework of the UNICEF project in Ukraine “Strengthening Community Capacity to Deliver Essential Protection and Resilience Services in Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizhzhia Regions,” which is implemented by the NGO “Responsible Citizens” with the support of the Government of the United States of America.
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