A Mother of Three from Sumy Region: How Cash Assistance Supports a Family in a Front-Line Community

The Centre was established with financial support from the German Government through the KfW Development Bank and UNICEF Ukraine. Resilience Centres are an initiative of the Ministry of Social Policy within the national mental health programme “How are you?” initiated by First Lady Olena Zelenska.

The NGO Responsible Citizens joined a meeting of the Council on Internally Displaced Persons under the Cherkasy Regional Military Administration. The meeting was attended by the organization’s Project Manager, Oksana Ivatina.

For our organisation, such platforms are a continuation of our daily work in communities living in the context of war, displacement and protracted crises. It is there that the understanding of the key shift we are discussing at URC is formed: young people can no longer be seen only as recipients of support — they are already part of the solutions that shape community recovery.

Since last year, the NGO "Responsible Citizens" has been working alongside the NGO "Dobrodiya" to organize joint activities, ensuring that every child in Zaporizhzhia has a safe space for creativity, psychological support, and communication.

In view of the current security and humanitarian situation in the region, the implementation of the project has been extended until June 2026.

During the visit, the Head of the UNICEF Ukraine Office, Munir Mammadzade, together with colleagues, visited a Child-Friendly Space implemented within the framework of a joint project with UNICEF, where they met with specialists of mobile teams.

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

The NGO Responsible Citizens, in partnership with the Zaporizhzhia Regional Center for Social Services, within the UNICEF Ukraine project, conducted training for representatives of social services from communities in the Zaporizhzhia region on the topic of creating and developing family-based care.