The ongoing war in Ukraine is having a tremendous impact on children and families. Children have experienced and witnessed violence, death, displacement, and separation, all of which are serious risks to their mental health and wellbeing. Additionally, with the number of people fleeing Ukraine now over 4.5million, and millions more internally displaced, children are at a heightened risk of trafficking and exploitation.
Response:
Parenting for Lifelong Health (PLH) team at the University of Oxford have created open-source evidence-based parenting resources to help parents and children cope during this crisis. In developing these resources, the have been supported by WHO, UNICEF, UNHCR, UNODC, University College London, the University of Cardiff, the Global Protection Cluster Child Protection Area of Responsibility, the International Rescue Committee, World Without Orphans, the Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Collaborative, the Early Childhood Development Action Network, the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children, Maestral, Changing the Way We Care, and Save the Children. It started with 7 simple tips for parents to help their children feel safe and supported, and to help parents manage their own feelings during this tremendously stressful time. Now 7 additional tips have been launched, which offer practical tools to parents for:
1. Preventing child trafficking
2. Preventing child sexual violence
3. Helping children when someone they love dies
The tips are currently available in 15 regional languages
Accessing the Information:
These 14 tips, including faith-based resources, can be found on PLH website, on the Google Drive, and as videos on YouTube. They can be downloaded and shared on social media and other digital platforms, or they can be printed.
Reach:
So far, these tips have been shared directly with 96 organisations, including governmental and nongovernmental organisations in Ukraine and bordering countries, UN agencies, academic institutions, and funding agencies, and these organisations have shared the tips with parents and caregivers. To date, we have reached over 9.5 million people with these parenting tips.