Every November 20th, the World Children's Day is celebrated. Every child has an inalienable right to life and a happy childhood. On February 24th of this year, the happy childhood for children in Ukraine came to an end.

The Ukrainian Football Association constantly carries out work to support and help children. One of the programs aimed at helping children affected by war is "Beside," a joint project between UNICEF's Representative Office in Ukraine and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.

Photos by project organizers and partners

Recovery through sports is one of the project's directions, aimed at providing psychosocial support to children, youth, and families affected by war. The charitable foundation "Development of Football in Ukraine" implements the sports component of the project in partnership with the Ukrainian Football Association and with the support of UEFA Children's Fund.

Photos by project organizers and partners

Already at the first stage, in April, training was organized for a network of specialists (administrators, psychologists, physical education teachers, medical volunteers) working with children and youth. For the project's specialists, the Ukrainian Football Association organized training on child protection.

Photos by project organizers and partners

Starting from the second half of May, parents began bringing their children to sports playgrounds where, through play, psychologists, physical education teachers, and medical volunteers work with young children and youth.

Overall, such a format of work contributes to psychological recovery after traumatic experiences and overcoming fears.

Photos by project organizers and partners

As of today, such sports activities for children are being held in 14 regions of Ukraine: Khmelnytskyi, Rivne, Volyn, Lviv, Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Zakarpattia, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Cherkasy, Kirovohrad, Vinnytsia and Poltava regions, with the expectation that Mykolaiv region will join soon. In total, over 1,160 psychosocial sessions have already been conducted, during which support was provided to 34,154 children. It is interesting to note that 37% of all participants are girls. Also, it should be noted that among the project's participants there are children from large families, children of military personnel, children from families with persons deprived of liberty, and children with disabilities.