At the "Polish Davos" Ukraine presents a project to build a center for children

"New values of the old continent - Europe on the verge of change". The 32nd Economic Forum, also called the "Polish Davos," has started in Poland. It is the largest political and economic event in Central and Eastern Europe.

The 32nd International Economic Forum is taking place in the Polish city of Karpacz and will last from September 5 to 7. The world's business elite, representatives of governments, and well-known philanthropists have arrived in Karpacz. This year's Forum was attended by 5,000 people, including 200 guests from Ukraine. Every year, Ukraine is represented at the Forum's panel discussions. This year, however, the issue of post-war reconstruction of Ukraine will be one of the key issues in Karpacz.

At the Forum, the Ukrainian delegation presents a state project to build the first psychosocial and rehabilitation center for children affected by war in Ukraine. The Ukrainian delegation at the Forum in Karpach includes Andriy Sulym, head of the Lviv District Council, Oksana Kruchinina, COO and co-founder of the Hope UA Foundation, and Anna Tkachyk, coordinator of the Hope UA Foundation.

Ukraine's first Center for Psychosocial Adaptation for Children of War is to be built in Zhuravno, Lviv Oblast. The Center is to be based on the buildings of the former Czartoryski Palace, which needs revitalization and reconstruction.

The project is a state project with funds from international investors. The project is estimated to cost $3 million 500 thousand. Ukraine hopes to raise money from foreign companies involved in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine at the Forum. During the panel discussion "Rebuilding Ukraine," project co-author Anna Tkachyk said:

Anna Tkachyk, coordinator of the Hope ua Charitable Foundation in Ukraine

"The purpose of our presence at the Forum in Karpach is to draw the world's attention to the problem of children's psychological trauma - war. We have developed a unique program in Ukraine to overcome psychological trauma in children: we have involved psychologists, psychotherapists and psychiatrists from Ukraine and the world. The program is already working. In one month, we manage to heal and rehabilitate more than 60 children, but this is not enough for Ukraine. That is why we need a separate rehabilitation center for children of war, and we plan to create it in the Lviv region in the town of Zhuravno, on the territory of the Czartoryski Palace, which is in need of restoration and reconstruction.

The project is a state project supported by the Lviv Regional Administration with the involvement of international sponsors. Therefore, we need to raise $3 million 500 thousand. Today we are presenting the Hope for Kids project and, at the same time, the project to reconstruct and build the Center within the walls of the Czartoryski Palace in Zhuravno.

Today, our program "Hope for Kids" works for all categories of children of war who have deep psychological trauma after the experience of combat. These include war orphans, refugee children, children of soldiers who died in the war, and children who lost one of their parents. During a month we provide psychological and psychiatric assistance and return more than 60 children to normal life, but in the center we will be able to help more than 250 children every month, and over a year, to improve and rehabilitate more than 3000 little Ukrainians.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and up to now, according to the Office of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General, more than 500 Ukrainian children have been killed in the war (excluding victims in the occupied territories), 1,100 children have been injured, 1,600 children have suffered psychologically and emotionally, 11,000 children have become refugees, and 20,000 Ukrainian children who are victims of war need psychological assistance.

This difficult experience could not leave the volunteers and Ukrainian medics indifferent. Their joint team, with the support of international partners, has developed and implemented the Hope for Kids program, which is unique in Ukraine and aims to "bring children out of the state of war." The ambitious dream of the specialists is to return childhood to Ukrainian children, says Oksana Kruchinina, COO, co-founder of the Hope UA Foundation.

Hope for Kids is a program developed by a team of professionals from the Western Ukrainian Specialized Children's Medical Center in Lviv and volunteers from the Ukrainian Charitable Foundation Hope UA.

The goal of the program is to stabilize the emotional state and recovery of children who suffered trauma during the war: to preserve, stabilize, restore or compensate for impaired mental functions, personal and social status of children, promoting their psychosocial adaptation to the changed life situation, helping children to comprehend their experience in extreme conditions and apply it in their future life.

The rehabilitation program for each group of children (60-100 children) lasts 21 days in special children's camps in Ukraine and Western Europe. During the program period, from June to July 2023: 32 children with severe post-traumatic stress disorder stabilized their condition, 58 children with post-traumatic stress disorder learned to cope with mental digestion and anxiety, 90 children learned how to avoid post-traumatic experiences in the future, 27 children continue individual psychotherapy sessions with specialists, and the children's parents received recommendations on how to protect their children from psycho-emotional trauma in the future.