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European Union, Solidarity Fund PL in Ukraine and Caritas Ukraine support camp for war-affected children

20.11.2025
Ukraine, Polissia region
Press and information team of the Delegation to UKRAINE

On the occasion of World Children’s Day on 20 November 2025, Peter Wagner, Director/Head of the European Commission’s Service for Foreign Policy Instruments, visited the “Green School – Recovery and Development Camp” in the Polissia region. The camp is taking place with EU support as part of the “Integrated Support for War-Affected Children, Families and Communities”. The project is implemented by Solidarity Fund PL in Ukraine and provides immediate relief to war-affected people and helps building sustainable local psychosocial rehabilitation capacities, with a focus on children, families, and veterans.

The “Green School” Camp, organised by Caritas Ukraine, provides children with access to a safe educational and psychosocial environment, combining online learning, psychosocial support, and recreation. Through its unique and child-centered format it enables participants to engage in self-organised sessions, therapeutic group sessions facilitated by psychologists, creative workshops, sports, and excursions – activities designed to support recovery and social connection.

Most participants are between 12 and 14 years old. Over the past five years, due to the pandemic and the Russian war of aggression, many of them have had limited opportunities for in-person learning and communication with peers. “For these children, the camp means more than rest – it is a chance to become a part of the team, socialise, learn to collaborate, and develop communication skills. Children can once again experience the joys of childhood they knew before the war,” said Yaroslav Kovalenko, Project Manager,  International Charity Foundation "Caritas Ukraine".

“It was heartening to see that the children participating in the “Green School” camp could experience a haven of at least relative peace and safety, with opportunities for interacting with their peers, psychosocial support, and creativity. Our project has already run a number of such camps, involving different local partners and will continue next year. This is about supporting spaces where notably children and youth can breathe and recharge, about pockets of resilience for the future generation,” commented Peter Wagner, Director/Head of the European Commission’s Service for Foreign Policy Instruments. 

From August to November 2025, Solidarity Fund PL in Ukraine, with EU support and together with ten partner NGOs, organised 29 rehabilitation camps for nearly 2,000 children, their families, and teachers affected by the war as part of the EU-funded project “Integrated Support for War-Affected Children, Families and Communities”. These camps focus on enhancing access to comprehensive recovery and educational programmes for children, children, youth, their families, families of veterans and the fallen, and other particularly war-affected target groups. 

The initiative will continue in 2026, aiming to reach at least 2,000 additional beneficiaries across Ukraine. 

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