A three-day meeting of partner organizations that, with the support of "terre des hommes Deutschland e.V." and funding from the German Federal Foreign Office, continue to implement the project "Improving the Protection of Children in Emergencies in Ukraine by Providing Safe Shelters, Food and Non-Food Items, and Psychosocial Support" has ended in Uzhhorod. The visit to Zakarpattia was initiated by German colleagues from terre des hommes. 

First of all, the participants of the meeting discussed the results of the first stage of the project, further coordination of partners to network humanitarian initiatives, optimize impact, logistics, form target groups of beneficiaries, etc. They also discussed the continuation of the project, its components for each participant, and the experience of responding to possible risks during program activities. The partners also touched upon the issues of communication interactions – within the community and with recipients of humanitarian aid, psychological support, professional support, etc.

An important event was the training on the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults, moderated by expert Tanja Abubakar-Funkenberg. In addition to testing the policies implemented by organizations to protect the rights of children and vulnerable adults, the specifics of safeguarding children with disabilities were discussed – training of relevant personnel, support for this population, their needs, the risks they face in receiving the necessary services and simply in interacting with various institutions and society... The analysis of existing methods in the context of the project’s direct components was relevant, as many of them are focused on supporting people with disabilities. For example, the Medical Aid Committee in Zakarpattya is developing sustainable practices to improve living conditions and provide social services to the residents of the Vilshany Orphanage. Since joining the project, the Committee has updated its policies and started implementing child safeguarding standards in the work of the social institutions it interacts with.

As part of the visit, the participants visited the Committee's humanitarian warehouse, where volunteers were completing food kits, which is one of the areas of the above-mentioned project. Tanja Abubakar-Funkenberg also held an instructional and methodological session with the staff of the temporary accommodation facility "PrykhystOK" in Uzhhorod, which is under the care of the CAMZ. This shelter is the result of fruitful cooperation between the Medical Aid Committee in Zakarpattya and the organization "terre des hommes Deutschland e.V.", which now houses mothers and children – internally displaced persons who fled their homes due to the war. 

It was nice to see colleagues, especially in Uzhhorod. The program of the meeting proved useful not only for the further implementation of the project "Improving the Protection of Children in Emergencies in Ukraine by Providing Safe Shelters, Food and Non-Food Items, and Psychosocial Support", but also for the implementation of various humanitarian initiatives in general.