The centre will provide comprehensive rehabilitation services for children and youth from conflict-affected eastern Ukraine.
Popasna, Ukraine, 9 February 2022 – Today in Popasna, Luhansk Oblast, the renovated “Leleka” rehabilitation centre for children with disabilities has been officially opened by representatives of the United Nations in Ukraine.
The centre will provide comprehensive rehabilitation services for children and youth with disabilities from the city of Popasna and from other settlements in the Popasna community, which has lacked such facilities due to the protracted armed conflict in eastern Ukraine. Specialists will provide physical rehabilitation services as well as psychological and pedagogical support.
The renovation of the centre and purchase of technical equipment is a joint initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in partnership with Popasna City Civil-Military Administration, and with financial support from the European Union under the United Nations Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme.
Osnat Lubrani, the United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine said that “without being able to access the facilities and services found in the community, persons with disabilities would never be fully included in society.”
“UNDP and UNHCR have joined hands to adequately respond to the needs of the most vulnerable population, in particular children and young people with disabilities,” Lubrani said. “The opening of this centre is a vivid illustration of how rehabilitation services are becoming more accessible, and that children and young people with disabilities will be able to use them at any time and without undue hindrance.”
The centre was built in 1983 and had until now not undergone any renovation. During the peak of the armed conflict, the roof and windows were severely damaged. As a result, the building began to deteriorate, making it impossible to provide quality rehabilitation services. Until recently, families raising children with disabilities had to travel 60 kilometres, all the way to the regional centre in Sievierodonetsk, to receive such services.
Dafina Gercheva, UNDP Resident Representative in Ukraine, stressed that quality services should be equally accessible to all, especially to the most vulnerable groups.
“UNDP will continue helping Ukraine on its way to a more prosperous, inclusive, accessible and peaceful future, leaving no one behind,” Gercheva said.
With its services, the renovated centre will cover the town of Popasna and other settlements that are now part of the Popasna territorial community: Vrubivka, and the villages of Komyshuvaha, Pryvillia and Troitske. Morover, children and youth from the neighbouring Hirske community from Toshkivka village and the towns of Zolote and Hirske can now also use the services at the centre.
“People with disabilities are often among those who suffer most from the consequences of armed conflict. They often require targeted support to be able to have their rights protected and access services at the same level as other residents in the community. UNHCR, as a protection agency with a humanitarian mission, is proud to collaborate with UNDP and the local authorities to provide children and youth with disabilities with immediate access to much-needed rehabilitation services, through the rehabilitation of this centre that will remain in the community for a long time”, Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR Representative in Ukraine, explained.
Mykola Khanatov, the head of the Popasna City Civil-Military Administration, expressed the Administration’s readiness to support initiatives to improve the quality of life of vulnerable groups in the community. “Not only children but also young people will receive services in this centre, and this is very important for us,” said Khanatov. “Meeting the needs of community members is what we focus on in our work, and since the community’s population has grown since the reform, it is very important for us that all people who need such services have access to them and can use them.”
The centre’s interior was renovated as part of a grant project implemented by the NGO “Popasna Local Community Agency for Local Development” under the United Nations Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme with financial support of more than US$20,000 from the European Union. In addition, thanks to the partnership with UNHCR, more than $12,000 worth of technical equipment was purchased, and the Popasna Civil-Military Administration allocated more than UAH 180,000 ($6,500) of budgetary funds to cover some of the repairs.
Photo: Artem Hetman
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