Local communities assume full ownership of first OSCE-supported spaces for psycho-social assistance to children in Ukraine

As part of ongoing efforts to make psychological and social services more accessible, local authorities have taken over the functional expense for three spaces providing psychosocial assistance to children “Tvii/Yours” in Vinnytsia Oblast since the end of February 2026. A year ago, the OSCE Support Program for Ukraine (the SPU) completed the equipping of spaces to assist children affected by the ongoing war, including two in the city of Vinnytsia and one in the town of Pohrebyshche. Until now, the SPU project was also providing salaries of trained social workers and psychologists, so that communities could assess the value of these services, prepare budget resources, and complete the necessary administrative procedures to ensure the sustainable functioning of the spaces.   

“Over the past year, these spaces have proven their real value for our communities. We see how children benefit from professional psychosocial support and safe environments for development. The local authorities are fully committed to continuing financial support and ensuring the long-term sustainability of the ‘Tvii/Yours’ spaces as an essential social service,” said Natalia Kviat, Head of the Main Directorate of the National Social Service of Ukraine in Vinnytsia Oblast.

Over the last year, 2,115 children (including 720 boys and 1,395 girls) visited the child-friendly spaces in Vinnytsia Oblast. This included 575 officially determined to be “a child affected by hostilities and armed conflict”. A total of 804 group activities were organised in these spaces, 1,003 individual consultations were provided by social workers, and 806 individual consultations were delivered by psychologists.

“Accessible psychosocial assistance is a critical component of protecting children’s rights in times of war. The ‘Tvii/Yours’ spaces demonstrate an effective model of community-based support that helps children process traumatic experiences, restore emotional stability and continue their development. We welcome the transfer of these spaces to local authorities and consider their sustainability an important step in strengthening the national child protection system,” said Viktor Zelenyi, Deputy Head of the National Social Service of Ukraine

With the handover to the authorities, the spaces were also supported by local business. Vinnytsia-based natural fruit and berry sweets brand LLC “EKO-SNEK”, well known for it’s healthy snacks “Snail Bob”, provided its products for free to the young visitors in 14 such children centers in Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk.  

“All the projects of international assistance have time limits of until when we can provide support, so for us it is of special importance to see, that local authorities appreciate the benefit of having such spaces and is ready to invest in them further. And it is also important that local business also supports such socially valuable initiatives. We can’t erase the terrible memories of this war from children’s memories, but we all must do all things possible to provide the necessary support and help them overcome the traumatic experiences and be able to live a good life afterwards, said Liliya Grudko, Programme Manager of the SPU Human Security Programme.

The OSCE continues to support the operations of eleven more “Tvii/Yours” spaces in Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv and Ternopil Oblasts, with plans to have 40 such locations in 12 regions of Ukraine by end of 2028.