HELP UKRAINE - Humanitarian relief in Chernivtsi

As we enter 2026, we thank our donors for their support of our work in Ukraine.
Since the beginning of the winter period, colder temperatures further worsened an already difficult situation. Damage caused by repeated attacks on energy infrastructure has led to ongoing disruptions to electricity and heating, impacting families, schools and community services. These conditions affect daily life across the country, particularly for children, displaced families and people in vulnerable situations, making access to education, care and safe spaces increasingly challenging.

Despite these circumstances, IBO Italia remains active in Ukraine focusing on educational, psychosocial and community-based support.
Since July 2025, activities have continued under the project #AIDUKRAINIAN25 – Multisectoral support to the Ukrainian population, funded by the Emilia-Romagna Region. In October 2025, a representative of one of our partner organizations carried out a monitoring mission to Ukraine. During the mission to the Chernivtsi region, several schools, day centres and the University of Chernivtsi were visited, allowing direct observation of ongoing activities and dialogue with local educators and community representatives.
The mission also made it possible to identify additional urgent needs in other areas. In particular, a day care center for children with disabilities in the Zhytomyr region was identified as requiring immediate support. Following this assessment, in December 2025 we provided essential items for the center, including beds, hygiene products and basic equipment, aimed at improving daily care conditions and the well-being of the children attending the facility.
Overall, through cooperation with Italian and local Ukrainian partners, including Condivisione fra i Popoli, Dobri Liudi Bukovunu, Caritas Spes Odessa and Youth of Ukraine, the project has reached approx. 500 beneficiaries, mainly children and adolescents. In the regions of Mykolaiv and Odessa, activities have included educational and recreational initiatives, psychosocial support for children and adolescents. The group activities aimed at maintaining routines, social connections and a sense of stability during ongoing disruptions.

In parallel, IBO Italia launched Kickstart Equality – Football for Positive Change, a project supported by the FIFA Foundation, that combines sports with educational activities. The aim is to engage 100 vulnerable children and displaced youth, providing structured and safe spaces for participation, inclusion and well-being.

Donations through GlobalGiving continue to support these activities and help ensure continuity of assistance across different regions, allowing IBO Italia and its partners to respond to emerging needs during the winter months.

Thank you for your continued support and best wishes for the New Year!

Links:

• IBO Italia's website

This summer in Chernivtsi stretched into a full month of camps, each day bringing a different rhythm and a different group of children. Not everyone joined every activity: some came for sports, others for art or music, and some just wanted to be outdoors. Together, they created a patchwork of experiences that turned ordinary summer days into something memorable.

For some, the highlight was setting off on bicycles, riding for kilometers through the countryside. A few were confident from the start, others nervous, but along the way they found support in each other, waiting, encouraging, laughing together until everyone reached the end.

Other children preferred the forest trek, which ended with cooking outdoors. They chopped vegetables, stirred pots over a fire, and shared a meal in a circle on the grass. What stayed with them wasn’t the food itself, but the feeling of doing something as a group, outside the everyday routine.

Quieter afternoons belonged to art and music therapy. Here, brushes and instruments gave space for expression without words. Some children painted in silence, others experimented with sound, and slowly the room would fill with color, rhythm, and conversation.

Sports days had a completely different energy. Indoors and outdoors, children played football, volleyball, and group games. The matches didn’t end when the whistle blew; many stayed on the steps afterward, still talking, still buzzing with energy.

And then came the cinema outing. For many, it was a rare chance to sit in front of the big screen. Watching the film was only the beginning; the real joy came later, when the children debated the story together, discovering how differently each of them had seen it.

Over the course of the month, no two days were the same. Some children joined once, others came back again and again. Each found something meaningful—whether confidence on a bike, laughter around a fire, or a new friend met in a painting session.

Thanks to your support, these camps gave children in Chernivtsi a summer full of experiences they will carry with them long after the holidays are over.