The World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse is a reminder that protecting children is not an isolated task: it requires sustained, coordinated effort across disciplines and borders.
Almost two years have passed since the launch of Project Suzir’ya, a regional initiative led by Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) with the generous support of the Howard G Buffett Foundation. Together with our national partners, including eLiberare in Romania, SIMI in Czechia, Human Rights League in Slovakia, and the Rule of Law Institute in Poland , as well of a wide network of international, regional and national civil society organizations across Ukraine and the European Union— we have focused our collective efforts on two interconnected goals: providing direct legal and case management support to children displaced from Ukraine, and strengthening national child protection systems to ensure these children can access their rights to protection and justice.
Project Suzir’ya has helped children and families to navigate complex national systems, from obtaining legal status to accessing social services and safe accommodation. With our partners, we have provided capacity strengthening support to almost 2,500 professionals across child protection, education, and justice sectors to identify and respond to the specific vulnerabilities of displaced and unaccompanied children.
From the outset, Project Suzir’ya was designed as an enduring effort to address the medium and long-term risks facing displaced Ukrainian children. In 2025, as we approach the end of the project’s second year, the picture emerging across Central and Eastern Europe remains deeply concerning. The landscape is filled with threats to the safety, well-being and dignity of displaced children.
By the time many of these children arrived in their host countries, many have already endured significant adverse experiences. They may have been separated from their families, experienced fear and loss, or become exposed to situations of abuse, or exploitation. These experiences rarely end at border crossings and, as the war continues into its fourth year, new challenges have arisen in the very communities meant to provide refuge.
Across Poland, Slovakia, Czechia, and Romania, what began as broad solidarity and mobilization in early 2022 has, in some places, shifted towards fatigue which can undermine child protection efforts. National child protection systems and civil society organizations already faced significant strain to their capacity before the full-scale invasion and now, these actors are currently facing substantial funding challenges to continue their support of children from Ukraine. For these children, this creates a compounded vulnerability: they are not only more likely to have experienced abuse and neglect but also face increased barriers to accessing support.
In these conditions, child protection cannot be treated as a secondary concern. The risks facing displaced children from Ukraine are not temporary. They evolve alongside the protracted nature of the war and the pressures on host communities. This is precisely why the work of Project Suzir’ya remains as crucial as ever.
Strengthening Protection Across Borders: From National Response to Regional Solidarity
As Project Suzir’ya moves towards its third year, our scope is expanding. We are turning attention not only to how individual national systems can provide protection, but to how they can work together across borders. Children on the move, whether fleeing renewed hostilities, seeking family reunification, or moving between host countries, must be guaranteed continuity of care and protection throughout their journeys. The fragmentation of systems between states can expose children to renewed risks of abuse, and it is here that regional cooperation becomes indispensable. Building on the foundations laid in the project’s first two years, our next phase will strengthen cross-border coordination between child protection and justice actors in the five participating countries: Ukraine, Romania, Poland, Czechia, and Slovakia.
For children displaced from Ukraine, the need for protection has not diminished with time. Instead, their risks have deepened, becoming embedded in the social, economic, and political fabric of displacement.
As war continues and displacement becomes protracted, Project Suzir’ya stands as a testament to what long-term, multidisciplinary and interagency child protection must look like: grounded in evidence, driven by partnerships, and focused on ensuring that every child, regardless of nationality or status, can access safety, justice, and hope for the future.
Learn more about the Suzir’ya project.
