Children's Living Places
The war in Ukraine has left thousands of children without a home, and in the worst cases, without parental care. The country’s child welfare system is under increased pressure after three years of war. With the support of a coalition of partners, SOS Children’s Villages Ukraine and SOS Children’s Villages Denmark have committed to playing a leading role in reforming the childcare system in Ukraine through the project Children’s Living Places. The project promotes preventive social work and family-based care for children without parental care, rather than placement in institutions.
Better care or children and young people in Ukraine
Children’s Living Places will ensure better care for the children and young people who need it, and at the same time ensure that far fewer children are separated from their parents and placed outside the home.
Today, over 90 percent of children in alternative care in Ukraine have one or both parents with full custody. Many children in institutions are not there because they have lost parental care, have a disability, or suffer from a serious illness, but rather because their families are experiencing economic or social difficulties. With preventive measures such as financial assistance and social counselling, many parents would be able to keep their children at home.
Over the years, Ukraine has made repeated attempts to move away from its more than 720 institutional care facilities, but despite good intentions, the number of institutions has actually increased. In 2023, the Ukrainian government pledged to replace harmful institutional care with family-based environments as part of the country’s EU accession process. In November 2024, the government adopted a new reform: the Strategy for Ensuring the Right of Every Child to Grow Up in a Family Environment (2024–2028). The strategy was developed by the authorities with professional input from expert organizations, including SOS Children’s Villages Ukraine.
The newly adopted strategy aims to improve the care system, ensure preventive support for families, and implement a rights-based approach that takes children’s and young people’s perspectives into account, lets their voices be heard and safeguards their rights. The strategy also includes a comprehensive review of legislation in the field during the 2025–2027 period.
New, safe homes as part of Ukraine’s reconstruction
The war in Ukraine has had devastating consequences for millions of Ukrainians, many of whom have lost their homes. The World Bank estimates that more than 13 percent of the country’s total housing stock has been damaged or destroyed, affecting approximately 2.5 million homes.
The total estimated cost of damage is close to 176 billion dollars, and the need for recovery and reconstruction of the housing sector is estimated at over 84 billion dollars. The need for rebuilding new homes is urgent and immense, and at the same time it is important that Ukraine will be rebuilt in a sustainable and climate positive manner.
The new homes for foster families in this project are based on the Living Places concept, developed by the VELUX Group in collaboration with EFFEKT architects and Artelia engineers. The concept ensures a lower CO2-footprint than conventional construction methods. The building materials and techniques are designed to minimize environmental impact and provide a healthy indoor climate for the families.
Millions of Ukrainians are internally displaced because of the war; this includes foster families too. By building new homes for foster families, Children’s Living Places aims to combine the rebuilding of Ukraine with the reformation of the country’s childcare sector for a long-term positive change.
At the same time, the building efforts are intended to serve as a model for the large-scale national reconstruction that lies ahead.
the Living Places principles developed by the VELUX Group, EFFEKT and Artelia
