Preventing Protection Risks and Providing Protection Services and Support to the Highest-Risk Categories of Children in Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Donetsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Odesa, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia. Street Child is requesting $1,499,005 for a comprehensive child protection programme to improve awareness of protection risks and provide protection services and support for 25,000 children aged 3 to 17 [including up to 10% children with disabilities]. Street Child will work with 4 excellent, effective local level organisations to establish partnerships with 25 community-based organisations and community groups and expand provision in Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Donetsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Odesa, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia. 

The proposed project uses a scaffolded intervention that intensifies support and services across categories of increasing vulnerabilities: 
*25,000 conflict-affected children and their caregivers will receive life-saving, life-sustaining information to promote awareness of protection risks and prevent protection violations [including prevention of sexual abuse and exploitation and separation from caregivers] and
* 8,500 conflict-affected children who are vulnerable to, or victims of, protection violations will receive life-saving, life-sustaining services and support, comprising – 
   * 5,500 children identified as at-risk of psychosocial stress and trauma who will receive mental health and psychosocial support services 
   * 2,500 conflict-affected children at significant risk of separation from caregivers who will receive counselling and case management services 
   * 500 conflict-affected children including separated children at severe risk of exposure to exploitation and violence who will receive specialised services including case management, interim care, and family tracing and reunification.

Street Child leverages active presence, partnerships, and programmes in Ukraine, including: “Education in Emergencies” [$500K/4M/UHF] reaching 6000 children in partnership with 5 local level organisations in Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, and Zaporizhzhia “Education and Psychosocial Support for Displaced and Returnee Populations” [$680K/7M/UBS Optimus Foundation] reaching 10,000 children in partnership with 6 local level organisations in Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Rivne, Kyiv, Odesa, Poltava, Kharkiv, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia and “Ukraine Rapid Response” [$200K/8M/Street Child] reaching 11,000+ children through flexible financial grants to 14 local level organisations in the aforementioned oblasts, as well as Volyn and Zakarpattia in Ukraine and in Moldova and Romania.

The project prioritises (i) proactive programming in accessible areas at risk of access being curtailed or cut off, including Kharkiv, Odesa, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia (ii) providing assistance in areas close to the contact line and areas that have been de-occupied, including Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Kyiv and (iii) decentralising assistance to hard-to-reach and rural areas through targeting Liubotyn, Losivska, and Zmiivska in Kharkiv Bobryk, Bohdanivka, Ivankiv, and Shevchenkove in Kyiv Lyman in Odesa and Velykopysarivka and Yunakivka in Sumy. 

The proposed project provides a platform for partnership with 4 local level organisations and 25 small civil society organisations, community-based organisations, and community groups – as a critical contribution to advancing commitments to localisation laid out in the Flash Appeal and the 2022 First Standard Allocation Strategy. The project leverages the experience and expertise of 4 local level organisations, including an Organisation of Persons with Disabilities [OPD] and a women’s organisation, to (i) promote gender equality, equity, and inclusion across all activities and (ii) provide capacity strengthening, surge support, and small-grants to 25 small civil society organisations, community-based organisations, and community groups. The project also promotes coordination and capacity strengthening support for local level authorities on identification, family tracing and reunification [including cross-border or close to line of contact] of separated children.