The Ministry of Reintegration and the Ukrainian Child Rights Network returned 14-year-old Ivan to the territory of free Ukraine

At the age of 14, Ivan is starting a new chapter in his life. He was taken out of the temporarily occupied part of Kherson region. The journey to the territory of free Ukraine took 22 days.

The Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Child Rights Network and Ivan’s countrymen, who had previously managed to evacuate to Kyiv region, made efforts to save the child.

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In early August, a woman called the Ministry of Reintegration’s 15-48 hotline and told us about a 14-year-old boy, Ivan, who lives in the non-government-controlled part of Kherson region. After the death of his grandmother, who took care of him, he was going to be placed in an orphanage at his place of residence, in the temporarily occupied territory (TOT).

A family of IDPs from Kherson region, who now live in Kyiv region, volunteered to take care of the boy. They had known Ivan for a long time, even before they moved. But they could not take him away from the TOT on their own.

Ivan’s return is another route that the Ministry of Reintegration and the Ukrainian Child Rights Network have been working together on as part of the “WAY HOME” project. During the summer of this year, the joint efforts helped to return 26 children.

And Ivan is finally safe, among his own. A new life begins for him…

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The Way Home project is aimed at finding and returning children displaced to Russia or the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, as well as reuniting families whose children are without parents in the occupation. The project is implemented by the Ukrainian Child Rights Network in partnership with the international humanitarian organization Save the Children in Ukraine.

Our other partners are: Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, EDUKIDS Charitable Foundation, Media Initiative for Human Rights.

You can join the “WAY HOME” project as well. Click on the SUPPORT US button and make a contribution to the return of children, as it requires considerable resources.

The materials developed within the project do not necessarily reflect the official position of Save the Children.

The way home

The title photo shows Ivan with his foster sister, a girl from the family that took him in.