Lumos Foundation
The Lumos Foundation is an international charitable organization founded in 2006 by British writer and author of the Harry Potter series J.K. Rowling.
Vision — Lumos – All children grow up safe in a loving family environment.
Mission — Lumos – To fight for every child’s right to a family by changing child welfare systems around the world. To this end, Lumos supports representatives of government agencies and non-governmental organizations working to reform the education, healthcare, and state system of care for orphans and children deprived of parental care. By this time, Lumos has developed and has implemented successful programs/projects around the world: in the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Moldova, Greece, Haiti, Panama, Jordan, Ethiopia, Kenya, etc.
Lumos is a member of the EU Civil Society Platform against Trafficking in Human Beings and is one of the founders of the European Expert Group on the Transition from Institutional to Community-Based Care.
More information: http://wearelumos.org/
Stages of Lumos’ work in Ukraine:
Lumos’ work in Ukraine can be divided into 3 stages:
(1) 2013-2014 – Lumos initiated reforms of certain processes in the eastern regions. (Makiivka, Dnipropetrovska oblast). A strategic analysis was conducted to assess the situation of children in those regions. Training sessions were also organized on assessing/monitoring the observance of children’s rights (including children in institutional care);
(2) 2016 – 2022. In 2016, Lumos was invited by the Ukrainian Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights to provide technical assistance and expertise to the country in planning and implementing reforms.
(3) 2017-present – systematic support and assistance is provided to the relevant national and regional authorities.
The Lumos Foundation has no representative office in Ukraine, but in 2023 is working on opening an office in Kyiv. Until 2023, the Foundation’s program in Ukraine was implemented mainly remotely, through the transfer of knowledge and principles of work from the countries where Lumos and others operate. The best practices and experience at the international level are aligned with Ukrainian legislation and local realities.
Lumos’ performance in Ukraine in 2012
– In 2022 alone, more than 7,070 children and nearly 3,000 families in difficult life circumstances, including large families, foster families, and internally displaced families, received 121.5 tons of food and nearly 35 tons of hygiene products in Zhytomyr Oblast. 4385 children received school supplies. From July 1, 2022. A similar project was implemented in Odesa region in cooperation with the NGO Manifesto for Peace, where the primary focus was on children with disabilities. Thus, the initiative reached more than 6,800 children and more than 3,000 families, who received 104 tons of food and almost 6 tons of hygiene products.
– Training was conducted on providing psychosocial support to children affected by the war:
o National trainers from all regions of Ukraine – 95 trainers were trained;
o Local specialists in the Zhytomyr region (psychologists, social workers, specialists of children’s services) – more than 400 specialists and 160 parents-caregivers were trained in providing first aid to children.
– Lumos provided methodological and expert support to the Zhytomyr Regional State Administration in conducting a rapid needs assessment of children in institutional care in 2022 and their families in the Zhytomyr region
– Children’s rights were advocated at international meetings, clusters and other coordination platforms.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Lumos has been working in the following platforms/groups:
– Ukrainian Child Rights Network
– Child Protection Sub-Cluster of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
– UGCC Education Cluster
– Working Subgroup on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support under the UNCG Education Cluster
– Working Group on Unaccompanied and Separated Children at the UNCCC
– General coordination cluster of the UNCG
– In Moldova, Lumos is implementing a special project to support Ukrainian refugee children. Children and their families are provided with humanitarian aid and support in obtaining medical, educational and social services.
Lumos plans for 2023
The organization continues to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Ukrainian people in this difficult time. Thus, the key areas of the Fund’s activities in 2023 have been identified:
– Providing emergency targeted assistance to vulnerable children and families (humanitarian aid, psychosocial support, etc.) affected by the conflict in Ukraine to prevent family breakdown and institutionalization
– Supporting national and regional authorities, as well as professionals working directly or indirectly with children and civil society representatives in developing a comprehensive multisectoral system of child welfare and protection
– Advocacy for accelerating the reform of the child welfare system and prioritizing child protection in recovery processes
– Effective implementation of child safety and protection policies during the implementation of all project activities to ensure that the safety of children, youth, adults at risk and the wider community is prioritized and that relevant approaches are promoted in national policy