First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska met with the new head of the UNICEF Country Office in Ukraine, Munir Mammadzade, who assumed the role of UNICEF Representative to Ukraine in 2023. The President's wife congratulated him on his new appointment.
"The UNICEF team is always a welcome guest and partner," she said, expressing gratitude to the Fund for supporting Ukraine.
During the meeting, the First Lady and Munir Mammadzade discussed areas of collaboration, including the Ukrainian Mental Health Program "How Are You?". With UNICEF's support in Ukraine, training for medical professionals in psychological assistance to children is conducted under the international mhGAP programme. The President's wife acknowledged the professional projects of the Fund in training medical and psychological professionals. The UNICEF team is actively involved in promoting psychological awareness among parents, teachers, and children.
"In just a month and a half, over 17,000 professionals have completed training and are ready to help their young patients. This brings mental health services closer to the child because getting help from a child psychiatrist is extremely difficult now. There are few such specialists, their educational programs, and competencies do not meet the challenges of war and the needs – the system does not diagnose over two million cases annually. UNICEF is a reliable and deeply professional expert in this field, and I hope it will take this issue into account when planning projects in the field of mental health," Olena Zelenska said.
UNICEF has become one of the first international organizations to provide systematic support for the implementation of the school nutrition reform.
"Since 2020 – the beginning of the implementation of changes in this area – we have gained a reliable and constant partner. UNICEF has taken on an educational mission and has been working with one of the largest target audiences – parents and children – for several years. UNICEF offered its assistance in financing the project office for the reform. Its work started last summer. This allowed us to ensure a more systematic approach to work, more effectively build activities, and establish communication among all participants in the reform," the First Lady said.
UNICEF has also contributed to the creation of the Strategy and Action Plan for the development of inclusive education, currently under public discussion. It is expected that the Cabinet of Ministers will approve them in February.
The President's wife and the head of the UNICEF Country Office in Ukraine also discussed the development of family-based care, which is a priority for Ukraine. The First Lady thanked the UN Children's Fund for its cooperation in relevant projects of the Olena Zelenska Foundation, particularly for supporting large foster families.
"We are joining forces to ensure that children live in families. The Foundation has already provided humanitarian assistance to every third such family," she said.
Currently, at least 80 large foster families have had their homes destroyed or damaged by the Russian enemy. Within the framework of its "Address of Childhood" project, the Foundation is building 14 new homes for affected families. Two of these families have already received new housing.
"I am also grateful that last year UNICEF became an official partner of the third First Ladies and Gentlemen Summit and participated in organizing and conducting a panel dedicated to the topic of mental health and adolescents. I hope we can organize the next Summit together," Olena Zelenska concluded.
