The wife of the Ukrainian president, Olena Zelenska, wants the children in her country to see themselves not as a generation that experienced a difficult war, but as a "generation of winners", AP reported, quoted from BTA.
After a day spent at a rehabilitation center for Ukrainian children in the western city of Uzhhorod, Olena Zelenska said yesterday that working with the new generation is both a moral obligation and a "strategic priority" for the future of Ukraine.
Many of the children will return to frontline towns after only a few weeks in the camp – too short a time to recover from the traumas they face over and over again.
"The issue should be addressed immediately, as soon as it appears, before it escalates into something more," Zelenska told AP in an interview at the camp.
The foundation, which bears her name and is financed entirely by foreign donations, created the camp together with the charity "Voices of the Children".
A study prepared this year by the "Olena Zelenska" and Higher School of Economics in Kyiv, found that 44% of children in Ukraine have signs of PTSD.
Since the beginning of the war, Zelenska has become Ukraine's unofficial ambassador to the whole world. She was the first of President Zelensky's family to go outside the country after the Russian invasion to speak for the Ukrainian cause. However, she is no less active in Ukraine, as well as easily recognizable for the displaced families and wounded soldiers she visits.
Zelenska participates in the daily activities with the children in the camp.
"To ensure that our children do not become a lost generation, we, as adults, must not only be active, but also fast,", said Zelenska. "It is difficult, but I am sure that political will combined with international cooperation can achieve miracles," she said.
"I feel responsible because I understand that all eyes are on us," Zelenska stressed. "Even if you don't do anything special, people still appreciate how the president's family acts during wartime – what is he doing, where is he, how is he behaving," she added.
Zelenska noted that since the beginning of the invasion, Ukraine has been in a continuous humanitarian crisis, with one of the biggest problems being the displaced people and the millions of refugees abroad. The fighting has prevented children from attending school locally, and nationwide blackouts have forced many schools in relatively safe areas to switch to online learning.
"The war must stop, the education infrastructure must be in working order, and parents must feel safe," she said. "We really want these children to be able to go to school, see their teachers and communicate. But for the moment this is impossible," added Zelenska.
According to her, a key factor in stopping the war is the demand for responsibility from Russia.
"Only then will we win," she declared. "It may not happen quickly, but we must constantly think about how everything should look, so that nothing is forgotten and no one is neglected," concluded Olena Zelenska.