Childhood and war in Ukraine

The war in Ukraine has now entered its third year, and one of the most devastating results has been how the conflict has affected the country's children, and continues to do so. It affects those who, after the war worsened in February 2022, left Ukraine with their families in search of safety, and are still abroad. And it also affects those who remain in Ukrainian territory now, either because they never left, or because they left and have returned to their cities and villages (a total of 630,000 children have so far returned, according to the charity Save the Children).

Particularly worrying figures have just been published about the situation of the children in Ukraine today. These include the number of hours they are forced to spend in underground shelters and metro stations, while air raid warnings and sirens sound on the surface. UNICEF calculates that children in cities on the frontline of the war have spent between 4,000 and 7,000 hours underground (equivalent to between four and seven months) since war broke out. The devastating repercussions for their physical and mental health include huge gaps in their learning, which will be difficult to make up. Half of those aged between 13 and 15 have developed problems sleeping; 1 in 5 report high levels of anxiety, sadness and photophobia.

Every day, 29,000 children around the world are forced to leave their homes by war or persecution. The total is now in excess of 50 million, the largest number ever recorded. And this figure has doubled since 2010.

Film:Photophobia