NEWS AND VIEWS: UNICEF reports on childhood and motherhood in Ukraine
by Olga Stawnychy
CONCLUSION
Ukraine's children are its future, and how they develop physically, mentally and emotionally will impact the well-being of the entire nation and the world. The planners of economic reform in Ukraine have overlooked the welfare needs of millions of vulnerable children during this transition period.
The greatest gap between economic progress and social improverishment is seen in the deteriorating position of the children in public care. These are the children whose parent, in effect, is the state.
In launching the report, "Children at Risk in Central and Eastern Europe: Peril and Promises," John Donohue, director of the UNICEF regional office for Central and Eastern Europe, the CIS and the Baltic states, stated that many difficulties have stood in the way of major improvement in institutional care and more humane options for children without parental care. Over 1 million children in the region are being abandoned to state care.
Many families have had to cope with a devastating deterioration in their material conditions. It might have been expected that families would pull together in times of crisis. Instead, the tremendous pressures of the transition appear to be splitting them apart and eroding parental responsibility. The divorce rate has increased, and fewer divorced fathers provide regular support to their families. Skills, social values and coping strategies developed in earlier decades have proved vastly inadequate. Poverty and social dislocation have put enormous burdens on families who often have limited capacity or experience in taking responsibility for their children's welfare, traditionally the task of state authorities. Child monitoring mechanisms, including those normally expected in school and health systems, have been eroded and are in need of reform.
Children in especially difficult circumstances must be the focus of special attention from the state, according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The children belonging to this group are: orphaned and abandoned children, children whose parents are unemployed, children who must work, children who have suffered from ecological disasters, runaways, and drug and alcohol abusers.
In Ukraine, according to the national report, "Childhood and Motherhood," there are 90,000 orphaned children and children deprived of parental care. Of this number, only 7 percent are true orphans; the rest have parents who have abandoned them or who have been removed from them by the court due to their inability to provide care, imprisonment or long-term medical care. About 1 percent of these are abandoned by the mother hours after birth because they lack the means to support the child, or are imprisoned, or due to the newborn's illness.
The institutions currently in existence in Ukraine are based on the 19th century model of socialism and were set up as a child-rescue institutions for destitute and neglected children. Large-scale collectivist rather than individualized care and a belief that the state could readily replace the family were its distinguishing features. This approach is totally unsuited to meet the child protection needs of the 20th century, incapable of safeguarding children and families from the social and economic shocks of transition in a post-communist society.
In the last 50 years there have been many changes in approaches to substitute care for children in Western societies. There was a shift from large-scale institutional upbringing to smaller scale residential care and an emphasis on offering, whenever possible, the chance to be placed in foster homes. There are also programs to strengthen the natural family to prevent its breakdown and in this way reduce the need for substitute care.
New methods of raising children have been developed in Ukraine with the establishment of family homes where orphans are raised within families. In 1996, 572 orphans were placed in 74 "family children's houses." According to Suzanna Stanik, former minister of Youth and Family in Ukraine (who has just been named minister of justice), this alternative is working well and is better for the children. Unfortunately this arrangement is available only to a very small number of children, while there are 90,000 in state care.
Children living in institutional care are the most vulnerable of all those separated from their families. In the past these children constituted a forgotten underclass whose voice to the outside world was not heard. Many of these institutions house 150 to 600 children, who, as a result, often lose all contact with family, friends and the community. Institutional care stunts the capacity of children to bond and form deep and lasting relationships. It does not prepare children to take their place in the outside world and often produces serious delays in cognitive development.
Orphans often display particular emotional traits: they develop an inferiority complex, a weak ego, impulsive behavior and lack the ability to appraise adults, their peers and the world. These children have specific developmental needs that must to be addressed in special education establishments.
Over 160,000 children live in 830 boarding schools in Ukraine. Of these 51,000 are orphaned. There is a continual increase in the number of families unable to support their children and no concomitant increase in the number of boarding schools to care for them. Many of the existing buildings are in need of renovation; 100 schools have no sewage or running water, and every fourth one needs complete renovation.
Boarding schools also are experiencing difficulties in terms of rehabilitation, recreation and medical services, especially for disabled children. Children with disabilities are of particular concern because the attitude of the public towards disabilities remains one of ignorance, contempt, prejudice and fear. These children are often isolated, and their families receive little assistance medically, economically or socially.
There has been a steady increase in children's disabilities in the 90s. This is due to the increase in hereditary diseases and problem pregnancies and births. Hereditary diseases are difficult to treat after birth. Between 1992 and 1995, the incidence of birth defects doubled. Disorders of the nervous system are the most common form of disability (43 percent) followed by psychiatric mental disorders (24 percent) and those resulting from congenital diseases (14 percent). Efforts need to be made for early rehabilitation (from the moment of birth) of children with disabilities and in high-risk groups and in prevention of births of serious congenital disorders.
The socialist-communist system did not provide for a healthy moral development of society, and the current economic and social crisis worsens the marginal moral environment for the care and education of children and youth. They are living under extremely unfavorable conditions: a difficult financial situation within families leading to worsening intra-familial relations, deficiencies in the organization of school education and reduction in extra-curricular school establishments.
There is an increase in the number of adolescents who neither work nor study. Deprived of society-level protection mechanisms, children and adolescents in particular are falling prey to drug abuse, alcohol and tobacco addiction, violence, child prostitution, STDs, including HlV/AIDS, and crime. In the past five years, the number of teens who have repeatedly committed crimes has risen more than 19 percent. Drug addiction and heavy drinking contribute to this growth. The number of drug addicts who are minors is estimated to be between 17,000 and 20,000. Every sixth teen who committed a crime was drunk. Research shows that 17 percent of pupils in grade 5, 25 percent in grade 8 and 56 percent in grade 11 consume alcohol regularly. These young people are increasingly forming anti-social groups (gangs).
Every year 8,000 to 9,000 teens leave their families, children's houses, boarding schools and institutions. There are no homes for delinquent minors.
In the last few years, there has been a drop in children's interest in books, art and high cultural values simultaneously with the destruction of the infrastructure for cultural activities. These are being replaced by publications and movies popularizing violence, cruelty, sex and mysticism. There is a need to directly involve minors in social life, so that they can acquire social experience and adopt moral norms and fundamental human values. The current situation promotes apathy and social doubt in youth, and this must be overcome to instill socially responsible behavior.
"Children and the Chornobyl Power Plant Disaster" was a topic addressed separately in this report. As of 1996 there were 2,218 settlements located in the areas contaminated by the accident. About 2.4 million people are living in the contaminated areas, including 535,200 children under age 15. In 1994, 731,000 Ukrainian children and adolescents were registered as being affected by Chornobyl's fallout; by January 1995 the number was 1,177,000; and in January 1996 the number was 965,000 (the recent decline is due to the statistical increase in children age 15 and over).
It has been found that children living in contaminated areas have greater susceptibility to radiation than adults, and trends indicate that the health of these children is worsening from year to year. According to data of the Academy of Medical Sciences Radiation Research Institute, in 1987-1988, 53 percent of Ukrainian children were deemed healthy (no chronic disorders) while in 1990-1994 only 31 percent to 41 percent tested healthy. For children in contaminated areas, 27 percent tested healthy.
Clinical observations show that health disorders of children affected by the catastrophe are caused mainly by immune system, metabolic and hormonal disorders, and dysfunctions of the central and peripheral nervous system. Most children are still not provided with uncontaminated foodstuffs and the drugs, vitamins and herbs needed to protect them from the influence of radiation and to increase their resistance to illness.
The consequences of this radiation in the next decade are an issue of special concern, especially for children who were affected prior to birth or have been living for a long period in contaminated areas. The child mortality rate is expected to increase by between 22 percent and 76 percent in the most contaminated areas.
Financing of rehabilitation by ministries and enterprises has decreased because of the current economic crisis in Ukraine. Trade unions, the Social Insurance Fund and local authorities have stopped financing rehabilitation of affected children, while the minister of health and minister of Chornobyl have not developed mechanisms for rehabilitation abroad. This is done mostly by private organizations and individuals.
The worst situations exist in the Poltava, Luhansk, and Donetsk oblasts and in the Carpathian Mountains. In 1992, with the funds allocated it was possible to rehabilitate one in three affected children and adults, in 1993 one in four, and in 1994 one in seven. There is a definite need for construction of sanatoriums for the chronically ill.
Not only the physical, but also the social and psychological condition of both adults and children was greatly affected by the Chornobyl disaster, according to the findings of various comprehensive studies. These conditions include high levels of anxiety, dissatisfaction with life, passiveness and dependency, pessimism about the future, distrust towards authority at all levels, a lower legal culture and preoccupation with negative gossip. The catastrophe has especially affected the normal development of children and teenagers. Chronic stress is present in children living in contaminated areas. The current care provided for these children by their parents and state institutions encourages conformity and passive adaptation to existing circumstances. It encourages weakness and doesn't allow for development of confidence. A "victim's psychology" has resulted, a feeling of abandonment and doom and a dependency on the state, which victims feel is responsible for their welfare.
The families and children who have been resettled from contaminated areas have not adapted to their new environment. They have formed isolated groups with a victimized attitude toward their social surroundings. Such trends are not constructive and dangerous for the personal development of children. Children's socialization is affected by adults, parents and teachers, and they must learn to adapt to the their new surroundings to develop a healthy world view. They need a positive emotional atmosphere to be able to form a sound state of mind that is capable of adapting to various situations and taking a more active role towards making changes in their own life.
The plight of today's children in Ukraine is grim. Families have the ultimate responsibility to raise their children in a caring moral home, where not only are the child's basic material needs met but where a healthy and moral lifestyle is practiced. The state and society, however, have to provide a stable healthy environment for the family to live in. The slow pace of economic reform has adversely affected families, with the children being the most vulnerable and at greatest risk. Many thousands of children have been left to public care - many of whom are living in inadequate and desperate conditions.
The immediate rights of the children in public care to food and health security must be reasserted. There has to be a long term strategy started immediately. The increasing rates of flow of children into all forms of public care must be drastically decreased. A new set of family support policies must be developed. There is an urgent need for social and moral rehabilitation of the population, fostering family values and civic responsibilities. There should be a more active use of fostercare, a more active use of adoption and a development of family reunification programs.
The most obvious problem facing Ukraine is the acute lack of funds and personnel to develop comprehensive family support services. The Ukrainian community in the diaspora has been providing a great deal of humanitarian aid with the establishment of many organizations such as the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund and Help us Help the Children, in addition to private funds and special funds within existing organizations. The Ukrainian medical community, too, has been active in its sphere of responsibility.
Today there is great urgency in coordinating all of our efforts in order to achieve the greatest uniform improvement in the lives of the Ukrainian children. On this sixth anniversary of the independence of Ukraine, as we celebrate and rejoice, please, let us not forget the children of Ukraine!
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The World Federation of Ukrainian Women's Organizations is a non-governmental organization in consultative status with ECOSOC and UNICEF. WFUWO is compiling data on community aid to Ukrainian children. Individuals and organizations active in this field are asked to please contact: Olga Stawnychy via fax, (201) 933-8609; or e-mail, yvsdds@viconet.com
Ms. Stawnychy is the WFUWO's NGO representative to the United Nations and UNICEF.
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, August 31, 1997, No. 35, Vol. LXV
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