May 2018 Ukraine © UNICEF/UN0150817/GILBERTSON VII PHOTO The Children of the Contact Line in East Ukraine 2017 Assessment Update Markivka Novopskov Bilokurakyne Milove THE CHILDREN OF THE CONTACT LINE IN EAST UKRAINE UNICEF May 2018 2 2017 ASSESSMENT UPDATE Svatove Kyiv Starobilsk UKRAINE LUHANSK OBLAST Bilovodsk (GCA) Kreminna Novoaidar Rubizhne Lyman SEVERODONETSK Lysychansk Petrivka KHARKIV OBLAST Triokhizbenka Sloviansk Shchastia Stanytsia Luhanska Orikhove Krymske Kramatorsk Soledar Zolote Kirovsk Bahmut Popasna Pervomaisk Stahaniv DONETSK OBLAST Troitske LUHANSK Alchevsk (GCA) Svitlodarsk Brianka Kostiantynivka Dobropillia LUHANSK OBLAST Krasnodon Toretsk Debaltseve Horlivka (NGCA) Verkhnotoretske Enakieve Krasnyi Luch Sverdlovsk Pokrovsk Avdiivka Shahtarsk Antracyt Opytne Makiivka Rovenky Pisky Snizhne Krasnohorivka Torez Marinka DONETSK Velyka Novosilka Kostyantynivka DONETSK OBLAST Vugledar (NGCA) Novotroitske Komsomolske Mykolaivka Volnovaha Russian Federation Starohnativka Hranitne Telmanove ZAPORIZHZHIA Chermalyk OBLAST Pavlopil Sartana Novoazovsk MARIUPOL Shyrokine Mangush SEA OF AZOV EASTERN CONFLICT AREA Location of UNICEF Field Offices/Presence LEGEND Contact Line (~472km) Territory of Ukraine Settlement ‘Buffer Zone’ (5km Zone) Non-Government Unicef Field Office/Presence Controlled Area (NGCA) ‘Buffer Zone’ (15km Zone) UNICEF May 2018 THE CHILDREN OF THE CONTACT LINE IN EAST UKRAINE 2017 ASSESSMENT UPDATE 3 INTRODUCTION The conflict in Eastern Ukraine continues to threaten the Methodology: wellbeing of children. Some of the most vulnerable children live in close proximity to the ‘contact line’ between the This assessment is a direct follow-up to the firstChildren government-controlled area (GCA) and the non-government- of the Contact Line assessment conducted in late 2016 controlled area (NGCA). On the government-controlled with updates in April 2017. In-depth, open-ended interviews side alone, it is estimated that are over 55,000 children live were conducted following the format used in the previous within 15 km of the contact line. In addition to dozens of assessment, with over 100 respondents in 81 educational ceasefire violations recorded every day by the OSCE Special facilities along the contact line.1 This was supplemented by Monitoring Mission along the contact line, these children are a desk review of recent publications and new enrolment also exposed to mines and unexploded ordinance. However, data, GIS analysis, and several interviews with non-education it is not only direct exposure to violence that distinguishes key informants. A detailed description of the assessment this area from territory further from the contact line: The methodology can be found in the methodology section creation of a de facto barrier to movement of civilians (as of Children of the Contact Line, the previous assessment well as goods) between the GCA and the NGCA, the damage published in June 2017. to transportation infrastructure and the collapse of public Three things differentiate this assessment from the previous transport have made settlements much more difficult to one. First, this assessment was conducted in parallel with enter and leave. This isolation — combined with the on-going the 2017 Education Cluster School Survey, which covers conflict, infrastructure damage, and mined farmland — has all of government-controlled Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts dramatically increased unemployment among parents, creating a more comprehensive picture of the situation in the with many settlements having virtually no work outside two regions and allowing findings from the contact line to government institutions such as local administrations, be compared with areas further away. Data from that survey schools and medical facilities. High unemployment, coupled will be cited in this assessment. Second, some themes with the significant depreciation of the Ukrainian currency, were added or expanded from the previous assessment, has deepened the monetary poverty of families and further such as questions on social services and detailed mapping decreased their capacity to withstand shocks and stresses of the proximity of military sites to educational facilities. caused by this manmade conflict. Children and their families Finally, following the 2017 health facilities assessment and also suffer from damage and limited access to healthcare and initial interviews that indicated little substantial change in the education services, as well as basic necessities such as water situation, collection of information on health and HIV and AIDS supply. The situation is, overall, one of greatly heightened was very limited for this assessment. vulnerability for those living along the contact line. This report is a direct addendum to UNICEF’s The Children of the Contact Line in East Ukraine: An Assessment of the Situation of Children and Their Families Living in Government- Controlled Areas along the Contact Line in the East Ukraine Conflict Zone (henceforward Children of the Contact Line or the CCL report) published in June 2017. It explains how the situation of children, their parents, their caregivers and education service providers has changed over the course of 2017, and provides additional information on specific issues identified in the initial CCL assessment in 2016. Issues addressed in the last report that are largely unchanged or where no significant additional data has been collected are not explored here. This addendum is not a standalone work: it is intended to be used in conjunction with the original Children of the Contact Line report. 1 Of these, 75 were educational facilities with 5 km of the contact line and six were located in partic- ularly vulnerable areas 5-15km from the contact line. Over three quarters of the respondents had been interviewed for the previous assessment THE CHILDREN OF THE CONTACT LINE IN EAST UKRAINE UNICEF May 2018 4 2017 ASSESSMENT UPDATE CHANGES IN THE SECURITY SITUATION AND ACCESS TO CONTACT LINE SETTLEMENTS While children living within 5 km of the contact line continue Even in locations that experienced where educational facilities to live at risk of shelling, 2017 saw a slight improvement in sustained damages in major outbreaks in fighting in 2017, the overall security situation in most communities.2 Over such as Avdiivka in January and Krasnohorivka in May, school two-thirds of locations reported that the situation improved in and kindergarten directors reported that the situation has 2017 (from January to October) compared to 2016. Only one improved (and sometimes significantly) compared to 2016, location (Zolote-4 in Luhansk Oblast) reported a worsened not because the situation is even remotely safe, but because security situation, while the remaining third of the locations the previous several years had been horrific.4 reported that the situation had remained more or less the same. According to the respondents, the single biggest factor Mines and other explosive remnants of war (ERW) continue contributing to this marginally-improved security situation to threaten the safety and lives of children and their families was changes in shelling patterns. In most locations fighting throughout Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts. While the areas is still continuing, but attacks seem to have more closely closest to the contact line generally have the highest targeted military positions outside of populated areas.3 As one concentrations of mines and ERW, they can also frequently respondent put it: “The boys have taken their fight outside.” be found in most areas that experienced armed violence It cannot be emphasized strongly enough that this does not earlier in the conflict and now lie over 50 km from the mean that the children and their families are now safe; contact line. Incidents involving mines and ERW contributed 5 it just means that their situation has slightly improved. to nearly two-thirds of all reported child casualties in 2017. While demining has occurred in the last year in contact line settlements, and respondents report this is an important step, there is a general fear that a lot of ERW has been missed, while the ongoing shelling leaves undetonated weaponry dangerously scattered even in areas that have already been de-mined. For example, frequent sweeps to keep areas around schools clear from ERW still find new unexploded mortar shells.6 Regardless of the persistent danger these weapons present, the limited demining has positively impacted many communities, with respondents reporting more farming this year and more free movement within settlements. The year 2017 has also seen an improvement in access to © UNICEF/UN0150908/GILBERTSON VII PHOTO most contact line settlements. Bridges, especially in isolated parts of rural Luhansk, are being rebuilt and in some locations, (Third from left in front) Natalya Agarkova, 32, and her two daughters such as Krymske, new pontoon bridges have been laid to Veronika, 13, and Tanya, 8, wait to cross a checkpoint overseen by the better connect the town with GCA cities (since all the major Ukrainian military at the Kurahovo checkpoint between government roads lead to what is now the NGCA). In many locations controlled territory and areas controlled by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Mariinka, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, Thursday 23 No- (particularly in Luhansk Oblast), small military checkpoints vember 2017 have been removed or are no longer staffed, resulting in easier and faster access to contact line settlements. 2 OHCHR reports only four child fatalities