Ukraine UKRAINE May, VULNERABILITY: 2020 REGIONAL ASPECTS Children in Ukraine Children account for more than a quarter of the country’s population. Almost 7.6 million children and young people live in Ukraine (0-17 years). 160 169 345 172 238 277 183 304 Chernihiv 234 272 238 Sumy Kyiv Volyn Rivne 248 432 Zhytomyr 558 233 485 417 279 235 447 199 241 490 196 Kharkiv 339 Lviv 245 City of Kyiv 214 Poltava Luhansk 211 579 276 Khmelnytskiy Cherkasy Ternopil 286 285 556 588 301 167 Ivano-Frankivsk Dnipropetrovsk 665 291 Vinnytsya Kirovohrad 176 285 184 293 Donetsk 206 Zakarpattya 185 290 Chernivtsi 468 210 196 Zaporizhzhya 435 Mykolayiv 199 Odesa Kherson 7,580 — — 2018 60 336 2011 8,003 Sevastopol Autonomous Republic (city council) of Crimea UKRAINE Figure 1. Number of Children in Ukraine by region, absolute number (thousands) for every child, love FOLLOW US: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | unicef.org.ua 1 MAY, 2020 VULNERABILITY: REGIONAL ASPECTS Children in the СOVID-19 Affected Regions COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread in Ukraine. Restrictive measures are in place in Ukraine, incl. extending Ukraine’s quarantine untill 22 May 2020. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ukraine imposed the state of emergency in all oblasts to maximize mobilization of resources and protect public health. Besides, it imposed restrictive measures: airway and railway traffic suspended, intercity and international bus service stopped. The COVID-19 pandemic and countrywide quarantine created a situation where 42,000 children (among 103,000 children) from 15 22 56 118 boarding schools were returned to 87 Chernihiv Sumy Volyn Kyiv their biological families or placed Rivne 38 in camps / shelters / rehabilitation Zhytomyr 180 41 77 18 3 31 City of Kharkiv centers, simultaneous and without Lviv 73 28 Poltava Luhansk Khmelnytskiy Kyiv any proper social work with such Ternopil Cherkasy 23 44 53 11 6 families. In the designated regions, Dnipropetrovsk Ivano- Vinnytsya Frankivsk Kirovohrad Donetsk cumulatively 12,787 children were 57 222 40 41 removed from Ministry of Education Zakarpattya Chernivtsi of Ukraine boarding schools, and 67 Mykolayiv Zaporizhzhya Odesa 25 as of the end of April total amount Kherson children in boarding schools is > 2000 cases 1,866, which includes boarding Autonomous > 1000 cases Republic of Crimea school all verticals of authority. 500–1000 cases < 500 cases Regions at risk: 18 Absolute number of cases of COVID-19 among children (0-17) by regions, Chernivtsi, Kyiv oblast and by laboratory-confirmed cases of coronavirus disease, as of 21 May 2020 Kyiv city, Ivano-Frankivsk, Figure 2. Distribution of cases of COVID-19 by regions, by laboratory-confirmed Rivne, Ternopil. cases of coronavirus disease among all population groups As any other crisis, the COVID-19 will also be over. The priority task is to minimize its economic consequences on children in Ukraine. Children will be disproportionally affected First, households with children in Ukraine are the most Fourth, the risk of poverty increases with unemployed vulnerable group, particularly in terms of monetary poverty. in the family. Thus, economic shocks and consequent Almost every 3rd child lives in poverty, and almost every unemployment will disproportionally affect children; 7th (14 %) in absolute poverty; Fifth, the poverty level in large cities is 18.3%, and in small Second, there is a clear correlation - the more children in the towns and rural areas, there are twice higher – 38.0% and family, the higher the risk of falling into poverty. The highest 39.9%, respectively; poverty levels are among large families (3+ children): each second of them (51.8%) is poor by relative criterion and Sixth, in Ukraine there is inverse correlation between GDP more than two thirds (70.7%) are poor by absolute criterion; per capita and absolute poverty, notably without time lag. The economic downturn almost inevitably will lead to the Third, families with youngest children (<3 y.o.) are the poorest. growth of absolute child poverty. This can be greatly attributed to the lost job or inability of one of the family members to work due to care function; 2 FOLLOW US: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | unicef.org.ua for every child, love VULNERABILITY: REGIONAL ASPECTS MAY, 2020 Poverty The level of child poverty has pronounced regional differences: from 22.8% in Chernihiv region to 76.3% in Rivne. A vulnerability focus has been identified in the northwestern 22.8 50.6 region of the country, where four 63.5 76.3 63.4 Chernihiv Sumy regions have high and very high Volyn Rivne 65.2 Kyiv rates of child poverty and eastern Zhytomyr 31.2 55.7 43.4 58.8 57.7 regions; high values are typical for 55.6 City of Kharkiv Lviv 55.6 48.9 Poltava Luhansk Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson Khmelnytskiy Kyiv Ternopil Cherkasy 40.8 39.4 regions and Kyiv oblast. 40.0 52.6 65.7 Dnipropetrovsk Ivano- Vinnytsya Frankivsk Kirovohrad Donetsk 41.2 34.3 53.6 36.0 Regions at risk: Zakarpattya Chernivtsi Rivne, Kherson, Donetsk, 58.1 Mykolayiv Zaporizhzhya Odesa 67.8 Zhytomyr, Volyn. Kherson At risk Autonomous High level Republic of Crimea Medium level Low level Figure 3. Relative Poverty in Ukraine by regions, percentage The relative poverty line is calculated as a fixed proportion of per capita expenses.Ukraine is using the relative criterion of 75 percent of the median aggregate expenditures calculated per adult (24.1% in 2018, HBS) YEARS 27.1 Men 75+ Woman 28.3 17.4 Men 71-75 Woman 17.7 22.8 Men 66-70 Woman 22.1 22.3 Men 61-65 Woman 17.3 18.4 Men 56-60 Woman 20.0 20.0 Men 51-55 Woman 19.7 22.6 Men 46-50 Woman 20.0 20.5 Men 41-45 Woman 22.3 22.3 Men 36-40 Woman 25.4 24.4 Men 31-35 Woman 24.3 23.0 Men 26-30 Woman 26.1 24.5 Men 21-25 Woman 27.2 25.8 Men 18-20 Woman 22.1 24.4 Adolescent Boys 16-17 Adolescent Girls 26.9 26.0 Adolescent Boys 14-15 Adolescent Girls 34.3 28.8 Boys 7-13 Girls 29.8 30.2 Boys 3-6 Girls 33.9 35.1 Boys under 2 Girls 33.7 YEARS Figure 4. Relative Poverty in Ukraine by age, percentage for every child, love FOLLOW US: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | unicef.org.ua 3 MAY, 2020 VULNERABILITY: REGIONAL ASPECTS Access to Health Care There are substantial regional disparities in infant mortality rates: the highest rate (13.2 in Zakarpattya oblast) was more than 2 times greater than the lowest value (6.0 in Kyiv oblast). The trend in the mortality closely follows changes in neonatal mortality. The progress in implementation of vaccination plans for older children currently varies between 22-28 per cent (vaccination with ADT-M, second dose, at the age of 7 and over; and BCG-2, at the age of 7) and 88-89 per cent (vaccination with MMR-2 (at the ages of 6, 7 and over). UNICEF warns that although evidence suggests that pregnant mothers are not more affected by COVID-19 than others, Ukraine need to ensure they still have access to antenatal, delivery and postnatal services. Likewise, sick newborns need emergency services as they are at high risk of death. New families require support to start breastfeeding, and to get medicines, vaccines and nutrition to keep their babies healthy. 9.3 6.1 8.6 7.6 6.0 Chernihiv Sumy An urgent appeal to government Volyn Rivne 8.8 Kyiv and health care providers to save Zhytomyr 6.3 8.1 8.1 6.1 6.5 lives in the coming months by: 7.2 City of Kharkiv Lviv 6.7 10.6 Poltava Luhansk Khmelnytskiy Kyiv • Helping pregnant women to receive Ternopil Cherkasy 7.7 10.4 6.8 10.4 8.5 antenatal checkups, skilled delivery Dnipropetrovsk Ivano- Vinnytsya Frankivsk Kirovohrad Donetsk care, postnatal care services, and 13.2 9.2 9.3 9.2 care related to COVID-19 as needed; Zakarpattya Chernivtsi 9.1 Mykolayiv Zaporizhzhya • Ensuring health workers are Odesa 9.9 provided with the necessary Kherson personal protective equipment and 8.3 Autonomous get priority testing and vaccination Republic of Crimea once a COVID-19 vaccine becomes UKRAINE available so that they can deliver high quality care to all pregnant Figure 5. Mortality rate among children up to five years of age by region, women and newborn babies number of children of corresponding age who died per 1000 live birth during the pandemic; • Guaranteeing that all infection 83.5 prevention and control measures 90.1 83.1 89.1 are in place in health facilities during 76.5 72.2 95.1 85.7 Chernihiv 74.4 63.8 84.2 Sumy childbirth and immediately after; Kyiv Volyn Rivne 75.2 76.0 73.0 • Allowing health care workers to Zhytomyr 89.7 92.5 85.7 71.3 75.4 87.1 89.6 85.0 94.0 reach pregnant women and new 88.8 Kharkiv 75.0 Lviv 86.6 City of Kyiv 83.1 Poltava 87.4 75.0 Luhansk mothers through home visits, 76.1 Khmelnytskiy 87.1 Cherkasy Ternopil 62.7 70.5 encouraging women living in remote 75.2 79.1 93.3 Ivano-Frankivsk Dnipropetrovsk 77.6 areas to use maternal waiting 65.4 Vinnytsya Kirovohrad 87.6 71.4 81.3 80.2 Donetsk 100.0 homes, and by using mobile health Zakarpattya 80.2 83.0 72.1 96.5 strategies for teleconsultations; Chernivtsi 77.7 Zaporizhzhya 67.3 Mykolayiv 69.2 Odesa • Training, protecting and equipping 80.5 Kherson health workers with clean birth kits 78.4 Autonomous to attend home births where health UKRAINE Republic of Crimea facilities are closed; • Allocating resources to lifesaving DPT-3 immunization coverage among one-year-olds Polio-3 immunization coverage among one-year-olds services and supplies for maternal and child health.