Conflict and war affects children in all the ways it affects adults, but also in different ways. First, children are dependent on the care, empathy, and attention of adults who love them. Their attachments are frequently disrupted in times of war, due to the loss of parents, extreme preoccupation of parents in protecting and finding subsistence for the family, and emotional unavailability of depressed or distracted parents. The child may be in substitute care with someone who cares for him or her only slightly – relatives or an orphanage. A certain proportion of war-affected children lose all adult protection – “unaccompanied children,” as they are known in refugee situations. However, they are often most invisible groups of the conflict or war in need of mental health support. When parents are mentally affected following their experience as soldier or front-line responder, their children equally suffer – in silence. They have no means to understand and express their feelings, feel responsible for the challenges of their parents, and naturally suppress their own needs for their parents’ benefit. Children who lost a parent at the frontline are particularly at risk of developing more severe mental health challenges.
The FGIP is currently piloting a holistic program to support the mental health of children and adolescents in Ukraine, replicable to other countries and contexts of conflicts and war:
