There are between 350 – 500,000 Jews living in Ukraine, in a population of 46 million. Officially, 40% of the Ukrainian population are considered to be pensioners although unofficial statistics would suggest the figure is closer to 50%. The majority of these pensioners are barely subsisting on the government pension with which they are provided and require outside assistance to reach even a basic level of acceptable living. Many live in damp, dilapidated apartments in buildings with broken lifts and crumbling flights of stairs.
For children, the Government of Ukraine has made commitments to the rights of children, but spending on services for them remains low. Children, as with the elderly, are a particularly vulnerable group in the Ukraine. The country is on the brink of an HIV/AIDS epidemic – large numbers of those infected are under 30, and there has been an alarming number of mother to child transmissions. Many children from low-income families survive on poor diets with little or no access to primary health care.
Projects 1 to 5 of 13
ZaparozhyeZaparozhye, an important industrial city for Ukraine, has a population of around 20,000 Jews out of a total population of 790,000. It is the location of the first WJR ‘Our Town Project’, begun in 2001 when a building was purchased for the community. Find out more |
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B'nai B'rith Relief Fund - Kiev and LvovThe fund provides food and welfare services to 238 elderly and destitute Jews, some children and righteous gentiles in Kiev and Lvov who have no one else to whom they might turn. Find out more |
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Children's Home – ZaparozhyeThis home offers a new start in life to 27 Jewish children at risk, orphans aged six to 17 from unstable and impoverished families, or those living on the streets. Find out more |
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Children’s Initiative UkraineRecent surveys reveal that approximately 10% of Jewish children in Ukraine suffer from extreme poverty and deprivation, with only one third living in acceptable housing. Find out more |
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Tikvah & Yedid Programmes for Children with Special Needs - Dnepropetrovsk, KrivoyRog, Lugansk, & ZaporozhyeThis programme provides professional care to 172 Jewish children and 122 young adults with physical and mental disabilities in day care centres and summer camps. Find out more |
Projects 1 to 5 of 13