Ukraine

Depaul Kharkiv's main focus is working with street children and young peole aged 7-20 or children and young people at risk of homelessness.  

Depaul Kharkiv is based in Ukraine's second largest city, Kharkiv, near the border with Russia and was registered as a Ukrainian charity in April 2007. More recently it has begun to develop services for older homeless people as well.

Most families in Ukraine have to survive on less than $2 a day, and there are estimated to be as many as 250,000 people sleeping rough in Ukraine.  Poverty, disease, alcoholism, and violence are widespread over the country and several hundreds of thousands of children find themselves existing under difficult conditions.

Street children are particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse and drug use, as well as being susceptible to TB, alcohol addiction, glue sniffing, and crime.  Most street children have to seek shelter from the freezing winter temperatures by sleeping underground near hot water mains, in cellars, and in railway stations.

Since 2007 Depaul Kharkiv has worked with upwards of 500 different street children and children in state provision.

Depaul Kharkiv, through Depaul International, is a member of the Consortium for Street Children, the only worldwide network that works collectively to help street children on a global scale.