Project period: April 2025 – March 2026

Project donors: Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV), Secours Populaire Français

Project partners: East SOS, DocuMental Care

Project budget: 303 272€

The war in Ukraine has caused an unprecedented mental health crisis. According to OCHA’s 2025 Humanitarian Response Plan, more than 9.2 million people are in need of healthcare, including mental health and psychosocial support services. The main issues lie in the instability of the healthcare system and the increased need for mental health support caused by the war. It is estimated that as many as 38% of Ukrainians are at high risk of depression. Children are particularly vulnerable — more than 1.5 million require help coping with stress, anxiety, and other mental health issues. At the same time, access to mental health services remains limited for both adults and children, including in the educational sector.

The mental health crisis and ongoing hostilities are hindering Ukrainian children’s access to education, as confirmed by the PISA survey conducted during the first year of the war. The decline in learning outcomes is most noticeable in Eastern and Northern Ukraine and in rural areas, with students from lower socio-economic backgrounds being the most affected.

In cooperation with our partners, Mondo supports people in Ukraine by improving access to mental health services and reducing educational gaps through the project “Supporting mental health through online diagnostics and consultations as well as mental health and study camps”.

One part of the solution is the implementation of a model developed in Estonia, which allows those in need across Ukraine to access essential mental health diagnostics and consultations. Through the DocuMental scientific digital diagnostics and treatment platform, we offer 2,100 psychiatric and psychological consultations.

To reduce children’s educational learning gaps and support their mental well-being, we provide catch-up learning camps for 150 seventh-grade students, where they receive support in Ukrainian language and literature, mathematics, history, and English. An essential part of these camps is mental health support, provided throughout by professional psychologists. The camps target children most affected by the war — internally displaced students from Luhansk Oblast, children of military personnel from Zhytomyr Oblast, and students from Zaporizhzhia living near the front line, whose access to in-person schooling is often restricted.

Contact:
Meelis Niine
meelis@mondo.org.ee