First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska met with Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom David Lammy.
The President's wife noted that the United Kingdom is a strategic ally of Ukraine.
“The agreement on one-hundred-year partnership between our countries signed this year is a historic step and more than just a document. It is a symbol of unwavering friendship and a shared vision for the future,” she noted.
The main issue discussed at the meeting was the launch and promotion of a campaign for the development of family-based care in Ukraine.
On January 17, 2025, David Lammy launched a new global initiative to reform the childcare system aimed at ensuring that every child has the right to a safe and loving family environment, phasing out institutionalization, and ensuring that no child is left behind.
“Unfortunately, Ukraine still has a Soviet legacy in the form of a vast network of boarding schools and orphanages. More than 26,000 children live there. However, only 19% of them are orphans or children deprived of parental care. More than 80% have living parents who are not deprived of their rights. The main obstacle to family reunification is either the unwillingness or inability of adults to raise a child, for example, the lack of inclusive services in communities,” Olena Zelenska explained.
She emphasized that supporting foster families is one of the priorities of the Olena Zelenska Foundation. In particular, as part of the Room for Childhood project, 15 houses have already been built for the families who lost their homes due to the war. The Foundation has also provided humanitarian aid to every second large foster family, which is more than 500 families, and organized summer vacations for more than 3,000 children.
The First Lady introduced David Lammy to two large foster families – the Yaroslavtsev family from the Zaporizhzhia region, who are raising 10 children, and the Umanskyi family from the Kherson region, who also have 10 children. Both families were forced to leave their homes because of the Russian occupation.
Olena Zelenska pointed out that her Foundation had provided new housing for these two families in particular.
The President's wife is convinced that effective state and partner support for family-based care will contribute to the complete elimination of orphanhood and residential childcare as a phenomenon.
“The Coordination Center for Reform, together with the Government and partners, has focused on supporting families to prevent the separation of children. The second goal is to find caring foster families for children who have been deprived of the warmth of their families,” the First Lady concluded.