Since June, 4,392 activities have been carried out and 69 facilities and services have been promoted and set up throughout Catalonia to attend to these people.
Since June, 4,392 activities have been carried out and 69 facilities and services have been promoted and launched throughout Catalonia. The initiative is promoted by the Department of Equality and Feminism, with the collaboration of Fundesplai.
During a weekend families displaced by the war in Ukraine from all over Catalonia have met again in Vilanova de Sau, at the Can Mateu summer camp, to close the TempsxCures Ukraine program. Aimed at offering care services to children and adolescents from 0 to 16 years of age from Ukrainian families, the program has attended 1,496 since June in 40 municipalities throughout Catalonia. 4,392 activities have been carried out and 69 facilities and services have been energized and set up throughout the country, involving 6,847 hours of attention. The average rating of children and young people and families was 9.3 out of 10.
With these actions, the right to care for children and adolescents has been guaranteed, while freeing up time for families, especially women, who mainly take care of care work. In addition, children and young people from Ukraine have been accompanied in 36 educational centers throughout Catalonia, in agreement with the Associations of Families of Students (AFA). In total, 938 different families have enrolled in the program, which has had a budget of almost 1.5 million euros (1,482,232.40 euros). The camps that have closed the program have had 160 participants among children, young people and their families, mainly mothers. The objective of the meeting was to offer a cohesive and integrating space that facilitates the social interaction of all the people who have participated in the last months in the program. In addition, they have been able to enjoy an environment and context different from what they have in their day to day, such as nature.
The institutional welcome to the meeting was led by Núria Vergés, general director of Care, Time Organization and Equity in Work (of the Department of Equality and Feminisms), who recalled that “care, especially of children and adolescents, is the responsibility of everyone, not only women”. “We have a responsibility as a society and from the public administrations we are also responsible”, continued Verge, who added that “that is why it is essential that there are policies that recognize and support them, such as those we promote from the Department of Equality and Feminisms with programs such as TempsxCures Ukraine”.
For his part, Josep Gassó, president of Fundesplai, a collaborating entity in the TempsxCures Ukraine program; He stressed that being able to participate in this program “is magnificent because it is part of Fundesplai’s mission to take care of people”. “It has been a pleasure for us to collaborate with the Department on a program that aims to change the mindset, because we are hopeful that this world can be better,” he added in the institutional welcome.
Within the framework of the program, 58 women displaced from Ukraine have been trained as leisure monitors, with the aim of professionalizing care, promoting the labor insertion of participants and generating quality employment. Thus, 32 women have been hired and work in school canteens, and 20 are in the process of labor insertion. During the welcome ceremony, Svetlana Korolenko, a Ukrainian mother who has been trained in the field of leisure and who is currently working as a canteen monitor, shared the importance and value of being able to do this course: “The training and then the work of a monitor has allowed me to relate and get to know people and improve my situation”.
Kira Bohodukhovq, a 12-year-old participant, also spoke at the event, stressing: “I am very grateful to this program for how it has welcomed us and because now that we are here we can walk without fear of anything.”
Camps in nature as the closing of TempsxCures Ukraine
The camps take place in Vilanova de Sau, specifically in the Can Mateu estate that includes the holiday homes of Can Mateu, Els Porxos and La Cinglera, during this weekend of December 17 and 18. The technical team is made up of twenty professionals from the TempsxCures Ukraine program, and 6 leisure and environmental educators from Fundesplai. During the camp educational leisure activities, games, workshops and dynamics are carried out in which cooperation, interpersonal relationships, the promotion of creativity, imagination and sensitivity are worked on.
There are also activities to discover nature and adventure and, for family adults, relational, training and care activities are organized. “Today here we are also doing something else, creating a network and sharing experiences in a natural environment and a different context from their day to day”, Vergés shared with the participants of the program.
Care services and job placement for families in Ukraine
Following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, which led to the arrival of displaced people from that country throughout Europe —especially women and minors in their care—, the Generalitat decided to allocate a specific allocation of the TempsxCures program, almost 1.5 million euros, to attend to them. In Catalonia alone, it is estimated that there are currently more than 21,500 Ukrainian people sheltered. In this context, the TempsxCures Ukraine project has been articulated, with a previous diagnosis by Fundesplai. It has collected the situation of Ukrainian families, with a set of indicators that has made it possible to plan actions according to real needs, and a map of existing resources in the territory has been defined.
The program offers care services in reception facilities, which also accompany existing services in the municipality (libraries, youth centers, etc.), and punctual babysitting support in the same place where services for adults are provided (for example in police stations, care facilities for people in Ukraine, etc.), to facilitate them to carry out the procedures they need. People displaced by the war in Ukraine are also accompanied to participate in the existing services in each territory (camps, colonies, TempsxCures services, etc.).
At the same time, the incorporation of Ukrainian personnel in the services of municipalities where there is a significant volume of children and adolescents from Ukraine has been assessed for each territory to facilitate specific care. Since June, the activities of the TempsxCures program have taken place in the territories in which the project is structured (Tarragona, Tarragona and Terres de l’Ebre, Central Catalonia – Penedès, Barcelonès – Baix Llobregat, Barcelona Nord-Maresme, Lleida, Girona 1 and Girona 2). The program includes approved leisure monitoring training courses that facilitate the labor insertion of people displaced by the war in Ukraine, which have been offered throughout Catalonia. The recruitment is promoted both in leisure services of the municipalities, including those in which there is a significant volume of children and adolescents from Ukraine, and in the activities of the TempsxCures program.