In five communities in Western and Northern Ukraine — Storozhynets and Khotyn in Chernivtsi Oblast, Shepetivka and Starokostiantyniv in Khmelnytskyi Oblast, and Trostianets in Sumy Oblast — seventy-five young people aged between fifteen and twenty-four came together to explore how the war had affected their mental health and to propose their own responses to this challenge. Their work was coordinated by the All-Ukrainian Foundation ‘Step by Step’ and the international organisation War Child as part of the VoiceMore youth advocacy programme. The picture painted in the final report shows communities where anxiety has become part of everyday life, where psychosocial support services remain fragmented, and where the teenagers themselves are gradually becoming the ones who open up spaces of understanding and support for their peers.
How young people became explorers of their own experiences
VoiceMore is a War Child methodology through which young people from communities that have experienced armed conflict independently identify issues, collect data, analyse it and develop advocacy actions. The programme was launched in Ukraine in October 2024 as part of the UPF project ‘Beyond Trauma’, which aims to integrate mental health into primary and community healthcare. Initial consultations with local authorities and educational institutions preceded the formation of five groups, which began their work in November of the same year.
Before going out into the communities, participants underwent preparatory training sessions, where they learnt about the role of an advocate, children’s rights, active listening, public speaking, interviewing techniques and safety issues. During the very first discussions, the young people identified a range of issues affecting their daily lives: social isolation and loneliness, a lack of clear information about available support, the stigma surrounding seeking help from psychologists, a shortage of safe spaces for leisure, and pressure from the school environment. Through these discussions, mental health emerged as the central theme linking all the other topics, and each of the five groups ultimately chose psychosocial support as the main focus of their project, approaching it from different angles — ranging from growing needs in rural areas to barriers to accessing specialists.
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The scale of the problem, as reflected in national data
Local observations among young people are consistent with the findings of nationwide studies. A survey commissioned by the UNDP found that concerns about mental health among young people had doubled — from 11% in 2021 to 22% in 2022. A UNDP survey conducted in December 2024 revealed a further increase: 25% of young people cited mental health issues as their main concern, whilst the proportion of those acknowledging a need for psychological support rose from twelve to 18%.
UNICEF data highlight the extent of distress among adolescents in frontline areas. It is estimated that one and a half million children are at risk of developing depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. Over the course of a year, the prevalence of probable PTSD rose from 17.3 to 32.3%, that of depressive disorders from 15.7 to 29.1%, whilst the level of moderate and severe anxiety reached 44–48%. The cumulative effect of staying in shelters stands out in particular: children in frontline areas have spent around five thousand hours underground since the escalation began – equivalent to approximately seven months – with documented consequences for sleep, emotional regulation and fear responses. An analysis of Save the Children’s case management data for the first half of 2024 revealed psychosocial distress in 43% of children, with one in five young men and women living under conditions of constant stress.
Life on hold
Within the communities themselves, young people describe the burden of anxiety, disrupted routines and severed ties with their peers in terms that require almost no statistical backing. “There’s a lot of anxiety at the moment. After Year 9, I’m planning to study somewhere else, and that’s a bit scary because of the war,” said Nazar, a fourteen-year-old participant from Shepetivka. “I don’t know where to go when anxiety hits. It’s scary online, but in real life — there’s no one there,” added seventeen-year-old Sasha from Storozhynets.
Quantitative data confirm these sentiments. In Shepetivka, nearly 70% of the young people surveyed reported experiencing anxiety or stress, whilst one in five lives with constant distress, describing sleep disturbances, fatigue, headaches and irritability, which are exacerbated by night-time air raid alerts. In Khotyn, the majority of the sixteen teenagers interviewed in-depth cited anxiety, loneliness or emotional burnout. In Trostyanets, young people described a decline in confidence in social interaction, shaped by prolonged isolation during the pandemic years and exacerbated by the war, whilst social media there is seen both as a means of connection and a source of comparison and exhaustion. A recurring sentiment across all five communities was that normal life had seemingly come to a standstill, and adolescence – which should have been a time for exploring the world – had turned into a period of survival.
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The gap between awareness and access
Young people are well aware of the importance of mental health, but this awareness rarely translates into knowing where to turn for help. In Storozhynets, 92.1% of respondents consider talking about mental health to be necessary and 72.4% say they understand the concept itself, yet only 40.8% know where to seek help. Young people from rural areas feel the most excluded: over 60% describe rural teenagers as insufficiently informed, whilst a quarter admit to being completely unaware themselves. In Khotyn, 27% of teenagers do not know where to turn for psychological support, whilst a further 43% are unsure, meaning that over half of those surveyed do not have a clear route of access. In Shepetivka, 41.8% consider the information to be accessible, whilst 44.8% describe it as only partially accessible, indicating that information about services is fragmented.
“We hear a lot about mental health, but when it comes to where to actually turn for help, very few people know. It seems as though there’s plenty of information, but it’s all scattered, and you just get lost,” explained 16-year-old Maksym from Khotyn. These observations are reflected in national figures: a UNICEF survey showed that 73% of young people aged 14–34 felt they needed emotional or psychological support during the year, but only 30% sought help, whilst a 2025 WHO study recorded the prevalence of anxiety, depression or severe stress among over 70% of adults, with only a small proportion seeking professional help.
What stops people from seeking help?
Young people cite several intertwined barriers. Stigma and fear of judgement remain the most prominent: in Khotyn, one in ten respondents still doubts the value of mental health support, and many teenagers are afraid of being labelled or misunderstood. “I don’t want anyone to laugh or talk about it afterwards. Because of this, many don’t even try to seek help,” said sixteen-year-old Artem from Khotyn. Bohdan from Shepetivka added that among his peers, asking for help is often seen as a sign of weakness.
Alongside this stigma lies a lack of trust in official channels. Young people in all communities prefer informal support from friends and family to school counsellors or helplines, often describing professionals as aloof or difficult to connect with, and expressing doubts about confidentiality. Alina from Starokostiantyniv noted that whilst there is a lot of talk about support at school, few young people actually seek it out because they do not trust that their confidentiality will be maintained or that they will be understood. Teenagers also avoid placing an additional burden on families who are already experiencing the stress of war, whilst practical obstacles include a lack of clear information, long queues, insufficient privacy during school counselling sessions, and the inconsistent availability of psychologists. In Trostyanets, this list is compounded by a lack of time, financial difficulties and disapproval from parents, meaning that support exists more in theory than in practice.
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Resilience that coexists with vulnerability
Despite this, young people are showing a remarkable ability to adapt. In Trostyanets, most participants rely on the support of their peers and families, music, walks and art, preferring face-to-face interaction to online tools. “I try to hold on to the things I’m used to: music, walks, chatting with friends. It helps, at least a little, not to get stuck in negative thoughts,” said sixteen-year-old Karina from Shepetivka. At the same time, emotional vulnerability remains very much present: teenagers describe feeling lonely even when in company, a lack of self-confidence and anxiety about the future. Many express a desire to be useful, to help others and to change the situation, and it is precisely this combination of a willingness to act and the reality of the difficulties faced that makes youth-focused approaches particularly relevant. A review by ARQ International confirms that Ukrainian young people often rely on informal networks, peer relationships and non-clinical ways of coping with difficulties, which, in the context of war, operate alongside formal services.
What young people themselves are asking for
When participants were asked what would most improve their mental health, their responses pointed to informal models centred on relationships. In Shepetivka, the top priorities cited were interest groups (33.6%), one-to-one counselling (32.8%), peer support groups (27.6%) and training sessions (25.4%), although more than half were unable to suggest any form of support at all, which in itself indicates a low level of awareness of available resources. In Khotyn, teenagers explicitly asked for a single, clear and accessible point of entry — a physical youth space or an anonymous, age-appropriate online channel.
“Many people don’t seek help simply because they don’t feel safe. They want a place where you aren’t judged or labelled, but where you can talk calmly to someone you trust,” said fifteen-year-old Hanna from Khotyn, articulating this need. Her peer, Yegor from Starokostiantyniv, described his ideal youth space as a place he’d want to return to after a tough day, and where psychologists could come to run various activities. These local preferences align with the findings of national surveys, which show that existing services are often centralised, geared towards adults and not very visible, whilst young people are looking for local, accessible and hybrid formats.
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Advocacy at community level
Each of the five groups turned their findings into concrete actions. In Trostyanets, the reading club became a safe space where mental health was discussed through books, whilst the youth group reached an agreement with the municipal Youth Centre to create a dedicated space for mental health issues, designed in collaboration with adult allies. There, they have also planned regular emotional literacy sessions in schools and are continuing to advocate for the inclusion of youth mental health indicators in the local Youth Policy Plan for 2025–2027.
In Storozhynets, young people are transforming the library premises into a safe space with monthly ‘Speak and Create’ meetings, focused on self-expression and mutual support, and, together with youth leaders, are rolling out the ‘It’s OK to Ask’ campaign in schools and community centres. Individual agreements with school management have enabled the introduction of regular class periods dedicated to psychosocial support, whilst a dialogue with the headteacher of one school has led to preliminary agreement to allocate premises for ongoing youth activities.
In Starokostiantyniv, the local library has become a hub for psychosocial activities, hosting art therapy sessions, peer forums and ‘spaces of awareness’ for relaxation. Workshops such as ‘Let’s Talk About What Matters’ and ‘Self-Care Tools for Teenagers’, structured games and film screenings covered topics such as stress, self-help and tolerance, whilst the youth group is in talks with the city council regarding official recognition of the space as a ‘Youth Wellbeing Centre’ with a long-term lease.
In Shepetivka, young people presented their project to the deputy mayors, organised community events — ranging from an online flash mob to an open-air film screening and the ‘Run for Peace’ campaign — and are piloting a mobile app alongside a Telegram bot that helps map local services and direct users to specialists. The partnership between young people, the municipal library and the local authorities culminated in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on the introduction of wellbeing support sessions across the network of school libraries. “It’s brilliant and really nice that the authorities are listening to young people’s needs. It inspires me,” said 18-year-old Daria.
In Khotyn, young people succeeded in having mental health priorities included in the city’s Youth Policy Support Programme for 2025–2027 and in the strategic plan of the local academic lyceum. There, they developed a Telegram bot called ‘Poruch’ to provide access to support information, organised regular peer meetings and anti-stigma campaigns, whilst intergenerational art therapy sessions for teenagers and their carers have strengthened family dialogue. The group’s key message to the city council, schools and parents is this: young people’s mental health is a resource for community development, not a luxury.
From local communities to international forums
The work extended beyond their home towns. In October 2025, two representatives from the Khotyn group presented their research and recommendations at the opening of the second edition of the In-depth Training Course on Children and Armed Conflict, organised by the Office of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, which was attended by around fifty senior officials, including diplomats and representatives of the European Union, NATO and the African Union. In November, groups from Shepetivka and Trostyanets took part in a closed-door roundtable for the UK Minister responsible for children affected by armed conflict, alongside representatives of children from Sudan and Yemen, and the Minister’s office undertook to take their recommendations into account in future briefings.
This initiative will continue in 2026, when ‘VoiceMore’ participants will take part in the 61st session of the UN Human Rights Council and the Annual Day of the Child at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. A small delegation will speak in person at the child-led event, organised jointly by War Child, Child Rights Connect and Defence for Children International, and will also take part in a briefing for Vanessa Fraser, the new Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict.
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What changes are being proposed at the system level?
The authors of the report translate local findings into recommendations for policymakers, educators and local authorities. These include integrating mental health into youth policy and the school environment through ‘Mental Health Days’, regular discussion sessions and training for teachers in trauma-informed approaches. Particular emphasis is placed on developing accessible youth hubs — both physical and digital — designed in collaboration with young people and supported beyond short project cycles, as well as on piloting apps and chatbots to map services and reduce isolation.
Another area concerns community collaboration: local authorities, schools, libraries and civil society organisations should form joint support ecosystems rather than isolated interventions, involving parents in tackling stigma and young people in policy development and service monitoring. Alongside this, the report emphasises scaling up campaigns such as ‘How are you?’, increasing the visibility of youth-friendly services, collecting disaggregated data on the needs of rural, frontline and internally displaced young people, and ensuring sustainable funding for youth leadership programmes that train peer facilitators and young researchers.
A voice that asks to be heard
The ‘VoiceMore’ report highlights young people who are experiencing anxiety, isolation and exhaustion, whilst at the same time taking on the roles of leaders, researchers and advocates for their own wellbeing. Rising levels of anxiety, depression and trauma among teenagers are creating a burden that young people cannot cope with on their own, which is why they are reaching out to the authorities, educators, donors and civil society organisations, inviting them to partner with them. “We’re not asking for anything special — just to be heard and for help to be there when we need it. If we’re looked after now, we’ll be able to look after our community in the future,” said sixteen-year-old Maksym from Khotyn, and this statement captures the essence of the whole initiative perfectly.
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