In 2026, the Government plans to allocate UAH 1 billion for Resilience Centres — Denys Uliutin

On 4 September, at a meeting of the Interagency Coordination Council on Mental Health, Minister of Social Policy, Family and Unity of Ukraine Denys Uliutin presented the results of the first two years of the Ministry’s flagship project within the nationwide mental health programme “How are you?” initiated by First Lady Olena Zelenska — the Resilience Centres.

The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister of Ukraine Yuliia Svyrydenko and attended by First Lady Olena Zelenska.

“Forty-seven per cent of respondents told us they live under constant stress. Twenty per cent of Ukrainians experience high levels of stress combined with low resilience, which highlights the need for additional support. These are the findings of UNICEF research carried out under the nationwide mental health programme ‘How are you?’. In fact, almost every second person we meet daily needs help and support, even if they never say it out loud,” noted Olena Zelenska.

In turn, Yuliia Svyrydenko emphasised that significant progress is already visible in the field of mental health services, which until recently received insufficient attention. She underlined that these services must operate in a comprehensive and scalable way so that access to support becomes simple and clear for everyone.

Resilience Centres began opening in communities in December 2023. Since then, they have responded to the demand of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians for psychosocial support.

“We have created places where every person can find support. Behind the numbers are real stories — of veterans, children, families who needed help here and now. Resilience Centres have become spaces that enable people to recover and move forward,” stressed Denys Uliutin.

At present, 326 Resilience Centres are operating across Ukraine. During the pilot phase of the project, there have been more than 2.5 million contacts with people and over 1.5 million activities carried out. The network now involves more than 1,500 professionals trained under certified programmes.

The project engages 305 communities across 24 regions and the city of Kyiv, including 17 relocated from temporarily occupied territories. The total funding for the first two years exceeded UAH 421.9 million, with a further 21 Centres opened through the support of businesses and international partners.

By the end of 2025, the Ministry of Social Policy, together with international partners, will implement three new educational initiatives: an online course on the basics of resilience on the Diia.Osvita platform; a three-day training programme for specialists supported by the Council of Europe Development Bank; and UNICEF-supported trainings on “Parenting without Stress” and “Psychosocial Support”.

“For the next year, we plan to allocate UAH 1 billion from the state budget for the development of the Centres and to move from an experimental to a permanent project. This is a social investment in people,” said Denys Uliutin.

The next steps will include the approval of a state standard for the social service of resilience-building, as well as the organisation of the Resilience Forum to synchronise the efforts of the Government, communities and partners.

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