Dear colleagues! Fellow Ukrainians!

We are starting a regular meeting of the Government.

Ukraine is on the verge of the third winter of a full-scale war. We understand all the difficulties and challenges and are doing everything we can to make it through it successfully.

We have taken the first steps to implement a comprehensive Winter Support package for Ukrainian families.

We continue to add new programmes and initiatives.

One of our priorities is to protect Ukrainian children, who need to have the safest, most comfortable and favourable conditions for living, learning and development.

The children’s component of the Winter Support includes a number of items.

The first is the Warm Winter programme, which provides one-off financial assistance to children to help them through the winter.

In December, every low-income family and IDP families with children or adults with Group I disabilities will receive UAH 6,500 for each child.

This money will be used to buy warm clothes, shoes and other winter necessities for children.

Today we are adopting a resolution to launch this programme.

Secondly, on St. Nicholas Day, orphans and children deprived of parental care who are brought up in families with guardians or caretakers will receive an additional UAH 1,000 for each child.

Many thanks to UNICEF for providing financial resources for this programme.

The third is to reform the system of care and support for children in Ukraine.

To this end, today we are adopting the Strategy for Ensuring the Right of Every Child to Grow Up in a Family Environment and an action plan for its implementation.

The main objectives of the Strategy are to provide comprehensive support to biological families so that children do not end up in care facilities.

This includes inclusive education, quality healthcare, effective social services, community support, and much more.

This is the transformation of institutional care facilities. They must work to ensure that every child finds his or her family as soon as possible.

The strategy is designed to last until 2028, and its implementation is starting now. The responsible ministries and agencies will be involved.

The fourth item of the Winter Support for children is the implementation of the eMaliatko programme.

In 2024, about 36,000 families have already received baby boxes, and the state has transferred the cost of the “baby package” to 126,000 families in the amount of UAH 974 million.

Today we are improving the payment mechanism. In particular, we are simplifying the procedure for issuing state birth registration documents if the applicant orders a service to deliver them to the applicant’s place of residence.

The fifth item of the Winter Support for children is the reform of school meals.

This academic year, the state has provided free hot meals for all primary school students. To do this, we provide communities with the appropriate financial resources. Previously, we allocated UAH 2 billion to the local level. Today we are reallocating more than UAH 268 million.

Next year, the state budget provides UAH 2.9 billion for school meals and another UAH 960 million for the modernisation of canteens.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has set an important task – students of all grades should have free meals. We will look for opportunities and resources to achieve this.

In addition to Winter Support, we are implementing other important government programmes.

We are continuing a pilot project to provide resilience building services until mid-autumn next year.

211 communities from 23 regions have already joined this project, and it is constantly expanding. New Resilience Centres are being set up to provide people with effective psychological assistance.

It is important to continue to maintain the mental resilience of Ukrainians in order to successfully counter the enemy.

Another important aspect is the demining of our land.

Since the beginning of the russian invasion, we have returned 35,500 square kilometres of territory to use. More than fifty partner countries have joined the demining coalition, and 66 certified mine action operators are working.

The state is interested in increasing their number. Therefore, the Government adopts a resolution on digitalisation of application to certification bodies. This can be done through the Diia portal with minimal time spent.

I sincerely thank the Ukrainian defenders for their heroism and endurance in defence. I thank all those who strengthen Ukraine in the rear.

Together we will stand, win and rebuild!

Thank you for your attention! Glory to Ukraine!