Ukrainian Children Face Worsening Learning Loss in Fourth Winter of War, World Vision Warns

KYIV, Ukraine – As Ukraine endures its fourth winter of full-scale war, new findings from a rapid survey conducted by World Vision reveal that more than half of families report disruptions to their children’s education due to harsh winter conditions, ongoing insecurity, and widespread power outages.

In frontline contexts such as Kharkiv, where distance learning predominates, winter-related power outages can effectively eliminate access to education altogether. Repeated displacement during winter further disrupts enrolment, attendance, and relationships with teachers and peers, increasing the risk of longer-term disengagement from learning.

Access to protection and mental health services are extremely limited. Only 28% of households reported that children are accessing services from NGOs or UN agencies, leaving 72% without child protection or mental health support at a time of heightened vulnerability. 

Key findings include:

• 56% of families report education disruptions
• 24% say children cannot attend in-person school due to cold or unsafe conditions
• 32% cannot participate in online learning due to power cuts
• 84% say children are struggling to stay warm
• 12% report their children’s learning progress has already declined

“It is cold at home, and my mother worries about me. I am often cold and have to wrap myself in a blanket. There are frequent air-raid alarms. There is no electricity, no Wi-Fi, and I have to wear warm clothes all the time,” said Mark, 8, from Kyiv.

Repeated displacement compounds the risks. 92% of surveyed households reported being displaced multiple times since the start of the war, and one in five had to move again because of harsh winter conditions.

“What these findings show us is that winter is acting as a risk multiplier for children, compounding learning loss, emotional distress, and protection concerns all at once. Winterisation is therefore not a seasonal add-on. It is a life-saving intervention. If we fail to provide predictable, flexible support, we are knowingly allowing avoidable harm to children to intensify,” said Arman Grigoryan, World Vision Ukraine Response Director. 

Although every surveyed household had received some form of assistance since displacement, nearly three-quarters reported that support has declined this winter compared to last year. Among those who received winterisation aid, 40% said it was reduced. 

The survey highlights the severe impact of winter conditions on already vulnerable families: all respondents said this winter feels colder than last year, 96% reported electricity outages, and 92% are living in freezing indoor temperatures. Many lack adequate heating supplies (76%), while 84% identified cash assistance as their most urgent unmet need, and 72% said they are receiving less support than in the previous winter.

The current Winter Response Plan has secured approximately 66% of required funding, leaving an estimated 600,000 people without planned winter support. 

Nearly four years into the war, winter in Ukraine is no longer a seasonal shock. It is a predictable, recurring emergency. World Vision warns that without adequate and predictable winterisation assistance, winter itself becomes a risk multiplier for children – deepening learning losses, heightening psychosocial distress, weakening protective environments, and increasing the likelihood of repeated displacement.

World Vision is calling on donors to fully fund winterisation as a life-saving response. The organisation urges sustained and predictable support for flexible cash assistance, protection of continuous access to education, and the integration of mental health and psychosocial support into learning spaces. It also calls for flexible, predictable funding for Ukrainian organisations operating in frontline areas, and for humanitarian actors to systematically listen to families and children whose lived experience makes clear that winter is not an add-on to the crisis – it is central to it.

As part of its winter response, World Vision is providing cash assistance to help households cover utilities and basic needs. In frontline areas, the INGO and local partners are distributing winterisation kits containing mattresses, sleeping bags, high-thermal blankets, rescue foil blankets, power banks, thermos flasks, portable stoves with dry fuel, and battery-powered flashlights.

To date, World Vision has reached more than 240,000 children with educational support, 230,000 people with cash assistance, over 459,000 with food assistance, and provided non-food items to more than 335,000 people across Ukraine.

Notes to Editor: 

About World Vision Ukraine Crisis Response: Since the onset of the war, World Vision and its local partners have reached over 2,3 million people, including more than 1 million children, providing food, non-food items, cash assistance, protection, education, livelihoods, and mental health support. Operating in 22 of Ukraine’s 24 regions, World Vision continues to deliver both immediate relief and long-term recovery programmes to address ongoing needs.

For further information, please contact: 

Laurentia Jora | Advocacy & Communications Manager | Email: laurentia_jora@wvi.org