Partnering to deliver sustainable impact for people with special needs.

Effective Aid Ukraine is an Irish and Ukrainian registered NGO focussed on finding the most effective ways to help children and adults with physical and mental disabilities in Ukraine, particularly those currently living permanently in institutional settings.

See Our Projects

Effective Aid

Our Mission in Ukraine

Effective Aid Ukraine has been partnering with institutions in Eastern Europe to improve the lives of disadvantaged children and adults since 1998. Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, we have helped over 1,200 Ukrainian refugees, mainly women and children, relocate from frontline cities in Ukraine to safety in Ireland.

Find Out More About Us
Five adult men in wheelchairs and several boys and support staff standing and sitting in a circular row on a summer's day outside Rozdil Friends Home with large trees in the background.

What we do

Our primary aim is to assist the Ukrainian community to move from an old Soviet-style model of care to one aligned with European Union best practice, with a particular focus on allowing people with disabilities to live lives that are as active, fulfilling, and as independent as possible.

Effective Aid Ukraine Board member Stevey McGeown warmly lifts an adult male's hand in the snow outside Rozdil Friends Home.

How we do it

At Effective Aid Ukraine, we work with a range of partners to make change happen - change that has an immediate and sustainable impact. Our approach is to partner with regional authorities and like-minded NGOs in Ukraine. Our current partners are the Lviv Regional Council, and Without Limits, a Ukrainian foundation.

December 2025

December 2025

Policy Development

Ukraine has 145 residential institutions for adults and children with special needs, accommodating 24,086 residents...

December 2025

December 2025

Independent Living Project

Effective Aid Ukraine is committed to ensuring that as many residents of Rozdil Friends Home as possible can live as independently as their abilities allow.

Projects & Impact

Turning Support Into Sustainable Change

From strengthening local services to supporting deinstitutionalisation efforts, our projects are designed to create measurable improvements for children and adults with disabilities across Ukraine.

See all Projects

Voices Behind the Mission

Hear from leaders and advocates who believe in a more inclusive Ukraine - where people with disabilities can live with dignity, independence, and opportunity.

Our People

People with disabilities are not people with special needs. Because their needs are the same as those of other citizens: to live without restrictions, to move freely on the streets of the city, to be able to study, work, play sports, go to the cinema or a museum. They have the same right to express themselves, to reveal their talents as other citizens. And we as a state must provide them with such an opportunity. Inclusiveness should become a new norm in all spheres of Ukraine’s life.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy

President of Ukraine

Even while fighting for its very existence Ukraine is still moving to deinstitutionalise its care model for children and adults with special needs, moving quickly to an EU model of care. Effective Aid Ukraine is proud to be working at a regional level to support those efforts.

Tom Arnold

Chair, Effective Aid Ukraine

The Lviv region strives to be a leader in implementing modern European approaches to supporting people with disabilities. We are grateful to the organisation “Effective Aid Ukraine” for their trust, consistency, and systematic approach. I am confident that our joint efforts will give impetus to positive changes in the lives of hundreds of people,” the head of the Lviv region emphasised.

Governor Maksym Kozytskyi

Head of the Lviv Regional Military Administration