According to an article published by UNICEF, Ukrainian refugee children arriving in foreign countries are at significant risk of violence, sexual exploitation, and trafficking. Especially those who are unaccompanied or have been separated from their families; they are in desperate need of protection, safety and stability. 

UNICEF teams are working alongside the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other partners to assist and mobilize support for displaced and refugee children and families fleeing from Ukraine to Moldova, Poland, Romania and Belarus. 

‘Blue Dot’ hubs are safe spaces along border crossings and within countries harboring refugees that provide children and families with important survival information and services. Staff at Blue Dots identify and register children travelling alone and connect them to protection services, and also offer referral services to women, for help with hardships including gender-based violence and trafficking. 

For children, Blue Dot hubs provide a safe space to rest, play and simply be a child, at a time when their world has been abruptly turned upside down by fear and panic, and they are facing the trauma of leaving family, friends and all that is familiar.  

Blue Dot hubs are organized in close coordination between national and local authorities in selected strategic sites, UNICEF, UNHCR and other CSOs and protection partners.