The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, handed over about 39,000 laptops in April 2024 to facilitate access to education for middle and high school students in eight regions of Ukraine, the Ministry of Education said on its website on Monday.

"Access to education is a fundamental right of every child. The war led to the closure of schools, which in turn made it more difficult for children to access their basic right — the right to education. Therefore, UNICEF supports the educational process in Ukraine to highlight the importance of continuing education for children in all formats, in particular distance learning using digital devices," said Munir Mammadzade, head of the UNICEF representative office in Ukraine.

At the request of the Ministry of Education, UNICEF delivered laptops to Zaporizhia, Kharkiv and Kherson regions and met the critical need for devices for children from vulnerable categories (IDP children, children with disabilities, from low-income families, children deprived of parental care) for distance learning. Laptops will be provided to schoolchildren in Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy and Chernihiv regions. Together with the local education authorities, the devices will be distributed among educational institutions that will provide them for temporary use to students.

"In places where full-time study is currently impossible due to proximity to the front or lack of shelter at school, our task is to provide children with devices for learning. For them, the gadget is about access to education, communication with peers, and the opportunity to receive support from teachers. And I am grateful to our partners for all the help provided to Ukrainian children. This is definitely an investment in a sustainable future," said Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, Oksen Lisovy.

The devices were purchased and delivered with the support of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and the European Union.