The Operating Conditions: Family photo project presents 10 photos and the stories of 5 responsible police dads who work in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Despite their long hours and work load, they always find an opportunity to spend quality time with their kids and do as much parenting as the mums! The photo shows a simple daily routine that can be filled with incredibly touching moments such as brushing their teeth, exciting leisure activities, common hobbies, household chores, creating the trendiest dad hairstyles. It is these moments that help dads maintain a healthy relationship as a couple and be emotionally close with their children throughout their lives.
We firmly believe that there should be more responsible fathers in Ukraine! And police dads of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions set an example. Get inspired and take care of your children in order to build a future Ukraine free from stereotypes and restrictions. It’s twice as easy together!
The photo project is created in partnership with the Main Directorates of the National Police of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as part of the UN Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme and the 4 Hands Happiness information campaign of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) in Ukraine, as well as the Ministry of Social Policy.
Police Major Denys Sklianichenko
Head of the Sector for International Police Cooperation of the GUNP in the Luhansk region
What is the most important thing I would teach my child? Be ready to take responsibility for your own actions, but never be afraid to act and make mistakes (although Dad worries about your scraped knees sometimes).
The role of the father in raising children is the same one as that of the mother. In addition, he should create a space for his children where they feel safe and know that their dad will take care of everything, even if he sometimes grumbles.
Police Captain Stanislav Lobaniov
Senior Operative Officer of the Criminal Police Sector of the Police Department No. 3 (Lysychansk) of the Severodonetsk District Police Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Luhansk region
You need to spend time with your children, pay attention and be a role model for them. As they say, “Don’t do as I say, but do as I do”.
Just like the mother, the father plays an important role in raising children. If we want our kids to be happy, we must act accordingly: love them, accept them and be honest with them. This is the importance of fatherhood for me.
Lieutenant Colonel of Police Andrii Kulakovskyi
Head of the Unit of Radio Frequency Resources of the Information and Analytical Support Department of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Donetsk region
Obviously, the role of the father in raising children is significant. You must be a role model of positive behaviour for your kid, avoid differences between your words and actions; you shouldn’t live through your child, trying to realise your own ambitions, but instead, be there for them to support them as necessary.
The biggest challenge for me is to be responsible for what kind of people my children will become in the future: this will be a gauge of my parenting and personal example for my children.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Dmytro Petrov
Deputy Head of the Department of Security of Sports, Public and Safeguarding Events of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Donetsk region
For me, fatherhood is love and responsibility. I would definitely like to teach my kid to handle any difficulties in life and be able to help any other person who needs help.
Does my job affect parenting? It absolutely does. Like any job that involves communication with people, being a police officer shows you not only human joys but also sorrow and pain. You internalise it one way or another. So when you return to your family in the evening, you begin to appreciate what you have now much more.
Police Major Dmytro Romanenko
Inspector of the Dispatch Service of the Departments of Organisational and Analytical Support and Operational Response of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Donetsk region
Obviously, responsible parenting for me means that my children are fed and clothed, but not only that. It also includes physical education and psychological aspects of parenting. And I believe that the roles of father and mother in raising children are not that different.
I don’t think my work affects my parenting and relationships with my children. In any other career, I would educate them in the same way and give them the same amount of attention and time. The greatest challenge in my fatherhood was when the occupation of part of the Donetsk region began. At that time, I served in Horlivka, and my wife and children were already in the territory controlled by Ukraine. It was difficult to understand and get through.
Photographed by Artem Hetman
The testimonies were recorded by Yaryna Zheldak
The United Nations Recovery and Peacebuilding Programme (UN RPP) is being implemented by four United Nations agencies: the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
Twelve international partners support the Programme: the European Union (EU), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, and the governments of Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden & Switzerland.
