Ukraine opens Child Rights Protection Center to tackle Russia’s crimes against children

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took part in opening the Child Rights Protection Center.

Rubryka reports, referring to the press service of the Office of the President, that the Center is set to fight Russia's crimes against Ukrainian children.

This is an interagency center for children who have become victims of or witnessed crimes, where professionals can get information from children and their families, conduct a medical examination, particularly for forensic purposes, and provide the necessary therapy assistance.

The Center's specialists work according to the Barnahus model — a child-friendly, multidisciplinary, and interagency response model for child victims and witnesses of violence.

The Center also presented the Bring Kids Back UA action plan. Representatives of the state authorities have developed a comprehensive action plan, which unites the efforts of the Ukrainian authorities, foreign governments, and international organizations to return all small citizens of Ukraine to their homeland.

Zelensky thanked organizers for their work on the Center and an action plan to return young Ukrainians home.

"The first step has been taken: 371 children are at home in Ukraine," Volodymyr Zelensky said. "We'll do everything to return all of them, and, probably, the main meaning is in the name of the Bring Kids Back UA program. I sincerely wish for us to return all children home to Ukraine, and I completely support this program. I want to return the children as soon as possible. This is the most important thing."

The Coordination Council for the Protection and Safety of Children under the President of Ukraine, headed by the Head of the Office of the President, Andrii Yermak, will coordinate how the Bring Kids Back UA action plan is implemented. 

"Today we're presenting to the President a developed program: what exactly we should do to return all our Ukrainian children who were illegally deported, to ensure their rights, which the Russians violated, and, of course, to take care to do everything to return to them that childhood and the life they deserve," Yermak said.

The Bring Kids Back UA action plan unites the efforts of Ukrainian state bodies, international, and non-governmental organizations, and concerned citizens who are ready to work to return all illegally deported Ukrainian children to their homeland.

Many foreign partners of Ukraine are ready to help protect the rights of young Ukrainian citizens.

Daria Herasimchuk, the President's authorized adviser on children's rights and child rehabilitation, reported to Zelensky what makes up the Bring Kids Back UA plan:

• returning Ukrainian children abducted by Russia;
• developing family forms of upbringing;
• reintegrating children returned from the Russian Federation, socializing them, and providing educational initiatives;
• rescuing and protecting children of Ukraine;
• recording crimes and bringing the Russian Federation to justice;
• interparliamentary interaction;
• communication and public events and family education infrastructure.

Responsible state bodies are assigned to each of the directions.

The Head of the Coordinating Center for the Development of Family Education and Child Care, Iryna Tuliakova, said that the Center developed a procedure to accompany a child returning to Ukraine.

"Today, all agencies are working to create the conditions for returning children," she emphasized.

The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Dmytro Lubinets, reported that 371 Ukrainian children had been returned as of today, adding that the opening of the Children Rights Protection Center will demonstrate to Ukrainian society and the international community that the child is the main priority for the Ukrainian state and the President.

"The state of Ukraine is fighting for everyone: for prisoners of war, for civilian hostages, for children," Lubinets said. "It is clear that the main task is to return and achieve fair accountability for the Russian Federation and those criminals who, in fact, continue to kill the future of our state."

In April, the Save Ukraine fund reported returning 31 children kidnapped by Russians from the Kherson and Kharkiv regions.

According to the Children of War state portal, at least 19,484 children were deported from Ukraine as of May 30. Only 371 were returned.