UNICEF and the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine sign a Memorandum in support of children affected by war

09 April 2022
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UNICEF

UNICEF and the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine signed a Memorandum consolidating efforts to protect childrens’ rights. The focus will be on the protection of the rights of orphan children, children in institutional care, children from foster families, family-type orphanages, foster families that have been taken into care and other children who had to temporarily flee abroad due to war. 

The Memorandum states that UNICEF will continue providing technical and financial support to the Government to address child protection issues in Ukraine and abroad.  

One of key challenges is the lack of a centralized information management system between countries to monitor the whereabouts of children and whether their rights are being upheld. For example, over the past week Ukraine’s Child Protection Service has been working to implement a tracking system and set up a database of children from Ukrainian institutions that have been evacuated to other countries. 

The safety and wellbeing of nearly 100,000 children from Ukrainian institutions is under threat. 

Within the framework of the Memorandum, Ukraine and EU countries will cooperate through consulates, central and local executive bodies, and local governments. The main objective is to register children, understand where they are located abroad and in what conditions, identify their needs and support those in need. 

Social workers from Ukraine and EU countries will work together on an identification and tracking system, decision-making mechanisms for registration of children transferred from institutions, unaccompanied children and children that have been separated from their guardians. This work will also ensure the integration of children into protection systems and their further reunification with families in Ukraine.

Media contacts

Olha Pryshko
Communications Specialist
UNICEF in Ukraine

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UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. Across more than 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone.

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