Public organizations unite to protect the rights of children

Rights and freedoms of the child. In Ukraine, many of them are written on paper, but in practice not everything is done. Representatives of non-governmental organizations that directly care for the rights of the child are well aware of this. And all because, experts explain that there is a catastrophic shortage of specialists, in the context of decentralization not always at the level of cities, districts and local communities understand the importance of ensuring appropriate conditions that will ensure respect for children’s rights, do not understand that deinstitutionalization reform is not about closing boarding schools. , and above all about the provision of quality social services. This is exactly what huge problems are in Ukraine. Back in 2013-2014, there was a massive reduction in social workers, social workers and now they are catastrophically lacking. People are physically unable to cope with the enormous amount of work, and any gap is the fate of the child.

To change the situation, it is necessary to unite the efforts of public organizations and help the state together, only then will the services in the field of protection of children’s rights become high-quality. Not only did it understand this, but the Ukrainian Child Rights Network, which together with UNICEF launched a unique, large-scale project to strengthen the capacity and influence of non-governmental actors in the development, implementation and monitoring of children’s rights in the system of alternative care, improving child protection policies and strategies.”

As part of the project, the UCRN team planned five seminars for regional NGO representatives from across the country. The first has already taken place in Kyiv. The plan was to gather 15 participants from five regions of Ukraine (Kyiv, Sumy, Kirovohrad, Zhytomyr, and Vinnytsia regions) and there were many more. Then there were 23 participants at the seminar in Kyiv. Daria Kasyanova, Chairman of the Board of the Ukrainian Network for the Rights of the Child, gave an introductory speech:

“Our organization, as part of the implementation of the project, very much counts on the consolidation of public efforts. It is very important that today we discuss your role in it, including in the monitoring processes, development of specific cases, assistance to specific families, because without effective cooperation any efforts will be useless. “

Already during the seminar, several NGOs expressed their desire to become members of the Network. Meanwhile, Svitlana Klochko, executive director of the Ukrainian Child Rights Network, said:

“Currently, the project is already developing tools for monitoring the protection of children’s rights, after which we will conduct relevant training, provide information on how to work in this direction in European countries, which is important to use in Ukraine. We plan to provide legal and methodological support to the organizations – partners of the Network, to provide a basis for regional and local non-governmental organizations to improve their professional level. And the higher the level of specialists working in the field, the better the observance of children’s rights in Ukraine will be ensured. “

Natalia Sytnikova, a UNICEF Ukraine Child Protection Specialist, also expressed her views on joining forces:

“The more there are of us, the more tangible the changes that are expected will be for all. The result of our work is a very, very noble cause. Human life depends on our work with you ”.

It should be noted that not all public organizations were able to get to the event in Kyiv, so they were invited to seminars in other regions. In the future, venues are planned in Lviv, Ternopil, Odessa and Kharkiv.

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