Conference In Strasbourg Takes Stock Of Situation Of Children Of Ukraine Three And Half…
Opening a conference in Strasbourg on 9 July to take stock of the situation of the children of Ukraine, Council of Europe’s Secretary General Alain Berset, recalled the thousands of children from Ukraine who have suffered deportation or are still displaced, the many who have lost years of education, and the far too many who have lost “homes, families, limbs – even their lives.”
The Secretary General underlined that the next step of the Register of Damage Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine – which has 40,000 claims to date -will be to launch a new category to document harm suffered by children, including their forcible transfer or deportation.
To address the needs of children beyond the immediate situation, Berset explained that the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” includes building capacity in education, child protection, and trauma-informed services, and highlighted the important work of the Consultation Group on the Children of Ukraine.
Recalling President Zelenskyy’s words during his visit to the Council of Europe on 25 June to sign the agreement on establishing the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine that “justice must work so that war criminals have nowhere to hide”, Secretary General Berset said: “Let us make this promise to all Ukrainian children – in Ukraine and across our member States. To the millions who have lost years to this war; for some, their entire young lives”.
The Minister for Social Policy and Children’s Rights of Malta, Michael Falzon, underscored that Ukraine and the protection of children’s rights are two major priorities of the Maltese Presidency of the Committee of Ministers. “Our obligation to the children of Ukraine”, he stated, is “a test for the whole continent that we are able to show our political will and resolution to protect children in general and protect, in particular, children of Ukraine.”
Mariana Betsa, Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine, said that Russia has abducted at least 20,000 Ukrainian children after its 2022 full-scale invasion as part of a systematic practice in the context of its “genocidal war against Ukraine”. The minister pointed out the difficulties in tracing, identifying and returning children abducted, and noted that, so far, it has only been possible to return 1,400 children. While acknowledging the efforts of the international community and the Council of Europe, she called for more pressure to be put on Russia to return the abducted children. Another 1.6 million Ukrainian children still live in occupied territories, she added, exposed to indoctrination, russification and militarisation.
Thórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörd Gylfadóttir, Special Envoy of the Council of Europe Secretary General on the situation of children of Ukraine, said: “The Russian Federation has not only been reckless regarding harm caused to children as the collateral damage of war. It is hurting children on purpose. Children are being killed and stolen. This war of aggression has revealed a shockingly strategic and systematic mistreatment of children. Russia aims to destroy Ukraine’s identity and future”.
“Three and a half years is an eternity for children. When the attention of the world shifts to other crises, we need to remind ourselves as well as politicians, decision-makers and the general public in our countries that even when their world moves on, that same world does not move on for these children of war”, she added.
Co-organised by the Council of Europe’s Consultation Group on the Children of Ukraine (CGU) and the Maltese Presidency of the Committee of Ministers, the conference aims to review progress to date, identify existing gaps, and set the direction for the next phase of coordinated action in support of children of Ukraine as a direct implementation of the Reykjavik Declaration.
High-level conference on the situation of the children of Ukraine: Council of Europe Actions – Children’s Rights
https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/conference-in-strasbourg-takes-stock-of-the-situation-of-the-children-of-ukraine-three-and-a-half-years-into-the-war