Ukraine has recently reported to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on the situation and observance of children’s rights here. A few days ago Ukraine received the corresponding UN recommendations on the protection of children.
“While welcoming progress achieved in implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in Ukraine, the Committee outlined issues that still need to be addressed to further improve the situation of children in Ukraine,” says the conclusion of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) statement. According to UNICEF experts, the Committee welcomes the recommendations outlined in the Concluding Observations, which clearly urge the government of Ukraine to fully commit to the social sector reform process with special attention to the protection of children’s rights.
Particularly, in what regards the on-going administrative reform, the Committee expressed its concern about the sustainability of child policies and programs, as the reform of the public administration may undermine effective coordination and implementation of policies for children and result in a deterioration of support, protection and preventive services for children most-at-risk. The Day has already reported that the number of social sphere staff has been sharply reduced of late and the former Ministry for Family and Youth has been merged with the Ministry of Education and Science. So the UN committee urged Ukraine “to undertake a comprehensive functional review of its central and local Government institutions responsible for decision-making for children and ensure that responsibilities are well delegated and clearly defined within the new structures.”
The Committee noted that the Government of Ukraine may seek technical assistance from UNICEF in the consideration of the recommendations. The Committee’s recommendations clearly show its concern about the slow progress of Child Care reform. “Far too many children are still accommodated in residential institutions, instead of families at-risk or in crisis being provided social services, which could mitigate the risk of institutionalisation of vulnerable children, such as children deprived of parental care, children with disability, children with HIV and children in conflict with [the] law,” the document notes. While Ukraine has achieved an increase of foster care and a decrease of baby abandonment, the system still fails to fully protect the right of the child to grow up in a family environment.
The Committee also addresses the issue of the existing stigma and discrimination against socially vulnerable children, particularly children with disabilities, children with HIV, children of ethnic minorities and stateless children. In addition, the Committee is deeply concerned about the high number of children on the streets, which Ukraine acknowledges as an “acute” problem. The violations of their rights are also serious in relation to substance and drug abuse, transmission of HIV, sexual exploitation, forced labor and police violence. Furthermore, the Committee identified a serious issue involving the significant number of allegations of physical ill-treatment of detainees, including children, particularly during initial questioning in district police stations.
The Committee advised Ukraine to allocate sufficient funding to the annual State Programs for the implementation of the National Plan of Action for Children until 2016 and ensure funding to it as a separate line in the Budget Law for each year. Incidentally, UNICEF experts note that “as of today, the Program to implement the National Plan of Action for Children in 2011 has not been adopted by the Government.” The Committee advised Ukraine to incorporate, into its domestic legislations the principle of non-discrimination and the prohibition of discrimination against children on any grounds including status of the child’s family, race, religion, national, ethnical and social origin, and disability. It is also recommended that the government consider adopting a law on the introduction of an ombudsman for children in Ukraine.
UNICEF supports the Committee’s recommendations and stands ready to continue to support the Government of Ukraine to implement the recommendations of the Committee. “We, as UNICEF, have been already fully engaged in technical support to the Government to address most of those critical issues. We would like to see further commitment of the Government in the Child Protection System reform in response to the UN Committee’s recommendations,” said Yukie Mokuo, UNICEF Representative for Ukraine.
The Government of Ukraine is to submit its next report on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child by September 2018. What kind of a report will it be if governmental child care agencies are being reduced and children-oriented programs are not being funded?
TO THE POINT
On Monday, February 15, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine passed the Law “On Ratifying the European Convention on the Adoption of Children.” This convention applies only to the legal adoption of children who, at the time when the adopter applies for adoption, has not attained the age of 18, is not and has not been married, and is not deemed in law to have come of age. The document specifies that even one person may adopt a child. At the same time, Article 212 of the Family Code of Ukraine bans the adoption of Ukrainian children by unmarried foreigners. Article 18 of the convention makes it possible for a member state to pass more favorable provisions for adopting a child. In other words, should the Ukrainian law contain provisions that run counter to those of the convention but are better for adopting children, this will not be considered as a violation of or contradiction to the clauses of the abovementioned international agreement. It is also set out that all requests for adoption information should be referred to the Ministry of Education, Science, Youth, and Sport of Ukraine.
