During her visit to Brussels, the Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine Maryna Lazebna discussed with the Vice-President of the European Commission for Democracy and Demography Dubravka Šuica the problematic issues of protecting the rights of Ukrainian children who have moved to the countries of the European Union, the implementation of the Istanbul Convention on combating violence against women and domestic violence recently ratified by Ukraine, as well as the prospects of Ukraine's ratification of the Hague Convention on on Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Intercountry Adoption.

Maryna Lazebna thanked for granting Ukraine the status of a candidate for EU membership.

"Our people consistently defend their choice of European values and the European vector of development. And the support of our intentions from the EU countries inspires greater achievements and reforms. In particular, two weeks ago, Ukraine ratified the Council of Europe Convention on preventing violence against women and domestic violence and combating these phenomena, the so-called Istanbul Convention. Discussions about it in Ukrainian society have been going on for more than 10 years. But now we are absolutely united in every step that strengthens respect for human rights and equality in our society," she said.

The Minister outlined the problematic issues with the protection of the rights of displaced Ukrainian children from vulnerable categories in certain countries of the European Union and handed the Vice- President of the European Commission a selection of cases of violations of children's rights to work with EU member states on their resolution and prevention of such violations in the future. Maryna Lazebna thanked the European Commission for the fruitful cooperation in intensifying the signing by the EU member states of declarations on the protection of the rights of displaced Ukrainian children, which can become safeguards against the occurrence of similar problematic situations regarding children.

During the discussion of assistance to children left without parental care, the parties noted the importance of Ukraine's ratification of the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Intercountry Adoption, so that when opportunities for international adoption are restored, the rights of orphans are reliably protected in this process.

The parties agreed that Ukraine needs to start the reforms necessary to go along the European integration path right now, as well as to rebuild the country and overcome the negative consequences of the war for people. They discussed the main reform projects necessary for the transformation of social policy in the new social reality under the challenges of war. "We are not going to rebuild the system of social protection that was in place before the large-scale war and was still based on Soviet approaches in some places. Sometimes destruction means an opportunity to quickly build a new one. That's why we proposed a new vision and concrete steps to move from social protection to social welfare and a society of equal opportunities," commented Maryna Lazebna.