Ministry of Social Policy kicks off cooperation with British Lumos Foundation to improve protection of children's rights in Ukraine

Yulia Sokolovska on behalf of the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Lumos Foundation aimed at supporting the Government in transforming the childcare system of boarding schools into a system in which the child is brought up in a family or close to family environment, guided by the principle that any child should be deprived of an environment of parental care.

 The key objectives of the Memorandum are to improve the provision of social services to families with children in Ukraine and to support regional state administrations in the development and implementation of regional plans to reform the boarding school based on international best practices.

“Our goal is to ensure that every child is being brought up in a family or in conditions close to family because upbringing of children in the boarding school is detrimental to the both development of children and society as a whole. In addition, only 15% of the funds spent on boarding schools cover the needs of children. Identifying and timely assisting families in difficult life circumstances to prevent children from going to boarding schools to boarding schools is a priority of the Ministry of Social Policy, ” Minister of Social Policy Yulia Sokolovska said.

Lumos Foundation’s experts will be engaged in elaboration of policies, regulations on the deinstitutionalization process in Ukraine, and will train employees working in the field of child protection. The Lumos Foundation is already working in Ukraine in  Zhytomyr region. In the future, the British Foundation will provide assistance to regions of Ukraine to support the reform of the boarding system.

“No child from boarding schools will be left without attention, the reform will affect all children. It is also essential to ensure that children are involved in protecting their rights,” Alex Christopoulos, Deputy Chief Executive of the Lumos Foundation noted.

Background

The Memorandum between the Ministry of Social Policy and the Lumos Foundation is in effect until December 31, 2021. Lumos is an international non-governmental charity founded by British author of Harry Potter, J. K. Rowling, which promotes an end to the institutionalisation of children worldwide.