A regular meeting of the Coordination Headquarters for the Protection of Children’s Rights under Martial Law was held chaired by Iryna Vereshchuk, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Social Policy, the National Social Service, the National Information Bureau, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the National Police, and other central and local authorities.

The participants discussed the issue of children with special status, i.e. orphans and children deprived of parental care. In particular, they heard information about these children in medical institutions.

Iryna Vereshchuk emphasised that the responsible agencies should not only collect statistical data but also analyse it thoroughly. This is necessary to understand the processes, coordinate actions and respond to problems in a timely manner.

The Deputy Prime Minister instructed the relevant authorities to carry out special checks on all adoptions that took place during the war. They are to check compliance with procedures and record keeping. Before a child is placed in foster care, the family, living conditions and other factors should be thoroughly checked.

The issue of children currently in Poland and Turkey was also raised. Participants stressed that upon their return to Ukraine, they should be placed under the social care of the relevant agencies.

“All regions should also prepare comprehensive information on how many children have gone abroad, how many foster families should be created in anticipation of their return, how many of them should be placed in institutional care, etc. In general, each region should implement its own regional policy on the return of children who are currently abroad,” concluded Iryna Vereshchuk.