On 30 August 2024, the Minister of Justice of Ukraine Denys Maliuska and the Representative of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to Ukraine Munir Mammadzade signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and the United Nations Children's Fund to ensure the protection of children's rights. The signing was also attended by Deputy Minister of Justice of Ukraine for European Integration Liudmyla Suhak, Head of the International Cooperation and Protocol Department Yaroslav Novoselov, UNICEF Child Protection Project Manager for Ukraine Wang Chi Pham, UNICEF Child Protection Project Coordinator Vitaliy Starikov, and Coordinator of the UNICEF Representative Office in Ukraine Mykola Shalakhin. This Memorandum of Understanding formalises the partnership and commitment between the Ministry of Justice and UNICEF to work together to define a common vision for child protection reform and create appropriate mechanisms for its implementation in Ukraine.

The purpose of this Memorandum is to consolidate the Parties' efforts to strengthen the protection of children's rights, in particular by promoting child-friendly justice in line with European Union and international standards. The joint work will focus on strengthening the prevention and response components of the justice system, ensuring that criminal and other justice processes are adapted to the needs and vulnerabilities of children in order to rehabilitate them and successfully reintegrate them into families and communities, and that the system takes into account the best interests of the child as a primary consideration in all processes and decisions.

In accordance with the provisions of the Memorandum, the scope of cooperation will cover the following areas:

• Strengthening the rule of law and reforming access to justice as part of the EU accession process as it relates to children, and ensuring that children's rights and welfare are respected in line with EU and international standards;
• Strengthening the coordination role of the MoJ in protecting children's rights in the justice system, including by supporting the Interagency Coordination Council on Juvenile Justice (ICCJ) to ensure effective cooperation and coordination between justice actors and other stakeholders;
• Strengthening institutional capacity to implement the legislative framework, policies, standards and best practices for the protection of children's rights;
• development and implementation of effective mechanisms to protect the rights of child victims and witnesses of violence;
• introducing the practice of diverting children from formal court proceedings to alternative measures in the justice system, improving mechanisms for applying alternative measures to detention of children, as well as introducing mediation and other forms of restorative justice;
• Developing effective mechanisms for specialising judges in family and child-related cases and introducing mediation in civil cases.

UNICEF, in coordination and cooperation with the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law and with full respect for the mandate and competence of the latter, will support the MoJ in its role as the National Authority of Ukraine to facilitate contacts with the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, as well as its functions as the central authority of Ukraine under the various conventions of the Hague Conference on Private International Law as they relate to children.

The Parties will cooperate in the above areas and will do so through the preparation and implementation of joint activities, projects and programmes.

Denys Maliuska thanked the international partners for their unwavering support of Ukraine and expressed hope for fruitful cooperation between the Ministry of Justice and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Ukraine.