Children’s Rights in Ukraine

Right after becoming an independent State, Ukraine made a number of commitments to improve the wellbeing of children - particularly by the ratification of the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1991. The two Optional Protocols to the Convention - respectively on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography and on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict - were ratified in 2003 and 2005. The Third Optional Protocol on a Communications Procedure, adopted on 11 December 2011 was signed in 2014 and ratified 2 years later.
In Ukraine there is no specific legislation for children, therefore their rights are enshrined in separate articles of the Family, Civil and Criminal Code and in the Code of Criminal Procedure. They are also governed by sectoral laws such as the law "On Protection of Childhood", "On Social Work with Children and Youth", "On Prevention of Family Violence”. From August 2011 to June 2021 there was an authorized representative of the President of Ukraine for Children's Rights, or Children's Ombudsman, in charge of the realization of the Constitutional powers by the President of Ukraine concerning the implementation of children’s Constitutional rights and the execution by Ukraine of its international obligations in this domain. However, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, this position was abolished and transformed to Advisor - Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights and Child Rehabilitation currently helmed by  Ms. Daria Herasymchuk.

The period after the ratification of the CRC appeared to be quite difficult for Ukraine as the political transition, the social changes and the deep economic crisis were impeding the full implementation of the Convention. Consequently, in its first report on Ukraine (1995), the Committee on the Rights of the Child highlighted a number of problems relating to the situation of children. Concerns, in particular, were raised in connection to the negative consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster (1986), especially on the physical and psychological health of the population, including children. Other serious concerns mentioned by the Committe were: the increasing child mortality rate; the high number of abortions and insufficient health, education and services for family planning; large scale of child abuse and violence within the family. Moreover, since there was no law prohibiting the sale and trafficking of children at the beginning of the 90’s, the high rate of abandonment of children contributed to the phenomenon of illegal intercountry adoption or other forms of trafficking and sale of children. In 1996, one year after the release of the Committee's report, the Ministry of Family and Youth Affairs was created in order to formulate State policies to improve the situation of families and children. Later in 2009, Ukraine adopted the National Plan of Action for Children (2010-2016) which was welcomed by the Committee’s report of 2011.

While in 2011, the Committee's concluding observations revolved around the significant number of allegations of physical ill-treatment of detained children; the increasing number of children deprived of their family environment, child labor, the high level of youth poverty and unemployment; In response to Ukraine’s last report (2022), the Committee centered its concerns about the ongoing Russian armed invasion to the territory that has since created major obstacles to the implementation of all the rights of the child defined in the Convention and its Optional Protocols. Since the beginning of the attack, reports of gross violations of children’s rights have taken place including killings of children, mass displacement of children internally and outside the country, and the destruction of homes, schools, hospitals and water and sanitation systems, committed mainly by the Russian Federation. As a direct measure, Ukraine has undertaken the establishment of the Coordination Group for the Protection of the Rights of the Child under Martial Law with the aim to strengthen social protection of children and support for families with children. In addition, the Committee expressed its utmost support for the work of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, whose role is to investigate all alleged violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, including killings of civilians, in particular children.

Advancements in the issue of violence against children have been carried out with the adoption of the 2017 law on preventing and combating domestic violence. The regulation recognized child witnesses of domestic violence as victims and provided for appropriate intervention, necessary protection and rehabilitation for child victims and their families. However, despite its prohibition, reports of parental practices of corporal punishment continue to take place. The Committee called for increased collaboration between the social, health and judicial sectors in responding to violence against children, including domestic violence and sexual abuse.

The Ukrainian Parliament adopted Draft Law No. 7117 ‘On Improvement of Accessibility and Quality of Health Care Services in Rural Areas’ that addressed  the rural doctor shortage and provided equipment to outpatients clinics and rural health posts. Health and health services today are threatened in light of the hundreds of attacks on health-care facilities, including on children’s hospitals and maternity wards, in Ukraine by armed forces of the Russian Federation. As reported in 2017, more than 13 million Ukrainian citizens lived  in rural communities thus post-armed conflict reform of health care would have to be carried out with a focus on  small health posts removed or closed during the military campaign to provide families with children with preventive and curative services.

The situation of children with disabilities in Ukraine is of pressing urgency. According to the Committee, children with disabilities in some institutions have been subjected to years of emotional neglect, while limited resources and a lack of trained staff have caused poor quality of care and, in some instances, harmful practices such as the restraining of children. Since the start of the Russian incursion, many children with disabilities requiring high levels of support have been left behind in institutions which are understaffed and in poor condition, and in some instances have been tied down or left in beds in near total inactivity, and held in dark, poorly ventilated rooms with limited hygiene services. Evenmore, with the closure of boarding schools and institutions due to hostilities, many children with disabilities have been sent back home without a proper assessment of their family situation. The Committee urged the State to seek the support of States, United Nations agencies, civil society and other stakeholders involved in humanitarian action to identify and respond to the needs and requirements of children with disabilities caught up in the hostilities.  With regard to children belonging to minority groups, the Committee noted repeated incidents of hate speech and violence in Ukraine, with a special emphasis on the several intolerance campaigns against Roma and violent attacks against Roma settlements in 2018. Later, in 2021, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted the Strategy for Promoting the Realization of the Rights and Opportunities of persons belonging to the Roma national minority that intends to create conditions for their complete self-fulfillment in cultural, social, economic and political life.

As for the education system, some schools have now resumed in-person education while others continue online education. On 20 November 2019, Ukraine became the 100th country to sign up to the Safe Schools Declaration that seeks to ensure the continuation of education during armed conflict, the protection of educational facilities from sheling, to deter the use of schools for military purposes and the reconstruction of these facilities as appropriate.

In view of the escalation in the Russian war against Ukraine since February 2022, UNICEF keeps monitoring the situation and its  impacts on children. According to the UN fund, the continued violence perpetrated by the armed groups and the ongoing security operations will leave deep psychological scars on Ukrainians living in the affected areas. Children, who have been affected by this atmosphere of fear and the prolonged fighting, may need psychological assistance to heal and rebuild their lives, the UN reports. Here is some data connected to the ongoing war in Ukraine (UN sources):
In the context of the military invasion in Ukraine, since 24 February 2022 due to indiscriminate attacks, the killings of 302 boys and 243 girls had been verified (updated on 17 June 2024)

• At the end of 2023, 3.7 million people remained displaced inside Ukraine, while 4.6 million people returned to their place of origin (updated on 17 June 2024).
• As of June 2024, some 6.5 million refugees from Ukraine were recorded globally (updated on 17 June 2024).
• Children in cities in Ukraine’s frontline areas have been forced to spend between 3,000 and 5,000 hours – equivalent to between four and almost 7 months – sheltering in basements and underground metro stations over the past two years, as air raid alerts continue to be frequent (updated on 17 June 2024).
• Nearly 2 million, or half of all students, remain reliant on online or blended education, with 2,321 schools across the frontlines closed for safety reasons (updated on 17 June 2024).
• Attacks on energy infrastructure in the winter of 2022–2023 led to power outages that interrupted water networks and access to health and education services for 7 million children (updated on 17 June 2024).
•  An estimated 5.3 million children face interrupted education, causing substantial learning losses as 3,798 educational facilities have been reported damaged and 365 destroyed (updated on 17 June 2024).
• The poverty rate in Ukraine increased from 5.5 per cent in 2021 to 24.1 per cent in 2022 when measured against the global poverty line, pushing 7.1 million people into poverty and reversing 15 years of economic progress (updated on 17 June 2024).