Ukraine, UN sign preventive plan to protect children's rights amid Russian aggression

Ukraine and the UN have signed a joint preventive plan to prevent and stop gross violations of children's rights in the context of Russia's armed aggression.

That's according to the Office of the President of Ukraine, Ukrinform reports.

The plan was signed by Advisor, Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights and Child Rehabilitation Daria Herasymchuk, UN Resident Coordinator in Ukraine, Humanitarian Coordinator Denise Brown and UNICEF Representative in Ukraine Murat Sahin.

Next week in New York, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict Virginia Gamba will verify the document.

"Today, Ukraine is taking yet another, far from being the first, step to save Ukrainian children from ruscist invaders and is showing respect for UN mechanisms and rules by signing a preventive plan developed jointly with the United Nations. We hope other countries will use our example because today we are talking about Ukrainian children, and tomorrow it can be any child in any country in the world," Herasymchuk said after signing the document, which took place in the Office of the President of Ukraine.

She said that Russia is the first ever permanent member of the UN Security Council, which the UN Secretary General mentioned in the appendix to his annual report "Children and Armed Conflict" for 2022 among other countries that committed such violations.

According to the statement, the signing of the joint preventive plan with the UN is an important step in implementing Bring Kids Back UA – a comprehensive action plan developed at the initiative of Volodymyr Zelensky. The plan unites the efforts of the Ukrainian authorities, foreign governments and international organizations for the return Ukrainian children abducted by Russia to their homeland.

As Head of the President's Office Andriy Yermak said, there is a lot of work ahead to return Ukrainian children, and the efforts of Ukrainians will not stop until all Ukrainian citizens return home, close to their families.

"The release of all prisoners and deportees is an important point of the Peace Formula. Thousands of our people, including more than 19,000 Ukrainian children, are in Russian captivity. Ukraine is grateful to everyone in the world who helps return Ukrainians home. We must release all these people, and we will definitely do it together," Yermak said.

Photos: Office of the President of Ukraine