On 16 July 2020 the Council of Europe project Combating violence against children in Ukraine held its first Steering Committee meeting to bring together the main actors to discuss the project activities and the way forward, as well as suggest adjustments if needed.

The meeting was held online with simultaneous interpretation provided.

The main points discussed included the following areas:

• Interagency cooperation to respond to violence against children
• Legal and policy framework to be harmonised in line with Council of Europe standards
• Training of professionals to respond to violence against children and promote childfriendly practices
• Awareness raising and prevention on violence against children

The meeting was opened by Ms Regina Jensdottir, Head of the Children's Rights Division and CoE Coordinator for the Rights of the Child, who welcomed everyone and underlined the importance of getting comprehensive feedback from the national counterparts to be able to adjust the project to better respond to the needs of the country.

The Deputy Minister of Interior of Ukraine, Ms Tetiana Kovalchuk reiterated their readiness to cooperate with the Council of Europe within the framework of this project and presented a wide-ranging agenda in this respect.

This was followed by a presentation of project’s priorities and activities and a discussion with the participants on their specific needs.

All the partners were extremely eager to contribute to the discussions and agreed that cooperation and coordination among all actors are key to successfully protect children’s rights in the country.

The meeting addressed further adjustments necessary vis-à-vis COVID-19 restrictions that might affect project activities.

The project Combating violence against children in Ukraine supports strengthening the country’s child protection framework and judicial system with focus on the protection of children against sexual violence, promotion of child-friendly justice practices and the rights of the child in the digital environment. It is closely anchored in the Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2016-2021) and implemented in the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine (2018-2021) during the period of 1 April 2020 - 31 December 2021.