On September 6-7, 2021, the Council of Europe project "Combating violence against children in Ukraine" conducted an online training on the topic of "Investigative Interviewing of Children" based on the Methodological Guidelines and Protocol of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) for investigation of sexual crimes against children. Representatives of the National Police from all regions of Ukraine participated in the training.

The Objective of the 2-days training was to provide participants with practical interviewing tools that take into account the best international and national practices in the field of protection and safety of a children witnesses in criminal proceedings, using the example of Methodological Guidelines on Investigative Interviewing of Children based on the NICHD Protocol.

The Methodological Guidelines on Investigative Interviewing of Children are based on the "Methodological recommendations for interviewing children victims or witnesses of violence, as well as child offenders", which were published by the Council of Europe in 2015.  Currently, the Council of Europe, within the framework of its efforts to enhance the capacities on implementation of appropriate standards and improve the skills of specialists working with children, has engaged experts to continue this work and develop Methodological guidelines based on The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Investigative Interview Protocol. It is a structured protocol for professionals who interview children as part of an investigation.

Methodological Guidelines on Investigative Interviewing of Children are available for downloading at the following link:

 https://rm.coe.int/method-rec-2021-ukr-web/1680a317f6