The first Steering Group meeting of the Council of Europe project Combating violence against women and children in Ukraine is organized on 29th June 2017 in the premises of the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine in Kiev. The meeting gathers focal points from the Ministries of Social Policy, Interior, Justice, Education, Health as well as the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, the Representative for Children of the President of Ukraine, the National School of Judges, the National Academy of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and selected NGOs. Securing the presence of such a wide range of key stakeholders is essential for the project that promotes interagency cooperation to combat violence against women and children more efficiently in the country. The meeting will be opened by the Deputy Minister Natalka Fedorovych and Mr Mårten Ehnberg, the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine.
The Project Steering Group is set up to give strategic guidance, evaluate and facilitate the implementation of project activities. With regard to combating violence against women, the objectives of the project are:
- To improve and complement existing and new awareness raising initiatives violence against women in close co-operation with authorities, civil society, especially women’s organizations, and the media;
- To develop guidance to law enforcement to effectively investigate cases of violence against women;
- To develop quality criteria for specialized support services (shelters)
- To provide training to judges and prosecutors on dealing with cases of violence against women;
- To support the Ukrainian authorities to ratify the Istanbul Convention
With regard to combating violence against children, the project focuses on:
- Promoting the development of an integrated national strategy to protect children from all forms of violence with key Ministries and stakeholders at the national level;
- at the oblast level, preparing for the piloting of the so-called “Children’s house” - a child-friendly, multi-disciplinary and multiagency response for child abuse and services for child victims and witnesses of violence;
- Building the capacity of professionals across sectors in contact with children and dealing with cases of child sexual abuse; and
- Raising awareness on the incidence and harmful effects of child sexual abuse and exploitation and building the capacity of the civil society.
The project has a budget of 300,000€ and will be implemented in the course of 2017.
Council of Europe 
