Yesterday at 20:25
The press conference was held in Sweden with the participation of Camilla Waltersson Grönvall, Minister for Social Services of Sweden, Dubravka Šuica, Vice-President of the European Commission for Democracy and Demography, and Oksana Zholnovych, Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine.
The parties discussed joining efforts to overhaul Ukraine’s social protection system, including child protection.
According to Oksana Zholnovych, today more than 7 million Ukrainian children have become children of war and it is essential for our state to further strengthen its efforts to provide social, educational, psychological and medical support to families with children who are currently in Ukraine or evacuated to Europe.
“Our goal is to support families with children. That’s why we want to make all social services as accessible and high-quality as possible for both children and their families. It is important for us to ensure that all services are supported for families in crisis. This includes creating foster families for children who have lost their parents. This is the first and most important thing,” she stressed.
Camilla Waltersson Grönvall, Minister for Social Services of Sweden, stressed that one of the priorities of the Government of Sweden in particular and the EU, in general, was to support Ukraine and make efforts to protect Ukrainian children. She noted that the top priority was to upgrade the system of social services in Ukraine, including the protection of children’s rights, and Sweden was a partner of Ukraine in these matters.
Dubravka Šuica, Vice-President of the European Commission, European Commissioner for Democracy and Demography, added that the EU condemns russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine, which is a clear violation of human rights. She stressed that the EU called on russia to immediately stop the transfer, detention and deportation of Ukrainian children.
Oksana Zholnovych thanked the European community and all organisations that help in the return of Ukrainian children and support the implementation of initiatives aimed at protecting the rights of Ukrainian children and developing family-based care.
