An event devoted to the interests of HPV children took place in Lviv

On December 12, the Lviv Shelter "Tvoy Opora" gathered parents with the status of HPV, representatives of social services and the public for the event "Advocacy of the best interests of the HPV child in war conditions." About 70 participants discussed the problem of children's safety level, their right to education, medical supervision and social adaptation.

«February 22, 2022 has already become loud. It flew all over the city, very close. We often sat with the children in the basement: sometimes at night, sometimes around the clock, and sometimes even for a week.It was very scary, they were afraid for the lives of the children", - says Tatiana, who lives and recovers with her family in the Shelter "Tvoy Opora".

In October 2023, the Levchuk family came to Lviv from the front-line city of Kurakhovo, Donetsk region: Tatiana, Evgeny and their seven children from 10 months to 15 years. In September, an entire residential quarter was bombed in their city, including Levchukov's apartment. He left his native Kurakhovo, the family went to the west of Ukraine. In the Lviv Shelter "Tvoya Opora", in addition to access to housing and basic needs, Tatiana's children had the opportunity to attend interactive and educational-entertainment events, learn English and Ukrainian languages. The parents themselves became one of the 70 participants of the event on advocacy of the best interests of the child, organized in the Shelter on December 12. They say that there is little such educational work in Ukraine.

«Shelters continue to open their doors to internally displaced persons and are among the first to observe in what condition people arrive, how they deal with it or not. Children are always the most painful question. During the war, all of them, without exception, suffered from violations of their legal rights, even if the child did not experience physical harm or exploitation.That is why, with the support of the European Union and the International Foundation "Vozrozhdenie", we organized a similar event", — Lyubov Voznyak, director of the "Your Support" Shelter.

The first part of the event was held with parents with HPV status and Roman Stankevich, head of the legal department of the International Solidarity Organization Triangle, who spoke about the status of a child affected by war and shared information from the legislation on the protection of the child's rights and his best interests. As a result, the participants proposed to meet again and discuss the topic in more depth. Further announcements of similar events will be posted on the Foundation's website "Your support."

In the second part of the event, local authorities, children's services, law enforcement agencies and non-governmental organizations discussed difficult cases faced by the workers of the "Tvoy opora" shelter in order to develop a further work algorithm. Among the invited speakers were present Vladimir Frydrak Acting head of department, deputy head of department "Service for children's affairs" of the department of humanitarian policy of the Lviv city council, Olga Malik acting director of the Center "Zherelo", Caritas-Brody, Vladimir Golovaty director of the Center for Social Support, Elena Golysheva head of the Department of Communication and Psychological Support, juvenile police officer and specialist in countering child trafficking, Oksana Rubay regional coordinator of the Every Child Partnership, a social worker and psychologist of the Malta Service, lawyers of several organizations (Stabilization Support Services, Right to Protection Foundation, and Rescue Center).

At the event, they discussed how to increase the level of safety of children, preserve the right to education, medical supervision and social adaptation. What can be done for children and families to protect them from risks and potential threats:

• parental negligence;
• pedagogical neglect;
• invalidating a child for the purpose of obtaining benefits;
• trade in children

Now in Ukraine there is a big load on social services and guardianship bodies. Further cooperation of all involved parties is extremely important for solving existing problems and preventing possible risks.

If you have witnessed a violation of a child's rights, the first thing you need to do is:

1. Call the police
2. Notify the Children's Service.

In the case of children with HIV/AIDS living in shelters, it is recommended to carry out emergency and crisis intervention, draw up an act of assessing the situation and try to preserve their place of residence. Responding to a danger to a child's life can protect his health and give him a chance for a better future.