Looking forward : strengthening and protecting women’s and children’s rights in Ukraine – a new Joint Project between the European Union and the Council of Europe

Kyiv, 27.11.2008 – A new Joint Project on strengthening and protecting women’s and children’s rights in Ukraine will be launched on Thursday 4 December in Kyiv.

This new Project aims at improving the compatibility of existing laws and practice in Ukraine in the fields of gender equality and children’s rights and contributing to the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse of children in line with the Revised European Social Charter, the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, and other relevant instruments. One of its main objectives is also to promote the ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.

The Project will be implemented in co-operation with the following partners in Ukraine: Presidential Secretariat, Ministry for Family, Youth and Sport, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Internal Affaires, Parliament, Judiciary, Prosecution Services, Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, Social Services, Non-governmental organisations.

The Project will run until August 2010 with a budget of 1.2 million Euro funded by the European Union with co-funding and implementation by the Council of Europe.

A Start-up Conference, to ensure that all Project partners have a full understanding of their responsibilities in the implementation of the Project and to heighten public awareness of the problem of women’s and children’s rights, will be held in Kyiv, at the premises of the Ministry of Justice, Rylsky lane 10, from 2.00 pm to 4.00 pm on 4 December 2008.

The Start-up Conference is open to the press.

Contacts:
Council of Europe: Danuta Wiśniewska-Cazals, Head of Judicial co-operation, trafficking and sexual exploitation Unit, tel.: +33-3-88 41 28 51, danuta.wisniewska-cazals@coe.int
European Commission Delegation in Ukraine: Sergey Polyuk, Sector Manager on Health and Welfare, tel.: +380-44-390 80 10, sergey.polyuk@ec.europa.eu

Source of information: News of Delegation of European Commission to Ukraine
http://www.delukr.ec.europa.eu/