In Poltava Region will create a center for the protection and assistance of children, victims or witnesses violence

The signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation between the Poltava Regional State Administration, the Regional Council, and the International Charitable Foundation "Ukrainian Public Health Foundation" took place to support the protection and care of children who have suffered or witnessed violence. They plan to create a safe and child-friendly environment.

- We are creating a child-friendly space in Poltava region based on the international Barnahus model, which will provide protection and assistance to children who have suffered or witnessed violence in the justice process. To work together on this issue, we have signed a memorandum with the International Charitable Foundation "Ukrainian Public Health Foundation," which implemented the project in cooperation with UNICEF and the regional council," said Dmytro Lunin, the head of the Poltava Regional Military Administration.

Galyna Skipalska, the Executive Director of the International Charitable Foundation "Ukrainian Public Health Foundation," mentioned that six Barnahus centers have already been established in Ukraine with the support of UNICEF.

- Our team has an ambitious goal to have such centers in every region or major city in the future. This is particularly important during times of war when children become witnesses or victims of war crimes. The Barnahus model is not just about creating a child-friendly space for interviewing children; it involves coordination at the local level because when a child returns to the community after a crime, they should receive quality psychological services there," explained Galyna Skipalska.

The Memorandum of Cooperation includes the establishment of the center, training for coordinators, investment in equipment, and more. Barnahus (which translates to "Children's House") is an interdisciplinary and interinstitutional specialized center for working with children who have suffered violence or witnessed similar crimes. Here, interviews are conducted with such children, medical examinations are carried out for forensic purposes, comprehensive assessments are made, and all necessary therapeutic services are provided by the relevant specialists. Barnahus originates from the Child Advocacy Center model adopted in the United States in the 1980s. The first such centers appeared in Iceland in 1998, and they later spread to other northern countries (Sweden in 2005, Norway in 2007, Greenland in 2011, Denmark in 2013) under the name Barnahus, or "Children's House."