PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS OF ORPHANS AND CHILDREN DEPRIVED OF PARENTAL CARE DURING ARMED CONFLICT: THE UKRAINIAN CONTEXT

Abstract

Children are undoubtedly the most vulnerable segment of the civilian population, requiring the utmost attention and care from society and the state, represented by authorized public administration entities. The primary responsibility for raising, caring for, and protecting children lies with each child’s parents. However, due to certain life circumstances, there is a category of children who either have no parents at all or whose parents do not properly fulfill their parental responsibilities – orphans and children deprived of parental care. These categories of children receive special protection and assistance from the state. The authors of the article focus on the existing domestic legislation in the field of protecting the rights of orphans and children deprived of parental care. This includes public administration entities whose competence includes the protection of the rights of orphans and children deprived of parental care. The article analyzes changes in state public policy regarding the provision of exclusively family-based care for orphans and children deprived of parental care.During armed conflict, the state has a heightened responsibility for orphans and children deprived of parental care. To ensure their safety, the state must develop additional mechanisms in response to situations that arise during armed conflict. One example is the administrative and legal mechanism for the temporary relocation (evacuation) of children who live in or are enrolled in institutions of various types, forms of ownership, and subordination for round- the-clock stay, and their return to their place of permanent residence (stay), and in the case of departure from Ukraine to Ukraine. The authors of the article analyze the proposed mechanism, the subjects of its implementation, as well as the problematic issues that arise in the process of its implementation.