24 September 2008, 17:59
The discussion was organized by the parliamentary Committee on Legislative Support of Law Enforcement jointly with the Ministries for Family, Youth and Sports, and for Internal Affairs.
Valeriy Bevz, Committee Secretary, stated that the Governmental Program on Counteraction to Human Trafficking for the period to Year 2010 failed to be implemented. According to V.Bevz, nearly 150 thousand children live in problem families. More than 103 thousand orphans live in the country. More than 120 thousand children are taken to the shelters annually.
According to the People´s Deputy, it promotes trafficking of children which acquires transnational nature.
Jeremy Hartley, UNICEF Representative in Ukraine, stated that Ukraine was regarded as a source of supply of children for commercial sexual exploitation.
According to Viacheslav Riabenko, representative of General Prosecution, main reasons for trafficking of children are as follows: current economic conditions and employment of Ukrainian citizens, legislative gaps and non-compliance of Ukrainian legislation with the international laws that limit authorities of the law-enforcement bodies in the struggle with similar crimes, popularization of dissoluteness and violence in mass media, neglect of children and educational work with them, inadequate progress of struggle with human trafficking, prostitution and violations in the filed of public morality on the part of law-enforcement bodies.
The attendants of the meeting recommend that The Verkhovna Rada urgently adopts the Law on ratification of the National Program "National Action Plan on Implementation of the UN Convention for Children Rights for the Period till Year 2016".