On November 19, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine together with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) held a briefing for foreign diplomats on the upholding of children's rights in times of war. Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Mariana Betsa and UNICEF Representative to Ukraine Munir Mammadzade took part in the event. At the beginning, all the participants honored the memory of the deceased children with a moment of silence.

During the briefing, which took place on the 1000 days since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation of Ukraine and on the eve of World Children's Day, Mariana Betsa informed about the negative impact of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation on the lives of millions of Ukrainian children and about our joint efforts aimed at protection of young Ukrainians. According to preliminary estimates, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation of Ukraine, 659 children were killed, thousands have become victims of violence, hundreds of thousands do not have access to warm homes, education and the necessities.

Deputy Minister expressed the appreciation to UNICEF and all other international partners for their strong support. For 1,000 days, despite constant shelling, the necessary aid has been delivered to the most affected regions of Ukraine, in particular to educational institutions, hospitals and maternity homes. These efforts ensured than 4,5 million people have received practical assistance from UNICEF. "We thank each and every one who, sometimes even risking their own life and health, helps Ukrainian children," Mariana Betsa said.

Deputy Minister also emphasized that within the framework of the Peace Formula of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, our state, together with the partners, is making maximum efforts to ensure that all Ukrainian children deported to Russia return to their families as soon as possible and never know the hardships of war.

Mariana Betsa called on international partners to further unite their efforts to protect and support children in Ukraine.

"We have to return heating to millions of homes, restore more than 1,500 schools and 660 health care facilities, provide 1,7 million children across the country with the access to safe water, and provide 7 million young Ukrainians with the right to a happy childhood," she said.

The event was also attended by the Ombudsperson’s Representative on Child Rights Iryna Suslova, spouse of the Foreign Minister of Ukraine / Co-Founder of Ukrainian Diplomatic Spouses Association Tetiana Sybiha, UNICEF Director of Global Communications and Advocacy Naysan Sahba, representatives of local authorities, non-governmental sector, teachers and experts.