Maria Lvova-Belova met with members of the Children’s Public Council under the Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the DPR at the New Generation Territory teenage centre in Mariupol, which opened on October 17.
This is the third teenage centre to open in the new regions. The children like this format. The centre provides a venue for hanging out with friends and playing board games, but also engaging in productive activities, such as running a master class or working on an engaging project. The Children’s Commissioner noted the importance of children having access to their own kitchen where they can enjoy tea parties, and promised to send in a coffee machine and help the centre get central heating and plumbing, adding that another such space will open in Donetsk next spring.
In Mariupol, Maria Lvova-Belova visited two foster families. One family has nine children, and the other 12 children. Both families’ houses were badly damaged during the hostilities. The parents get help from the headquarters of the Into to the Hands of Children campaign. Maria Lvova-Belova gave the family with nine children new household appliances, as well as funds to pay for the ceiling and floor renovation, replacement of interior doors, and the heating system. The other family will be given a minibus and will get help finishing renovation and building a fence, the Children’s Commissioner said.
In Donetsk Maria Lvova-Belova met with doctors and patients of the Donetsk Republican Perinatal Centre and visited the Institute of Emergency and Reconstructive Surgery. As part of the One Hundred Ideas from Children project, the Children’s Commissioner joined children from an art school to help them with a wall painting project. The children were gifted games and educational software, and it was also decided to buy notebooks for them.
The Commissioner held a personal reception of residents: the issues brought up concerned getting treatment at federal clinics, legal assistance, and taking children back to family environment. The Children’s Commissioner handed seven vouchers for treatment at health resorts over to the families.
At a meeting with the officials from the Republic’s guardianship and custody bodies, Maria Lvova-Belova noted that assisting the region in creating the system for preventing child abandonment was a priority. Upon reviewing personal files of children kept at the institutions, it became clear that some of the children could stay with their relatives. The key objective is to do so wherever possible and to help the parents, if necessary. The Children’s Commissioner noted that five headquarters of Into the Hands of Children campaign were operational in the new regions and provided targeted assistance to families.
In 2023, the headquarters addressed 1,599 individual petitions for help and about 1,000 in 2024. Most requests concern help with buying furniture and household appliances, covering renovation costs and accessing essential supplies.