Summarizing the results of the second certificate program from the UCU Child Dignity Center

Three days of intensive training, immersion in the topic of preventing violence against children, identifying possible risks and finding the best solutions to protect children, how to create a violence-free space in a public organization or charity. And as a result of the training, they wrote their own safety policy.

For the second time, the Center for Child Dignity held a certificate program - “Creating a Safe Environment for Children. Security Policy in the Organization” in partnership with the NGO Resource Center with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, which lasted from June 10 to September 30, 2024.

The program was approved by the Academic Council of the UCU Faculty of Health Sciences and is designed for 45 academic hours, which is equal to 1.5 ECTS credits.

As part of the program, on June 10-12, the participants attended a three-day training on the UCU campus, and then worked on safety policies through online consultations with experts from the UCU Center for the Dignity of the Child. And in October, six organizations had ready-made policies, which is very important for the work on comprehensive assistance to families.

NGOs from the East and South of Ukraine that work directly with children and families with children with disabilities: CO “Charitable Foundation BLAGO”, CO “Charitable Foundation Sloboda UA”, CO “Charitable Foundation Smile UA”, NGO “Flowers of Victory”, NGO “SpilnoTy”, NGO “Mowgli”, NGO “Strong because Free”, NGO “Center for Social Initiatives of Trostianets Community”, Children New Generation, FIGHT FOR RIGHT, NGO “Dobropillia's Works”, NGO “Source of Support”, NGO “Crisis Psychological Assistance of Dnipro and Dnipropetrovska oblast”.

The program was led by Natalia Tarnovska, head of projects and programs at the UCU Center for the Dignity of the Child. The experts who conducted the training for three days:

Khrystyna Shabat, head of the UCU Center for the Dignity of the Child, spoke about the dignity of the child, zero tolerance for violence, and the development of child protection policies and procedures.

Kateryna Gryshchenko, analyst at the DEJURE Foundation, gave a lecture on child protection as it is happening in the world and in Ukraine.

Anastasia Shyroka, Deputy Dean for International Academic Relations at UCU's Faculty of Health Sciences, Associate Professor of Psychology and Psychotherapy, spoke about safe environments and safe adults in a child's life.

Yuliana Maslak, child psychiatrist, cognitive behavioral therapy therapist at the Family Circle Health and Development Center, and lecturer of the master's program in Clinical Psychology with the Basics of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy at UCU, introduced the participants to the consequences of childhood trauma.

Ivanka Rudakevych, project and program manager at the UCU Center for Child Dignity, conducted a practical analysis of cases and facilitated group work in the practice of writing safety policies.

As part of the program, the participants had an excursion to the Church of St. Sophia the Wisdom of God and to the Klyment Sheptytsky Museum of Folk Architecture and Life in Lviv to see an exhibition of folk icons on glass from the collection of Ostap Lozynsky.

It was active and fruitful work. We are grateful to our partners and participants. The two certificate programs were attended by 29 civil society organizations from the areas where the violent impact of the war is particularly noticeable - Kharkiv, Sumy, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kramatorsk.