During the meeting of Vice Prime Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olga Stefanishina with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Maria Pejcinovic-Buric on November 4, several issues were discussed. They, in particular, concerned Ukraine's ratification of the Istanbul Convention, gender equality, combating domestic violence, protection of the rights of internally displaced persons. This is reported on the official website of the Government.

  Ukraine demonstrates significant progress in combating domestic violence, as well as gender-based violence. This has been achieved due to attention to the problem at the highest political level," noted Olga Stefanishina.

She noted the primary influence of the Presidential Decree "On urgent measures to prevent and combat domestic violence, gender-based violence, protection of the rights of victims of such violence" on the measures related to the protection of the rights of people affected by violence.

In addition, a number of measures aimed at instilling norms of high moral behavior in the population are stipulated in the State Program of Prevention and Counteraction to Domestic Violence and Gender-Based Violence until 2025, approved by the Government.

"This year, for the first time, the government allocated funding for each region to create the necessary shelters, day care centers and crisis rooms. This is important because now small Ukrainian cities will also have more opportunities to protect their residents from domestic violence," the Ukrainian deputy prime minister said.

The Council of Europe will continue to cooperate with Ukraine, which has already made significant progress in combating violence, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe assured.

The current climate change brings with it new threats relating to security risks and threats to human rights violations. And this should be an area where the partners will focus their efforts, both sides of the meeting noted.

Regarding the ratification of the Istanbul Convention, Olga Stefanishina noted its necessity. The sides discussed further possible communication steps to this end.

Regarding the internally displaced persons, Stefanishyna noted the imperfection of the legal framework in the international context, which would contain norms to protect the rights of such a contingent. The Ukrainian side suggested creating a group of international experts tasked with improving the international legal framework for the protection of IDPs. The experience of such countries as Ukraine, Georgia, etc. would be useful here.