Recently, considerable attention has been devoted to the question of how to popularize the discussions taking place within academic and civic platforms. We have decided for ourselves (without considering this approach mandatory or imposing it on others) to present, in the form of recommendations, the most pressing and relevant issues to which we would like to draw the attention of public officials, the academic community, representatives of civil society, and our talented youth.
Current Issues of Expert Discussion
On September 8, 2025, an expert discussion entitled «Protection of the rights of socially vulnerable population groups: The polylogue of public diplomacy» was held, during which the following points were emphasized:
- It is necessary to improve the categorical and conceptual framework. In particular, the category of «vulnerability» requires clearer determination and appropriate qualification. This also calls for philosophical, ethical, sociological, and legal research.
- There is an urgent need for an axiological and legal «revision» of current approaches to identifying vulnerable population groups and the criteria for distinguishing them, with adaptation to the realities of martial law, the needs of post-war reconstruction, and Ukraine’s further European integration. Such criteria may include medical, psychological, economic, social, legal, and other dimensions.
- Particular attention should be paid to the analysis of national discourse and international practice regarding the understanding of gender-based violence. It is important to emphasize that genocide constitutes the destruction of a particular group of people on national, religious, or racial grounds. In this regard, we propose recognizing genocidal manifestations within gender-based violence.
- As a separate issue in the development of the existing legal regulation concerning vulnerable population groups, we emphasize the necessity of establishing a unified social reintegration policy. We also stress that reintegration of vulnerable groups cannot and should not be regarded as a substitute for state social protection, but rather as one of its components.
- We insist on the necessity of promoting «post-war» education through the involvement of veterans in the educational process both as learners and as educators.
- It is necessary to study the experience of Israel, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina regarding the social protection of victims of gender-based violence in material, psychological, and reintegration dimensions. Such analysis and its further implementation would significantly strengthen the existing protection mechanisms and increase their effectiveness.
- Model protocols should be developed to regulate cooperation between local self-government bodies and civil society organizations in the field of social protection.
In order for the reintegration of civilians after captivity to become a reality, amendments should be introduced to:
- The Criminal Code of Ukraine – criminalization of unlawful internment.
- The Law on Social Protection of Military Personnel – to include civilian detainees.
- The Law on Rehabilitation of Victims of Repression – to extend its provisions to civilian victims of war.
- The Labor Code of Ukraine – employment guarantees and quotas.
- Healthcare legislation – rehabilitation programs».
- Education legislation – the right to free retraining and requalification.
After the end of the war, military personnel with varying degrees of physical, psychological, and mental trauma will return to civilian life. In order to prevent a post-war increase in violence, suicides, and crime, state-level programs for adaptation to peaceful life must be developed for military personnel and their family members (drawing on the experience of Israel and other countries).
It would also be advisable to grant the children of Ukraine a special legal status «Children of War», which would provide for a comprehensive system of national and international protection guarantees. Such status should include targeted measures in the social, educational, medical, psychological, and legal spheres.
Special attention should also be paid to combating the forced deportation of children. This issue requires the active involvement of the Human Rights Commissioner, the Office of the Ombudsman, as well as international organizations and human rights institutions engaged in monitoring, documenting violations, and facilitating the return of unlawfully deported children to their homeland.
Respectfully,
V. M. Koretsky Institute of State and Law
of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine,
Kyiv School of Public Administration
and NGO «Woman’s Tribune».