The Ministerial Conference on the Human Dimension has begun in Montreal, Canada, dedicated to implementing the fourth point of the Ukrainian President's Peace Formula: “Release of Prisoners and Deportees.”
The event was organized by Canada, Norway, and Ukraine as co-chairs of the working group for implementing this point.
Representing Ukraine are Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration – Minister of Justice Olha Stefanishyna, Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha, Deputy Heads of the Presidential Office Ihor Zhovkva and Iryna Vereshchuk, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets, Advisor – Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights and Child Rehabilitation Daria Herasymchuk, and Advisors to the Head of the Presidential Office Dariia Zarivna and Oleksandr Bevz, along with Bring Kids Back UA project coordinator Maksym Maksymov.
The conference aims to establish a roadmap with practical solutions to cover all stages of returning POWs and deportees, including military personnel, civilians, and children, as well as to intensify pressure on the Russian Federation to comply with international law and the Geneva Conventions.
Key objectives include defining strategies to enhance information-sharing about the whereabouts, health, and legal status of prisoners of war, detained civilians, and deported children; developing specific steps to end torture, mistreatment, forced relocations, and deportations; and ensuring regular access for international organizations to detention sites of all POWs and deportees in Russia.
It is also important to develop concrete solutions in order to increase the number of freed Ukrainians.
An additional focus is on strengthening coordination for the reintegration, rehabilitation, and mental health support of those who have been returned home.
This conference, like the previous eight that addressed other points of the Peace Formula, is part of Ukraine's preparation of a peace plan for the second Peace Summit and is aimed at working out solutions to humanitarian issues.
More than 70 countries and international organizations are participating in the conference.
