In 2025, Ukraine continues to rethink its own system of holidays and commemorative dates within the broader process of abandoning Soviet and post-Soviet traditions, synchronizing with the international calendar, and strengthening the emphasis on human rights. One of the steps in this direction was the transfer of the Children’s Protection Day from June 1 to November 20. Relevant Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 355/2025 published May 30, 2025 on his official website.
The document, signed by the head of state Volodymyr Zelenskyi, emphasizes that the adopted decision is intended to approve the protection of childhood as a national priority, as well as to strengthen cooperation with the international community in the field of protection of children’s rights. The main goal is not only the symbolic, but also the practical integration of Ukraine into the system of human rights mechanisms established in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The text of the decree states:
“For the purpose of establishing childhood protection as a national priority of Ukraine, strengthening and unifying the efforts of the international community aimed at protecting the rights and best interests of the child, implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, I decide to establish a Children’s Protection Day in Ukraine, to be celebrated annually on World Children’s Day – November 20.”
With this decision, at the same time, Decree of the President of Ukraine dated May 30, 1998 No. 568/98 “On Children’s Protection Day”, which established the celebration of this date on June 1, was recognized as having lost its validity. Therefore, for more than a quarter of a century in Ukraine, Children’s Protection Day was tied to the post-Soviet date, which arose as an initiative of the International Democratic Federation of Women back in 1949.
The purpose of the change is to synchronize Ukrainian Children’s Day with World Children’s Day, which is celebrated at the UN on November 20. It was on this day in 1959 that the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, and in 1989, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Ukraine ratified in 1991. Thus, the new date acquires a deeper human rights content and is consistent with international practice.
Decree No. 355/2025 entered into force from the moment of its publication, that is, from May 30, 2025. This means that already this year, Children’s Protection Day in Ukraine will not be celebrated on June 1, as before, but will be held on November 20 – together with the whole world within the framework of World Children’s Day.
