Strigelsky: An effective mechanism for protecting the rights of minors has been created and is functioning in Minsk

1 August, MINSK . An effective mechanism for protecting the rights of minors has been created and is functioning in Minsk. This was stated by Deputy Chairman of the Minsk City Executive Committee Andrei Strigelsky at a meeting of the executive committee, BELTA has learned. 
"Almost 20 years ago, the HEAD of state adopted a decree on additional measures for state protection of children in dysfunctional families. The decree became the starting point for building a system of work to ensure the rights and legitimate interests of minors whose parents do not fulfill their responsibilities for their upbringing in good faith, do not provide for their basic life needs, and put their lives and HEALTH at risk," Andrei Strigelsky noted.
Since 1 January 2025, the norms of the decree have been implemented in a number of legislative acts. According to Strigelsky, the key goal is to identify family problems at an early stage and protect children from the antisocial behavior of their parents. The priority is to preserve the family and socially rehabilitate parents. Only if this is impossible - the child is taken away, provided for by the state and forced measures against the parents. "An effective mechanism has been created and is functioning in Minsk, which allows for the real protection of the rights of minors. Today, the subjects of the implementation of this mechanism are institutions, bodies of education, health care, justice, employment service, internal affairs, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, housing and communal services and others. At the level of the city executive committee, management decisions have been made, a coordinating council has been created, and an interdepartmental commission is in effect," the deputy chairman emphasized.
By the decision of the Minsk City Executive Committee for 2025, 268 city organizations have been booked to receive obligated persons - 365 jobs are provided. Issues of protecting children's rights are regularly considered at meetings of the city commission on minors.
Strigelsky noted that from 8 to 10 thousand messages about possible problems in families are received annually by district education departments. In the first half of 2025, 3,517 such reports were registered. Based on social investigations, 1,195 children were recognized as being in a socially dangerous situation. In total, there are 2,381 children from 1,321 families in this category. "The trend in recent years, with the exception of certain years, is an increase in the number of minors recognized as being in a socially dangerous situation. The main reasons are an immoral lifestyle, ALCOHOL and drug abuse, and child abuse. Today, such families make up 67% of the total number (of socially dangerous families. - BELTA note). The share of large families among disadvantaged families is also increasing - now they are about 20%," he explained.
Since January 1, 2025, decisions on recognizing children as being in a socially dangerous situation are made by district commissions on minors. They also develop and monitor the implementation of measures to eliminate the causes of trouble. The work is based on an interdepartmental basis. "Normalization of the situation in the family is the primary task in our work. Thanks to systematic activities, more than 70% of children (from families previously recognized as problematic - BELTA note) are removed from the register every year," added Andrei Strigelsky.