In June 2026, the Transatlantic Dialogue Center (TDC) supported expert meetings in Kyiv and a three-day training led by Margarita Griesbach, a Mexican specialist in child testimony. The programme introduced a neurocognitive model for obtaining children’s testimonies to Ukrainian police officers, prosecutors, and psychologists working with child victims and witnesses.
Mexico’s own long-standing experience with disappearances and child-protection challenges made this exchange especially relevant, while Ukraine’s wartime context added another layer of urgency to the discussion on child testimony, trauma, and access to justice.
During an earlier advocacy visit to Mexico by colleagues from the Spain and Latin America Cooperation Program, TDC met Griesbach and discussed shared priorities in child-friendly justice. TDC then helped facilitate her visit to Ukraine by coordinating with Ukrainian partners and supporting the practical organisation of the Kyiv programme. Griesbach’s longstanding professional interest in Ukraine also made the cooperation a natural step forward.
The programme began on 8 June 2026 with consultations on protecting children affected by Russia’s war. At Save Ukraine, Myroslava Kharchenko, Head of the organisation’s Legal Department, outlined obstacles to returning abducted children, the need for stronger coordination with Ukrainian institutions, and the importance of international advocacy and state support for returned children and their families. The discussion also addressed how Russian propaganda and prolonged occupation can affect children’s perceptions and behaviour.
The same day, TDC and partners met with the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, серед яких Olesia Voloshyna, Deputy Head of the Department for Children’s Protection and Combating Domestic Violenceта Alina Bukalo, Head of the Unit for Children’s Protection and Combating Domestic Violence at the Poltava Regional Prosecutor’s Office. The exchange focused on mechanisms for recording children’s testimonies, their practical limitations, legal nuances, and Ukrainian and Mexican approaches.
A separate meeting was also held with Daria Herasymchuk, Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights and Child Rehabilitation, with the participation of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Mexico to Ukraine Audencio Contreras Gonzalez. Participants discussed ways to deepen Mexico–Ukraine cooperation, including Mexico’s possible contribution of specialised expertise to Ukraine’s response to war-related crimes against children.
On 10–12 June 2026, the programme concluded with Griesbach’s three-day training. The opening session featured remarks by Аліна Рогач (Project manager of the Spain and Latin America Cooperation Program at TDC), Daria Herasymchuk, Ambassador Audencio Contreras Gonzálezта Olesia Voloshyna.
The model is based on a simple principle: the justice system must adapt to a child’s developmental capacities, not vice versa. It promotes free narrative testimony, reduces stress and the risk of re-traumatisation, and preserves safeguards for admissible evidence, including proper recording, spontaneity, protection from external influence, and due process standards. The approach is universal, reflecting neurocognitive patterns of child development regardless of language or cultural background.
The Kyiv programme was implemented in cooperation with the Office of the Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights and Child Rehabilitation, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, and the Training Center of Prosecutors of Ukraine, with additional support from private sponsors and Margarita Griesbach.
This project was supported by the International Renaissance Foundation.