On the occasion of the World Social Work Day, Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine Oksana Zholnovych held a meeting with experts from the Ukrainian educational environment themed “New Horizons of Social Work: the Role of Education” organised with the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

“Today, the Ministry of Social Policy is focusing on social workers – specialists who directly provide services to people. The fate and lives of people depend on their professionalism and the decisions they make. High-quality training of social workers should focus on promising areas of social work development in Ukraine and the world, on students’ readiness to make decisions in conditions of uncertainty, on developing their ability to think creatively and act proactively,” said Oksana Zholnovych.

According to the Minister, one of the key partners of the Ministry of Social Policy in reforming the social sphere is higher education institutions that train social work specialists, as proper training of social workers at the stage of education helps to ensure a systematic approach to providing assistance to people in need in the future.

During the meeting, Oksana Zholnovych presented a new vision for the development of Ukraine’s social sector and called on representatives of the academic community to cooperate within the priority areas of the Ministry of Social Policy.

The participants of the event discussed the challenges faced by the social sector as a result of russia’s aggression against Ukraine, which required large-scale changes and the introduction of new approaches to the provision of social services.

The meeting also touched upon the problematic issues of training social work professionals in the current conditions.