Switzerland to Fund Social Education in Ukraine

The government of Switzerland is allocating funds for the second stage of the project, Social Education in Ukraine. Ms. Ellen Muraviova-Apostol, who represents the International Association of Social Workers, said, "Switzerland believes in Ukraine's future and wants it to stand on its feet as soon as possible."

With our state being unable to provide the individual with decent living standards, material problems become transformed into psychological ones, while lack of belief in the future leads to depression. In a moment like this, people have to help each other. It is very good if that person is a friend or a neighbor. But depression assumes a massive nature during crises. This is why society needs highly-skilled social workers. Until recently, this term only referred to people visiting bed-ridden sick persons. These were visiting nurses from social security bodies or the Red Cross. But society's needs are of far broader scope. Among those who need social help are the distressed children, underprivileged families, and risk groups. Even the well-off are often in need of psychological help. No wonder that such people in many countries have psychoanalysts of their own.

The Association of Social Teachers and the movement of volunteers have started to establish social institutions in Ukraine. Excellent experience in social work (of teachers, psychologists, doctors and social governors) has already been developed in Western Ukraine, Simferopol, Luhansk, and Dnipropetrovsk. Representatives of Russia, Moldova, Belarus, and Poland also told the seminar about their successes. Now it is up to our scholars to link practice with theory and ground the notion of "social worker."