At 3 p.m., in the session hall of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament), under the chairmanship of the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Parubiy A.V., parliamentary hearings on the topic: “Family Policy of Ukraine – Goals and Objectives” began.
Opening the parliamentary hearings, Parubiy A.V. emphasized that family matters and family upbringing occupy an extremely important place in modern society, and therefore, “the process of preparing for family life should begin from childhood.” He also stressed the need to focus on promoting family values in the information space.
Deputy Minister of Social Policy, Ustymenko S.O., delivered a report. The co-reporter was the Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Family, Youth Policy, Sports, and Tourism, Palatny A.L.
The Government representative noted that the main tasks of state policy on family issues include improving the quality of family life, restoring family values, ensuring the moral health of families, promoting responsible parenthood, and preventing social orphanhood. He emphasized that the Government recognizes the need to create an effective system of state family policy by stabilizing the economic situation in Ukraine, addressing the factors that hinder the full functioning of the family institution.
Zemfira Kondur, Vice President of the NGO “Roma Women’s Fund ‘Chirikli’,” presented a report. The speaker pointed out that according to data from Romani non-governmental organizations, there are between 200,000 to 400,000 Roma people living in Ukraine.
Most Roma families are large, with around 60% facing difficult life circumstances. 40% of Roma lack identification documents, which is a major barrier to accessing social and medical services, employment, and the realization of basic human rights. Unfortunately, the accumulation of unresolved issues has worsened in today’s situation. At the beginning of 2013, the President of Ukraine signed a Decree on the Strategy for the Protection and Integration of the Roma National Minority into Ukrainian Society until 2020. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the action plan for the implementation of the Strategy, which involves work in several key directions: social protection and employment, education, healthcare, improvement of living conditions, and meeting cultural and information needs. Roma communities generally welcomed Ukraine’s steps to improve the situation of Roma, including the implementation of the Protection Strategy. However, they noted that the Strategy and Action Plan lack the necessary implementation mechanisms, indicators, clear results, and, most importantly, funding.
Mostly, the state Strategy is being implemented by non-governmental and charitable organizations. For example, with support from our foundation, through the support of the IF “Renaissance,” EIF, and other donors, the program of Roma social and medical mediators is being implemented. 55 Roma social and medical mediators, half of whom are Romani women, work in 12 regions of Ukraine. They provide the following services: informing the Roma population about types of state services, assisting in the registration of Roma individuals without documents in collaboration with government authorities, providing assistance in matters of social benefits and pensions, assisting the disabled, families with children, large families, and employment matters or unemployment assistance, social support, and close collaboration with medical institutions.
Since 2014, the “ROMED 2” program has been implemented (supported by the Council of Europe and the European Commission). Within the program, in cooperation with the State Institute of Family and Youth Policy, pilot courses have been conducted for civil servants on working with Roma families from 2014 to May 2015. Four groups underwent training, and 80 people received state-standard certificates.
Considering the specific tasks facing social and medical Romani mediators, their activities are best reflected in the service of representing interests. Taking into account the extensive experience of coordinating the work of Romani mediators, the “Chirikli” fund, in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Policy and other experts, has developed a draft State Standard for the social service of representing interests and actively participates in its pilot testing in five regions. We believe that such a service is timely not only for Romani families or families in difficult living conditions but also for the broader population.
Indeed, addressing all these issues is the primary responsibility of the state, but it is an extremely complex task. It cannot be resolved solely by the efforts of a single ministry or non-governmental organizations.
Therefore, the following recommendations were provided:
Participants in the parliamentary hearings highlighted that the issues facing the institution of family, which had accumulated over years in the context of economic, socio-political, and cultural transformations in Ukrainian society, were further exacerbated in 2014-2015 due to Russian aggression and socio-economic crisis.
Insufficient attention to supporting ordinary families, promoting family values, propagating rational sexual behavior, and preparing young people for family life were also emphasized.
Speakers presented a series of proposals that, in their view, would contribute to solving problems in family policy in Ukraine. These proposals included the establishment of a Government Commissioner for Family Affairs, the development of departmental instructions for mechanisms to identify and support families in difficult life circumstances, involving youth in social programs aimed at promoting a family-oriented lifestyle, and promoting responsible parenthood, among others.
