“Following the ‘here and now’ rule, which requires solving the problem immediately, is one of the main qualities of social workers,” says Lyudmyla Hankulych, head of the social security department and head of the Administrative Service Center of the Stavnenska Village Council. Lyudmyla is the second heroine of our annual special project “People of Social Protection”, in which we tell about the work of social protection institutions in different regions of Ukraine.
The Stavnenska Village Community is located in the Uzhhorod District of the Zakarpatska Oblast. It unites 12 villages located among the mountains, 1-3 km from each other, with the status of “mountainous settlement” and corresponding characteristics. Specifically, these villages have an underdeveloped system of social services and limited transportation accessibility.
Taking into account the logistical challenges faced by the Stavnenska community, this year, with the support of the UN Refugee Agency in Ukraine (UNHCR), we provided them with three tricycles with baskets. Thanks to them, social workers can get to their clients living in remote villages faster, bring them food, medicine, and other necessary items, and provide social services at home. This support is a continuation of our cooperation with the community, which has been ongoing since last year and is aimed at optimizing the work of local social protection institutions.
In an interview with Lyudmyla Hankulych, we talked about the peculiarities of life in the mountainous area, support for IDPs who have found new homes here, and the social needs of the Stavnenska community.
About Stavnenska Community
— Lyudmyla, tell us about the Stavnenska community. What is its peculiarity as a mountainous community?
— The Stavnenska village community was established in 2020 by merging 12 mountain settlements: Stuzhytsia, Zahorb, Zhornava, Stavne, Lubnya, Luh, Volosyanka, Tykhyi, Sukhyi, Verkhovyna-Bystra, Uzhok, and Husnyi, which are divided into 5 elder’s districts. The central farmstead of the community is the village of Stavne. The total area is 302.6 sq. km. According to January 1, 2024, 6910 people live here.
The peculiarity of our community is that it borders on two countries: Poland and Slovakia. Over time, it is planned to open a pedestrian crossing of the Ukrainian-Polish border “Lubnya – Wolosate”. There are also several natural monuments in the community. Here grow the oldest oaks in Ukraine: “Dido Oak” (1100-1200 years old) and “Champion Oak” (1400 years old). On the outskirts of the village of Stuzhytsia, in the Chorni Mlaki tract, the site of the Knyahynyansky meteorite was recorded.
The mineral springs and beech forests of the Carpathians were the first and currently the only natural site in Ukraine to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2007 (the villages of Stuzhytsia and Uzhok).
Most of the community’s territory is the Uzhanskyi National Nature Park, which is part of the world’s first trilateral Ukrainian-Polish-Slovak International Biosphere Reserve “Eastern Carpathians”. It has many hiking trails and recreational areas where you can relax and admire the incredible mountain views.
— How many IDPs and refugees has the Stavnenska community received since the beginning of the full-scale invasion?
— Since February 24, 2022, the community has received 2347 IDPs. 157 people still live here, 19 of them in the municipal institution “Center for the Provision of Social Services” of the Stavnenska village council. Others found housing in the villages of the community. Some have already found jobs. The children went to our schools.
About the work of the social security department
— Tell us about the social security department of the Stavnenska village council. What are its key tasks?
— The Social Security Department of the Stavnenska Village Council was established on December 24, 2020. It is an executive body responsible for material, technical and organizational support and managing the Administrative Service Center (ASC) from July 1, 2023.
Key tasks of the department:
- ensure the implementation of state policy on social protection of the population, support families, including families with children, large families, young families, children, internally displaced people, and prevent violence in families;
- to ensure equal rights for men and women, organize health improvement and recreation for children, combat human trafficking, and implement programs and activities in this area;
- organize social services for the population, carry out social work and provide social services;
- to develop comprehensive programs and measures to improve the situation of socially vulnerable groups, families and citizens in difficult life circumstances, to comprehensively promote their receipt of social benefits and services at the place of residence and stay; to organize the implementation of such programs and measures;
- ensure the social integration of people with disabilities;
- develop comprehensive programs to improve social services for people with disabilities, pensioners, and single elderly people who are unable to work, and to ensure that they receive social services and social services at their place of residence; organize the implementation of such programs;
- to draw up documents for various types of social benefits, privileges and subsidies, manage the ASC and accept documents in accordance with the list of administrative services approved by the decision of the Stavnenska village council session.
— How long have you been in charge of the Social Security Department? What kind of workload do you feel now as a social worker?
— I have been working as the head of the department since January 5, 2021. I feel a lot of pressure. After all, social workers work with people who are constantly in need of help. It’s not one person a day, it can be 20-30 people every day. And everyone has their own pain, their own problem, which, as a rule, are not similar, because everyone has different life situations. So we have to listen to everyone and help them. We also work with returning soldiers and their families, families of captured soldiers, fallen soldiers, and missing soldiers. We try to pay attention to them and help them solve certain issues.
About supporting IDPs
— What are the main needs of IDPs in your community?
— The needs of IDPs in our community are to find good housing, to draw up documents, to receive financial assistance, to buy firewood for the winter period. Our department and the MI “Center for the Provision of Social Services” comprehensively help them cope with the challenges they face.
— What has been the biggest success for your department since the start of the full-scale invasion?
— Despite all the obstacles (power outages, failure of social security registries, unstable Internet), we were still able to work, receive IDPs, register them, issue IDP certificates, and help the population. Volunteers and public organizations helped us a lot. In 2023, thanks to the project “Supporting the capacity of the social protection system to register internally displaced persons” implemented by the CO “Stabilization Support Services” Charity Foundation, funded by Office of the UN High Commissioner, we received three sets of office equipment, which greatly facilitated our work.
The community has established the Council for Internally Displaced Persons of the Stavnenska Village Council, which includes active IDPs. We also have a Life Resilience Center. This is a space where everyone in the community can find the support they need free of charge:
- consult a psychologist;
- join training sessions and programs;
- visit self-help groups;
- to volunteer and contribute to the resilience of the community.
— What would you say is the biggest challenge for the department?
— In the first days, there were a lot of IDPs and we did not have time to register everyone. The software did not work with a heavy load, and we had to work at night.
About the needs of the social sphere in the community
— How do bicycles help social workers in the Stavnenska community?
— Bicycle transport helps to provide social services to community residents, including IDPs, faster and better. Bicycles make the work of social workers much easier. They can cover the distance from one ward to another faster, and they don’t need to carry food and cleaning products.
— What else, besides bicycles, could improve the work of your department?
— To further improve the work of the department and the social sphere in general, the Stavnenska village council needs material and technical support and professional development of its employees. There is also a car equipped to receive citizens in remote villages of the community.
About social work
— What are the main qualities of women and men working in the field of social protection?
— Social workers are professionals who perform a range of work. Some accept documents for all types of social services, benefits and subsidies, help citizens, and counsel them. Others take care of pensioners, people with disabilities and single elderly people who are unable to work, and work with the military, their families, and families of fallen and missing soldiers.
I will emphasize the following main qualities of social specialists:
- specificity and clarity, friendliness;
- knowledge of oneself and the ability to help others in self-discovery;
- sincerity, the ability to behave naturally in relationships with clients;
- adherence to the ‘here and now’ rule, which obliges us to solve problems immediately and satisfy the client’s needs.
— Share the department’s plans for 2025. What areas would you like to develop?
— We are planning to expand the range of social services for community residents and open an inpatient department for single elderly people at the MI “Center for the Provision of Social Services”.
This material was prepared by the CO “Charity Foundation “Stabilization Support Services” with funding from the UN Refugee Agency in Ukraine (UNHCR). The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of CO “CF ‘’SSS‘’ and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the Agency.
