On 28 April 2026, the Council of Europe project “Strengthening the social dimension in Ukraine” held its second Steering Committee Meeting aiming to present and discuss project’s implementation progress over the past year, as well as to approve the work plan for the remaining period until its completion. The project’s Steering Committee is the supreme managerial body of the project which provides strategic leadership in its implementation.
The event was attended by members and observers of the Steering Committee, including representatives of the Ministry of Social Policy, Family and Unity of Ukraine, the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture of Ukraine, the Office of the President of Ukraine, the Secretariat of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the National Mediation and Conciliation Service, and other authorities, as well as judges of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, representatives of the National Police of Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, national consultants, and representatives of civil society organizations.
In the welcoming remarks, Mr Maciej Janczak, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, expressed gratitude to the national partners for their openness, commitment, and resilience in promoting social and labour reforms in cooperation with the Council of Europe. He noted: “Since its launch in April 2025, the project has contributed to ongoing reforms in the field of social and labour rights in Ukraine, strengthened the capacity of national and regional authorities to develop and implement effective social policies, supported the monitoring of social and labour rights, and facilitated social dialogue in Ukraine. As the current Council of Europe Action Plan is coming to an end this year, we look forward to continuing our cooperation within the framework of the next Action Plan, which is currently being actively developed”.
Mr Denys Uliutin, Minister of Social Policy, Family and Unity of Ukraine, expressed his gratitude to the Council of Europe for the support and noted that the project has become an important platform for joint work on meaningful reforms, helping to make social policy in Ukraine more modern, fairer, transparent, and aligned with the European standards. “Our task is to move towards a clear, holistic, and people-centered legal framework for social protection, and in this context, the expertise of the Council of Europe is extremely valuable”, he noted during opening remarks.
As a result of the second Steering Committee meeting held, the project priorities were agreed upon and the work plan for implementation through the end of 2026 was approved by its members.
The project is part of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine for “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” 2023–2026, and aims to ensure that general public and people from vulnerable groups, including war-affected population in Ukraine, benefit from targeted social protection and support.
