FEATURES OF SOCIAL WORK WITH ROMA IDPS IN UKRAINE: PROBLEMS AND WAYS OF IMPROVEMENT

Abstract

The Roma are one of the most numerous national minorities in Europe, which have lived on its territory since the Middle Ages. It is also one of the most discriminated national minorities in Europe. In Ukraine, Roma face almost the same problems as in other European countries: poverty, lack of documents, low level of education, segregation and social exclusion. But the Russian-Ukrainian war, which has been going on since 2014, has significantly worsened the situation of the Roma community in Ukraine. A category of Roma IDPs (internally displaced persons) appeared, who belong to the most socially vulnerable and marginalized groups of the mentioned ethnic community. The article analyzes the situation of the Roma national minority in Ukraine, identifies the main problems of its most vulnerable part are Roma IDPs, elucidates the specifics of social work with this category of clients and outlines ways to improve it. The author came to the conclusion that the difficulties inherent in all IDPs: lack of permanent housing, unemployment, problems with adaptation, etc., are aggravated by the presence of a complex of specific problems and manifestations of discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, which significantly complicates their situation. Women and children are particularly vulnerable among Roma IDPs. The main subjects of assistance to Roma IDPs are Roma public organizations, mediators who are usually also representatives of the Roma community, volunteer organizations and human rights defenders, as well as Protestant religious communities, while public social institutions do not pay enough attention to Roma. One of the reasons for this attitude of social institutions towards Roma IDPs is the unpreparedness of social workers to work with the Roma community, as well as the statistical and informational invisibility of Roma IDPs. The author sees possible ways of improving social work with Roma IDPs in ensuring the collection of as complete as possible statistical data on this category of clients; development of interaction between social workers and public associations of Roma, involvement of the latter in the development of assistance programs for Roma IDPs; familiarization of social workers with the history, culture and traditions of Roma, wider introduction of such forms of social work as intercultural mediation and advocacy; institutionalization of Roma teacher assistants, Roma mediators.