Pathways Initiative: Documentation of the Pathways model

Highlights

Over 132,000 people, including over 40,000 children, have been displaced to Slovakia due to the war in Ukraine. The Emergency Response Office of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Slovakia supported national and local authorities, as well as civil society organizations (CSOs), to expand their capacities and respond to the Ukraine war through the provision of services that ensured children and youth were integrated into national systems and benefitted from improved services and support. 

However, Ukrainian adolescents and youth, who face barriers that prevent them from engaging with available services and are often missed by systems of support and protection, remain particularly vulnerable and hardest to reach. These youth face specific constraints and vulnerabilities that prevent them from benefiting from education and/or labour market opportunities. 

To address these residual humanitarian needs, Slovakia was one of the four implementing countries for Pathways, a sub-regional UNICEF initiative in Slovakia, Poland, Czechia and Ukraine. This aims to support Ukrainian adolescents and youth to access opportunities for continued education and skills-building, career guidance and first-job opportunities to enable their transition to work, and is anchored in a holistic approach that integrates protection and mental health support. 

This documentation of the Pathways Initiative in Slovakia captures its approach, process, key results, lessons learned and recommendations to support handover of activities and approaches to government entities, ensuring they are sustainably integrated into national, regional and local strategies for youth transition and empowerment. The lessons learned and promising practices from Pathways will also inform and advance the SPACES programme, an initiative designed under the EU Youth Guarantee in Slovakia, and inform the country’s overall approach on inclusion, youth engagement and coordination.