Strengthening social work is one of the core commitments of the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, led by Minister Luka Mesec. This is because it is an extremely important work that provides support and assistance to anyone in need.

“Social work encompasses everything we do for others. It is a reflection of social solidarity and justice, which is why it is important to keep social work at the forefront of our actions and policies. At the Ministry, we remain strongly committed to fighting poverty and social exclusion – in a dignified and just way. This is also the cornerstone of social work,” says Minister Luka Mesec on the occasion of World Social Work Day.

“We aim to restore the reputation of the social work profession because it is they who first identify people’s needs and provide the right kind of help to people in need. Every week I visit one of the institutions covered by the Ministry and meet many remarkable people who are driven by a responsibility towards work and individuals in distressed and vulnerable situations. The Ministry’s task is to ensure high-quality conditions for their work,” emphasises Minister Mesec. “We are therefore planning to strengthen the qualified staff to be able to provide high-quality work with people in need,” he adds.

We will provide additional staff, simplify the IT system and ensure continuous training as part of the European Union action. We are also working to ensure sufficient staffing levels and have negotiated more appropriate starting points, company scholarships and traineeships. At the moment, we are also putting a spotlight on the most pressing areas, such as violence, mental health and homelessness.

As in public institutions, social workers are indispensable in many NGOs working in the field of social assistance, which have also been co-financed by the Ministry for many years. As a result, high-quality user-friendly social assistance programmes have been developed and are implemented throughout Slovenia.

Under the Social Assistance Act and the Rules on Awards and Prizes for Work in the Field of Social Assistance, we publish an annual Call for Awards and Prizes for Work in the Field of Social Assistance. The Ministry awards prizes and distinctions for outstanding achievements in the field of social assistance work, which represent a contribution to theory, to the humanisation of work with social assistance users, to the consolidation of human rights, and to the autonomy of professional work, as well as for direct work with social assistance users, which has contributed to the integration of social assistance users, to their human dignity and to the development of solidarity and tolerance with respect for diversity.