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All-Ukrainian Network of Papa-schools working on the territory of Ukraine is on-line forum created under the support of UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Ukraine win order to:

• Promote exchange of knowledge, methodology and experience;

• Solve common problems of providing sustainability and effective work of Papa-schools;

• Support Papa-schools which are only starting their work;

• Promote cooperation with national and international organizations working in the field of parental education both in Ukraine and in the world.

First Ukrainian experimental groups for fathers appeared in Vinnytsia in early 2000s but the first Papa-school in Ukraine started to work on a regular basis in Vinnytsia Maternity hospital ¹ 2 in 2004 under the support of the Swedish Agency on International Cooperation and Development SIDA and in cooperation with «Sprangbradan» company (Stockholm, Sweden) and Mens Centrum Ornskoldsvik (Ornskoldsvik, Sweden) (Swedish-Ukrainian project “OLEH”). The base organization of the all-Ukrainian Papa-schools network is Vinnytsia public organization “OLEH”.

All-Ukrainian Network of Papa-schools is a member of Euro-Asian League (International Men’s Network) «EAGLE» and International network MenEngage (Boys and Men for Gender Equality).

Papa-schools are non-formal educational centers where men with positive   parenthood experience and appropriate training help other men to become aware, caring, competent and responsible fathers.

Main tasks of Papa-schools are the following:

• To prepare men to the appearance of a child in the family and help them realize the importance of the father’s role;
• To help men understand the rights of a child focusing on the rights to be brought up in the family with a mother and a father;
• To promote mutual understanding between a husband and a wife through understanding gender issues and mastering the skills of resolving conflicts and, thus, to strengthen the family, prevent domestic violence  and reduce the possibility of divorces;
• To involve a father into creating a secure surrounding in the family, which promotes the development of a child;
• To engage a father in caring and upbringing of a child in the most important first months of life, including paternity leave;
• To teach a father how to provide the optimal nourishment of a child, including   and  promotion of breast feeding;

• To introduce a father to the peculiarities of the development of a child at an early age and explain his role in the realization of the child’s potential;
• To introduce the regulations of Ukrainian legislature regarding support and social aid to families with children.  

The establishment of Papa-schools in the regions affected by Chernobyl APP catastrophe and their integration into all-Ukrainian network of Papa-schools is currently being financed by the European Union via the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Ukraine project “Health of the children living on the territories affected by Chernobyl” .