Annual Report. PATRIARCHAL CURIA UGCC 2019

57 Our Church is fully engaged to counteract addiction problems in Ukraine offering some nation-wide prevention initiatives. The Synod of Bishops of the Kyiv-Halych Major Archbish- opric in August 2019 elevated the sub-commission on the Sober way of life to the status of the Commission. The Commission is headed by our top expert and a founder of the UGCC rehabilitation centre for addicted "Nazareth" — Rev. Ihor Kozankevych. The Commission has been entrusted with the following tasks: coordination of the activities of the eparchial/exarchial sobriety pastoral commissions; encouragement, promotion, support and coordination of all initiatives to fight addiction and promote a sober way of life; cooperation with relevant bodies of other Churches, religious and public organizations and with public authorities of all levels on the creation and implementation of programs related to the scope of the Commission; cooperation with the Church Internet resources for the development of Internet materials for the encouragement of a sober lifestyle. In 2019 the Commission on a Sober way of life conducted 4 educational train- ings for school psychologists in order to teach them required skills to help chil- dren with problems of addiction and enhance the cooperation between Church and state educational organizations working in the field for the purpose of pre- venting addiction among children and youth. The participants became acquainted with the current situation of addiction in the cities of Lviv and Drohobych. They were also introduced to a prevention strategy prepared and implemented by the Commission for a sober way of life and the Social department of Lviv state administration. The seminars helped school psychologists to offer better counseling to children with the problem of addiction and to promote addiction prevention among children and youth. The Commission is also working hard to develop a network of consultation centers in eastern and central Ukraine for persons suffering from addiction. The Commission has cooperated with the Lviv city administration in setting a pilot project for implementing a regional strategy on counteracting addictions and offering pre- vention programs.