Accessible, human-centred social services can be a lifeline for people facing poverty and social exclusion.  

In a new Make It Work episode, Euronews travels to Cyprus to explore how the country’s Neighbourhood Social Worker Programme is changing lives by modernising social services and bringing them closer to those who need them most. 

‘Our goal is to be the go-to person in the community, to be out in the field,’ says Antri Papanicolau, a neighbourhood social worker in Agia Napa.  

Euronews follows her as she visits Emil Stefanov, a single parent with two young daughters. She helped him receive food vouchers, arranged childcare, had his electricity reconnected, and taught him how to complete paperwork. ‘When someone trusts you,” Emilsays, you find strength and move forward.” That immediate and practical support gave him the stability and time he needed to find a job and regain his footing.  

The single father is one of over 4,000 people in Cyprus helped by the Neighbourhood Social Worker Programme. With a budget of €10.5 million, including €6.3 million from the European Social Fund Plus, it helps authorities identify communities' needs and improve welfare systems. 

Ensuring better access to social services aligns with the first-ever EU Anti-Poverty Strategy, launched in May.  Former UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty Professor Olivier De Schutter explains in the episode: 

“A very strong point of the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy is that access to social services is at the centre of attention. That means welcoming people with a smile, helping them to go through the procedures that would allow them to have access to the benefits that they are entitled to and reducing what we call the non-take-up of social benefits.’  

In Cyprus, this translates into a new approach to social services, building trust, helping people manage administrative steps, and supporting them into employment. Together, these measures can break the cycle of poverty and prevent social exclusion.