Reimagining public services: How Human-Centred Design is helping create inclusive and adaptive services in Ukraine

In the context of the full-scale war in Ukraine, the public service systems often operate in silos, limiting meaningful engagement with citizens, especially those from marginalized groups. To bridge this gap, UNICEF Ukraine and partners introduced Human-Centred Design (HCD) as a participatory methodology that connects service users, government systems and community insights. Between 2023-2025, over 1,000 health, education, social work professionals and civil society actors engaged in Service Jams, micro-grants and co-creation workshops, generating prototypes designed with and for families and caregivers. The approach cultivated a significant cohort of HCD champions embedded in social service institutions and delivered high satisfaction (98% positive feedback) across participants. By anchoring design in user voice and systems thinking, the initiative created new pathways for trust-building, cross-sectoral collaboration, and adaptive service delivery. This case demonstrates how connecting voice, system and innovation fosters behaviour change at scale – advancing equity, inclusion, cohesion and responsiveness in service delivery. It offers fresh insights into how SBC practitioners can embed co-creation and institutional transformation into programme design, and how knowledge, action and equity converge when connection is the centerpiece.