Post-war replenishment of Ukraine's human capital for its social resilience

Abstract

For over thirty years, Ukraine’s global ranking on the Human Development Index (HDI) has been in a clear downward trend. The large-scale war with Russia has greatly exacerbated this negative trend due to significant human losses, many millions of internally displaced persons and refugees abroad, and socio-economic destruction. High losses of human capital are a strategic threat to Ukraine’s post-war recovery and its social resilience. Therefore, the ways to replenish these losses were in the focus of the High-Level Ukraine Recovery Conference (July 2025, Rome). Given the above, the article purpose is to substantiate strategic directions and approaches for overcoming Ukraine’s post-war deficit of human capital in order to strengthen its social resilience. The research is methodologically based on an interdisciplinary approach. Key findings relate to the socio-economic consequences of Ukraine’s loss of human capital in the education and employment sectors; the identification of Triple Nexus and Social Quality approaches as optimal strategies for Ukraine’s post-war social progress. Among the main conclusions of the scientific research is the urgent need for institutional changes to strengthen the interaction between the education sector and the labour market of Ukraine, aimed at overcoming the loss of Ukrainian human capital after the wartime.