The Council of Europe project «Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III» in co-operation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Association of Youth Councils organised a training-seminar on social cohesion and inclusion, civic participation and democratic citizenship, non-discrimination and equality for young activists, which took place from 25 to 29 September 2023 in Lviv.

• The program was based on Manual for training on social cohesion and barrier-free environment in the youth sector, developed by the Project in 2022.

The purpose of the training-seminar was to strengthen the ability of young activists to participate in democratic processes, taking into account the approaches of participation in the decision-making process, equality and non-discrimination to ensure social cohesion.

On the first day of training, participants of the event were greeted by:

Vladyslav Yatsuk, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, who noted that social cohesion shows the importance of youth participation, emphasizes the possibilities and influence of youth councils on state building, the need to implement youth policy together with youth for youth.

Erlend Falch, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, who thanked the participants for remaining active in these difficult times and drew attention to the activities of the Council of Europe in Ukraine, in particular to the Action Plan of the Council of Europe for Ukraine for 2023-2026 “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” and the project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III”.

Rui Gomes, Head of the Education and Training Division of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe, who emphasized that youth participation is very important in building social cohesion, that youth policy is not possible without the participation of young people at all levels. And the Council of Europe, through standards, resources, tools, helps to strengthen the participation of young people, which is based on the values of the Council of Europe: democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.

Volodymyr Sonko, Head of the Ukrainian Association of Youth Councils, who emphasized the importance of social cohesion in youth policy and the need to strengthen competence on this topic among his colleagues.

Also, on the first day, participants explored the concepts of “human rights”, “access to human rights”, “youth participation”, “democracy”, “youth policy” and the concept of social cohesion in the youth sphere and its connection with human rights .

The second day of training was devoted to the analysis of barriers to social cohesion in the youth sphere, in particular stereotypes, prejudices and discrimination. Participants identified who are young people in their communities, particularly those who are at risk of exclusion or becoming vulnerable.

The third day of the 5-day training began with a simulation game on developing a strategy for strengthening social cohesion in the youth sector. The team of trainers developed an adaptation of the game “Red Lines”, which was developed by the Lviv Regional Youth Centre within the framework of co-operation with the Council of Europe project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine” in 2021. In the afternoon, there was a visit to the Museum in the dark “Three O'clock After Midnight”.

The fourth day began with a presentation-discussion of the results of the research on the needs and the state of activity of local and regional youth consultative bodies and consideration of successful practices and challenges of youth work in relation to social cohesion. In the afternoon, the participants thought about the process of creating a barrier-free environment in the youth sphere at the local, regional and national levels, the necessary competence for young activists, and also discussed the concept of a youth-friendly educational resource with standards, tools and resources regarding strengthening of youth participation.

On the fifth day of the training, the participants got acquainted with the resources to promote the creation of a barrier-free environment in the youth sphere and developed their own joint initiatives to strengthen social cohesion and young people’s access to rights in their activities.

• Details of the training program are available at the link.

The Project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III” is carried out in the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2023-2026 and was built on the results and experience of the projects “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine” in 2020-2022. The Project will extend the systematic influence by strengthening participatory youth policies and reinforce youth work in the war and in a post war context, taking into account the specific needs of young people.

Photos: © Petro Chekal.