Teams of newly established youth centres in the Lviv region explored the approaches and educational resources of the Council of Europe at the training seminar "Youth Work and Non-Formal Education. Development, implementation and evaluation of educational programmes. Formation and Development of Trainer Competencies". The training took place on 25-28 September 2023 in Lviv as part of a long-term training programme for sixteen newly established youth centres in the Lviv region "Youth Work Based on the Council of Europe Standards and Values".
The long-term training programme is implemented by the Council of Europe Project "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III" and the Lviv Regional Youth Centre in co-operation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and the Department of Youth and Sports of the Lviv Regional Military Administration.
On the first day, the opening of the training program was attended by Erlend Falch, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, Lilia Shkyra, Head of the Regional Youth Policy Unit of the Youth Policy Department of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, Roman Khimyak, Head of the Youth and Sports Department of the Lviv Regional Military Administration.
Erlend Falch, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, stressed that the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2023-2026 "Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction" is currently being implemented. Within the framework of the Action Plan, a number of projects are being implemented to promote respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Ukraine. In particular, the Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine outlined the projects, the activities of which may be in the circle of interests of the newly created youth centers of Lviv Oblasts: Youth for Democracy in Ukraine (within which the training takes place), Protection of children's rights during the war and in the post-war period in Ukraine, Combating violence against women in Ukraine – Phase II" (COVAW-II), Support for the implementation of European standards on combating discrimination and the rights of national minorities in Ukraine, Strengthening the resilience of democratic processes through public participation during the war and in the post-war period.
Vladyslav Yatsuk, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, met with the teams of the newly created youth centers, in particular, presented the activities of the State Institution "All-Ukrainian Youth Center" and the state programme "Youth Worker", discussed the needs and challenges of the newly created youth centers of the communities of the Lviv region.
Roman Khimyak, Head of the Department of Youth and Sports of the Lviv Regional Military Administration, expressed gratitude to the Council of Europe Office for responding to the needs and fruitful cooperation in building the capacity of the teams of the newly created youth centres, in particular the long-term programme "Youth Work Based on the Council of Europe Standards and Values".
The programme for the newly established youth centres started in July and lasts for five months in 2023 to strengthen the capacity of youth workers of the newly established youth centres in the Lviv region to implement youth work and non-formal education in line with Council of Europe standards and approaches.
The programme includes asynchronous training on the platform of the Department of Youth of the Council of Europe, synchronous three-day training in July, mentoring and expert support, face-to-face training for trainers in September, implementation of non-formal education activities and a consolidation evaluation meeting in November.
Photos: © Petro Chekal, Sofiia Kolodii.
About Lviv Regional Youth Center
In 2021, the Lviv Regional Youth Centre became one of the 14 partner youth centres of the Council of Europe project "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine" and took part in a long-term training and capacity development programme to strengthen youth participation and civic engagement of young people in line with Council of Europe standards and practices. As part of this cooperation and with the support of the Project, the youth center developed a simulation game "Red Lines" (How to create a youth center in a community?) .
On February 27, 2023, the implementation of the project "Development of a Network of Youth Centers of Lviv Region" began in the Lviv region, as a result of which it is planned to create 16 youth centers of communal ownership in the communities of the region, and also plans to cover up to 100,000 young people in the region with this project by the end of the year. It is implemented by the Lviv Regional Youth Center with the financial support of UNICEF in Ukraine. Also, the partners of the event are the Department of Youth and Sports of the Lviv Regional State Administration and the NGO "PI "Teplytsia".
The project "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III" is implemented within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2023-2026 and is based on the results and experience of the projects "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine" in 2020-2022. The project will expand the systematic impact by strengthening youth participation policies and strengthening youth work during the war and in the post-war context, taking into account the specific needs of young people.
