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Back The Council of Europe launched a new programme “Participatory Youth Policy”

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 developed a new educational and practical programme “Participatory Youth Policy”. The programme will be implemented in November 2023 - May 2024 with the aim of improving the professional competencies of teachers (trainers) of providers to implement training for civil servants and local self-government officials to ensure the participation of young people in the formation and implementation of youth policy, taking into account the standards and approaches of the Council of Europe. The programme is based on the developed and approved Model general short-term training programme “Participatory Youth Policy”.

From 27 November to 01 December 2023, twenty-two teachers (trainers) of subjects providing professional training services for civil servants and local self-government officials (providers) from eleven regions of Ukraine took part in a five-day training for trainers “Participatory Youth Politics”, which was held in Lviv.

Oleg Nemchinov, Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, Maciej Janczak, the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, Vladyslav Yatsuk, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, Rui Gomes, the Head of Division Education and Training of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe and Volodymyr Sonko, the Head of Ukrainian Association of Youth Councils.

Oleh Nemchinov emphasized the importance of the sequence of processes implemented in recent years in the field of youth policy, which take place independently of the change in the leadership of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and specialized departments, which makes it possible to implement, in particular, such training.

Maciej Janczak expressed his gratitude to the Government of Ukraine, in particular the team of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine for fruitful co-operation and drew attention to the activities of the Council of Europe in Ukraine, in particular to The Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” 2023-2026 and the Project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III”.

Vladyslav Yatsuk thanked the Council of Europe and emphasized the importance of co-operation between the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and the Council of Europe project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine”, in particular, in the introduction of professional development courses for public servants who form and implement youth policy at various levels.

Rui Gomes thanked the government of Ukraine, in particular the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, for supporting the project and activities of the Council of Europe in Ukraine and emphasized the beneficial partnership with the Ukrainian Association of Youth Councils. Rui Gomes drew attention to the fact that the Council of Europe has been working in the field of youth policy in Ukraine for a long time to strengthen youth participation. Among the examples of such co-operation, he mentioned, in particular, the importance of translating the Compass manual and other educational resources that support the values of the Council of Europe. Mr. Gomes drew attention to the fact that the Reykjavík Declaration (adopted during the Summit of the Council of Europe on 16-17 May 2023 in Reykjavík, Iceland) mentions youth policy and the role of young people. It is the responsibility of the Council of Europe to include the views of young people and ensure their participation in policy-making at the local, regional and national levels.

Volodymyr Sonko emphasized that the training of civil servants in the context of youth policy is very important for young people.

Thanks to the expert work of the trainers team of the Council of Europe project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III”, the participants of the five-day training for trainers:

explored the topic “Participatory Youth Policy” while meeting representatives of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, the Council of Europe, the Ukrainian Association of Youth Councils and other institutions and organisations.
got acquainted with the standards, approaches, educational resources and institutions of the Council of Europe and Ukraine in the field of youth policy.
elaborated the content of the training manual for conducting training according to the model programme “Participatory Youth Policy”.
exchanged practices of teaching professional development courses.
discussed specific aspects of conducting educational events in online, offline and mixed formats.
improved trainers’ competencies.
analysed the possibilities of implementing the programme “Participatory Youth Policy” in the activities of providers of professional development courses.

Also, within the scope of training, the participants had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the practical side of the functioning of the co-management system in the youth sector of the Council of Europe, which is a unique and living example of participatory democracy. This became possible thanks to a meeting with Nataliia Radchuk, the Head of the Department of International Co-operation and European Integration of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, a member of the European Steering Committee for Youth (CDEJ) and Alice Bergholtz, vice-chair of the Advisory Council on Youth (CCJ).

In addition, Nadiia Pavlyk, researcher of the Council of Europe project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III”, presented the key research results of the needs and state of activity of local, regional and national authorities in the field of youth policy, in particular, taking into account the needs and realities of young people in wartime and the post-war period.

Participants of the training got acquainted with the projects of the Council of Europe, in particular with the project of the Council of Europe “Strengthening multi-level governance, democracy and human rights at local level in Ukraine” thanks to a meeting with Svitlana Gryshchenko, Project Manager.

For the implementation of the programme in 2023, within the framework of the component “Participatory Youth Policy”, the Council of Europe project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III” created a training manual, based on which training for trainers was conducted. In 2024, it is planned to provide mentoring and expert support to trainers’ team in the preparation and implementation of training at the regional and local levels; conducting trainings by trainers at the local and regional level; a consolidation meeting on the evaluation of training programs implementation.

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 youth work during the war and in the post-war context, taking into account the specific needs of young people.

The project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III” highlights the importance of the Council of Europe's Youth Sector Strategy 2030 and reflects the National Strategy of State Youth Policy until 2030, the State Target Social Programme "Youth of Ukraine" 2021-2025.

The project encourages youth policy stakeholders in Ukraine to implement and disseminate the Recommendations of the Committee of Ministers to Member States: on the access of youth from disadvantaged neighbourhoods to social rights, CM/Rec(2015)3; on young people's access to rights, CM/Rec(2016)7; on youth work, CM/Rec(2017)4; on Roma youth participation CM/Rec(2023)4; on protecting youth civil society and young people, and supporting their participation in democratic processes CM/Rec(2022)6.