On 8 October 2020, the Council of Europe project «Youth for Democracy in Ukraine» was officially launched in Kyiv. The hybrid format of the event (online and offline) brought together over 150 people, chiefly are representatives of national authorities and youth civil society organisations as well as local authorities from different regions of Ukraine. The project is set to contribute in strengthening youth participation and civic engagement of young people, including young people with disabilities, youth from minorities, as well as young migrants, refugees, IDPs and those affected by the conflict. It will focus on developing the capacities of youth policy stakeholders and improving youth policy and youth work based on the Council of Europe standards.
Welcoming speeches were made by Olena Lytvynenko, Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, Olexandr Yarema, State Secretary of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, Maryna Popatenko, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, and Antje Rothemund, Head of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe.
The Project is implemented within the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2018-2022 and it is grounded on the bilateral cooperation between the Council of Europe youth sector and the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine.
In his welcome address, Matjaž Gruden, Director of Democratic Participation, Council of Europe, underlined the necessity to take young people seriously here and now. He welcomed the project and expressed his belief in a genuine partnership which will allow overcoming many challenges that the Ukrainian society faces today.
Maryna Popatenko, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, expressed the interest to cooperate within the project and proposed to invite for the partnership the All-Ukrainian Youth Centre and relevant organisations whose activities are aimed at developing youth policy and youth work in Ukraine.
Rui Gomes, project coordinator at the Council of Europe, presented the three components of the project:
- Young People, Full Citizens, supporting rightsbased youth policy for youth participation and civic engagement at local level;
- Revitalizing youth centres and youth work;
- Dialogue and social cohesion youth programmes and empowering minority groups for participation in local and regional life.
The list of local communities to be invited for the partnership for the component "Young People, Full Citizens" was presented. This component will support local authorities in the strengthening of youth participation and civic engagement through capacity-building, technical advice and institutional. The project should directly involve the following communities:
- Department of youth and sports of Vasylkivska city council, Kyiv region
- Khoroshivska amalgamated community, Zhytomyr region
- Kuialnytska village council, Odessa region
- Kurnenska village council, Zhytomyr region
- Municipality of Novoukraiska city council, Kirovohrad region
- Pryshybska village council, Poltava region
- Prysyvaska village amalgamated community, Kherson region
- Social-humanitarian department of Opishnyanska village, Poltava region
- Uzhhorod Development Agency, Zakarpattia region
- Velykokopanivska village council, Kherson region
The partner organisations shared their concerns and expectations.
The Executive director of the Association of Amalgamated Communities of Ukraine Valentyna Poltavets noticed the fruitful cooperation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and with the Council of Europe. She expressed the commitment of her association to multiply the future outcomes of the Project across Ukraine.
Valentina Kostenko, Head of the Velykokopanivska village council (Kherson region) confirmed the commitment to take part in the project. In her opinion, the establishment of a youth council would allow to protect the interests of youth in the community.
Olena Podobied-Frankivska, Head of the Association of Youth Centres of Ukraine, reminded the research visit done by the experts of the Council of Europe in 2018. The outputs of those visits are of great value for the development of youth centres in Ukraine. She proposed to invite regional youth centres for partnership within the current project.
Iryna Bodnar, Association of Youth Workers of Ukraine, underlined that youth workers in Ukraine are open to cooperation, in particular in fostering youth participation at the local level in line with the Council of Europe standards. Iryna stressed the importance to develop intercultural dialog and to reach out to all groups of young people within youth work practice.
Liudmyla Lukianova, Board member on international programmes of the Ukrainian Association of Youth Councils, underlined that the organisations comprise local youth councils in amalgamated communities. She expressed an interest to align with the project in order to develop the capacities of youth councils.
Yurii Yuzych, Member of the Board of the National Ukrainian Youth Association (NUMO) gave a positive feedback on the working plan of the project. He also proposed to focus on five – seven local and regional youth centres in order to strengthen their capacities and then to apply this experience in other youth centres across Ukraine.
Yulian Kritsak, Head of the National Youth Council of Ukraine, emphasised the importance of youth participation on all phases of the implementation of the Project. The National Youth Council and its member-organisations are ready to be engaged in the project as partners and experts.
Two participants of the Compass Long-Term Training Course for Trainers took part in the launching event. Liudmyla Kindrat, coordinator of the project “Platform of communities youth leaders” in Nemishayeve, Kyiv region, presented her research experience in youth participation, in human rights education through youth work. Relying on her positive experience, she encouraged local organisations in Ukraine to apply to the European Youth Foundation.
Volodymyr Yakovenko had an input on the development of the Roma youth civic movement in Ukraine. He stated that the third component of the project - on intercultural dialog and social cohesion - is quite relevant and it may contribute to the development of the competencies of youth workers in Ukraine to work with different minority groups.
At the conclusion of the event Iryna Bieliaeva, Head of the Department of Youth Policy of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, highly appreciated the interest of the organisations to take part in the Project of the Council of Europe. She believes that the successful implementation of the project depends on one’s own sincere commitment and perseverance.
The video recording of the event is available on the Ukrinform channel.
