From 10 August to 12 August 2024 young people, youth workers, youth policy makers from different regions of Ukraine took part in the Ukrainian Youth Forum 2024. This significant event has become a space for more than 350 participants to explore the current situation in the youth field in Ukraine and Europe and to contribute to the Concept of the State targeted social programme “Youth of Ukraine” for 2026-2030.
The delegation of the Youth Department led by Tobias Flessenkemper, Head of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe, took part in the Forum. Participants of the Forum discussed present and future of youth policy in Ukraine and Europe, explored the Council of Europe standards, resources and opportunities taking part in bi- and multilateral meetings, the Fair of Organisations, workshops and group work.
Among the workshops and working groups, the Council of Europe project "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III" held a session on strengthening youth participation using the manual “Participatory Youth Policy”. This manual was developed in 2023 by 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 in response to the needs and challenges of policy makers working with young people in the context of the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.
At the Fair of Organisations, the Council of Europe project "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III" brought together young people, youth workers, youth policy makers, including participants of the Council of Europe’s training programmes and visits, as well as representatives of partner organisations looking for ways, ideas and inspiration for co-operation.
In particular, the project presented the following resources in the youth sector:
- Special grants for young people from Ukraine for pilot projects of youth NGOs (up to 15000 euros) of the European Youth Foundation;
- Compass: A Handbook on Human Rights Education with the Participation of Youth, which contains about 60 different activities on the topics of anti-discrimination, education, civic participation and youth participation;
- A manual of the training course "Trauma-Informed Youth Work", which contains about 20 training sessions that can be conducted, both for young people and for professional communities;
- A manual “Participatory Youth Policy”, which is based on the developed and approved Model general short-term training programme “Participatory Youth Policy” for civil servants and representatives of local and regional authorities;
- A new board game on youth participation, developed for and with young people to pilot in 2024 etc.
The Ukrainian Youth Forum 2024 is organised by the Council on Youth Affairs under the President of Ukraine in close co-operation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine with the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); Public activity promotion programme “Engage!” funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Pact in Ukraine; the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine within the framework of the project “EU4Recovery - Empowerment of communities in Ukraine” (EU4Recovery), implemented with the financial support of the European Union, and the project “Support of civil society and youth”, implemented with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark; Programme “Responsible and Accountable Politics in Ukraine” (U-RAP), financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the International Republican Institute (IRI); and by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and British aid from the Government of Great Britain; Programme “Electronic governance for government accountability and community participation” (EGAP), financed by Switzerland and implemented by the Eastern Europe Foundation; Democracy Reporting International (DRI) within the framework of the project “Democratic integration, sustainability and engagement (Ukraine-DARE)”, which is implemented with the support of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany; the EU4Youth IV project, co-financed by the European Union and the government of the Federal Republic of Germany and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ); the Council of Europe project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III”; as well as in co-operation with the Office of the President of Ukraine.
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The project "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III" was launched within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2023-2026. The project builds on the results and experience of the Council of Europe project "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine" in 2020-2022 and expands the systematic impact by strengthening youth policies based on participatory approaches and strengthening youth work during the war and in the post-war context, taking into account the specific needs of young people.
In March 2024 the Council of Europe project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III” began discussing young people’s proposals for the Concept of the State Targeted Social Programme “Youth of Ukraine” for 2026-2030. This became possible thanks to 5-day training seminars on participatory youth policy, youth participation and civic participation in the decision-making process in March and June for young people from 18 regions of Ukraine. These activities were organised by the Project in co-operation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Association of Youth Councils.
News, Council of Europe resources in the field of youth and open announcements for participation in project activities can be found here.
