News & Events

Back Young activists from 10 regions of Ukraine are prepared to participate in democratic processes

Photo: © Council of Europe / taken by Petro Chekal

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 held a five-day training-seminar on participatory youth policy, youth participation and civic participation in the decision-making process, which took place from 24 to 28 June 2024 in Lviv.

20 representatives of youth and student councils, youth organisations, youth centres from 10 regions of Ukraine, working at the regional and local level, took part in the training.

The purpose of the training-seminar was to strengthen the abilities of young activists to participate in democratic processes, taking into account the approaches of youth participation and civic participation in the decision-making process at the local, regional and national level.

Maciej Janczak, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, Andrii Chesnokov, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, Rui Gomes, Head of Education, Training and Co-operation Division of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe, Volodymyr Sonko, Head of the Ukrainian Association of Youth Councils participated in the opening of the training.

Maciej Janczak, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, emphasized the importance of joint and effective co-operation between the Council of Europe, the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, youth councils, non-governmental organisations and youth centres of Ukraine. The Head of the Office in Ukraine emphasized that in 2024 the Council of Europe is celebrating its 75th anniversary. For this date, the Council of Europe together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine organised a round table “Youth, Ukraine, Europe: Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” in Kyiv. The event brought together members of the Verkhovna Rada, representatives of competent ministries, youth organisations, and youth. Participants underlined one of the most important things for the country right now is to make sure that Ukraine remains an attractive country for young people to live in and to come back to for those who have left, and also to make sure that youth perspectives are included into all of Ukraine’s recovery efforts.

The Head of the Office also added that at the beginning of June 2024 a Steering Committee meeting of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” 2023-2026 was held. At the meeting, representatives of various directorates and departments of the Council of Europe, national and local government partners, state institutions and civil society organisations discussed the progress achieved and emphasized the crucial role of the support of the Council of Europe during the period of aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. Within the framework of the Action Plan, the team of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine is currently implementing 38 projects, including project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III”. This project contributes to the development of youth policy and youth work in wartime Ukraine by identifying the needs of key stakeholders and a series of training programmes on social cohesion, trauma-informed youth work, participatory youth policy, non-formal education.

Andrii Chesnokov, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine emphasized the importance of long-term fruitful co-operation between the Ministry and the Council of Europe, through the implementation of the Project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III”. This ensures, in particular, steps in the development of quality youth policy. He noted that increasing the level of youth participation in decision-making processes at various levels is one of the Ministry’s priority areas of activity. Such example of youth support is the creation and support of youth councils in territorial communities. The Deputy Minister informed that as of February 2024 410 youth councils have been established in Ukraine. He assured that, despite all the challenges of today, the Ministry together with its partners, continues the development of this direction.

Rui Gomes, Head of Education, Training and Co-operation Division of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe, emphasized that participatory youth policy is part of the DNA of youth policy. It is difficult to imagine it without participation. He emphasized that the Council of Europe has developed a number of standards, resources, tools that help strengthen the participation of young people, based on the values of the Council of Europe: democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Also, he mentioned, in particular, Revised European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life, which is currently being revised, and invited the participants to send their comments and suggestions. The Head of the Division emphasized that it is important to take into account the opinions of young people not only in the work of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, but also in matters of education, medicine, defence, etc. It is important to consider how these areas affect young people and help respond to the challenges. He also emphasized on the co-management system that exists in the youth sector of the Council of Europe. It provides a place for joint reflection and joint decision-making, combining the voice of young people and the public authorities responsible for youth policy in the member states of the Council of Europe. Rui Gomes also shared that in May 2024, within the framework of the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Council of Europe, the youth event “Confidence in Tomorrow” was organised. During it, young people shared their commitment to democratic Europe and contributed to the formation of the mission of the Council of Europe. Participants’ ideas and aspirations were summarised in a clear message to Council of Europe duty bearers. In addition, he emphasized the support of youth organisations within the framework of a special call of the European Youth Foundation for youth non-governmental organisations working with young people in Ukraine.

Volodymyr Sonko, Head of the Ukrainian Association of Youth Councils, expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, the Council of Europe, in particular, for the support of youth councils. The Head of the Association emphasized that the key in the work of youth councils is the possession of competences and understanding of the body under which they were created. He encouraged the strengthening of the voice of young people in youth consultative bodies and emphasized that the Association supports young people and youth councils.

Also, on the first day, the participants explored the concepts of “human rights”, “participation of young people” and analysed the prerequisites and motivation of young people to participate in the decision-making process.

The second day of training was dedicated to getting to know the Council of Europe and its role in youth policy, the standards of the Council of Europe in the field of youth participation and the standards of national youth policy, as well as researching the forms and tools of participation of young people in the decision-making process at various levels. The participants got acquainted with the practical side of the functioning of the co-management system in the youth sector of the Council of Europe - a unique and living example of participatory democracy. This became possible thanks to a meeting with Yevheniia Fedotova, member of the Advisory Council on Youth, as well as communication with Sofiia Bohdanova, a youth delegate from Ukraine to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe.

The third day of the 5-day training began with a discussion of the structure and functions of the youth council as a form of youth participation. Lesia Holoyad, head of the grant department of the Youth Congress of the Zboriv community, ex-president of the Youth Congress of the Zboriv community, member of the Board of the Ukrainian Association of Youth Councils, shared successful practices and challenges of young people’s participation in the decision-making process at the local level. Victoriia Bezsmertna, research of the Council of Europe project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III” presented the key results of Research of the Needs and the State of Activity of Authorities and Youth Councils, in particular, taking into account the needs and realities of young people in the war and post-war period, after which participants discussed its application in practice. In the afternoon, the participants tested a board game about the participation of young people in decision-making and explored the issue of creating an inclusive space in the museum in the dark.

On the fourth day, the participants identified who the young people in their communities are, in particular those who are at risk of exclusion or becoming vulnerable, what their needs are, and what their access and motivation to participate are. Barriers to youth participation and the role of the youth council to ensure the participation of various young people in community life were also analysed. In the afternoon together with Oksana Malchenko, Deputy Director of the state institution “All-Ukrainian Youth Centre”, the participants discussed the concept of the State targeted social programme “Youth of Ukraine” for 2026-2030 and developed their proposals, which were submitted to the team of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine.

On the fifth day of the training, the participants got acquainted with the resources and opportunities of the Council of Europe, in particular with the special call of the European Youth Foundation to support youth from Ukraine. Anca-Ruxandra Pandea, Senior Project Officer of the Education, Training and Co-operation Division of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe, shared the possibilities of the project “Democracy Here. Democracy Now”. Vladyslav Yatsuk, Head of the Youth Policy Division of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and Dmytro Tverdohlib, Director of the Ukrainian Youth Foundation, presented the resources and opportunities of their institutions.

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-seminar on participatory youth policy, youth participation and civic participation in the decision-making process:

formed competences regarding participation in democratic processes, taking into account the approaches of youth participation in the decision-making process at different levels;
strengthened their role as multipliers in the processes of dialogue and co-operation between state authorities, local self-government bodies, public organisations, youth institutions and young people in order to strengthen the participation of young people and the effectiveness of youth policy;
studied the approaches and standards of the Council of Europe and the Ukrainian state youth policy regarding youth participation and civic participation in the decision-making process and developed the skill of applying them in practice;
explored and discussed the practical use of the Council of Europe recommendations on participation of young people and young people’s access to rights;
investigated the forms and tools of participation of young people in the decision-making process at the national and international levels in order to strengthen the participation of young people at different levels;
had a space for the practical use of forms and tools of participation of young people in the decision-making process at various levels;
acquainted with the results of the research on the needs and state of activity of local and regional youth consultative bodies, conducted within the framework of the Council of Europe project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III” and discussed its application in practice;
had a space for discussion of the concept of the State targeted social programme “Youth of Ukraine” for 2026-2030;
tested a board game about the participation of young people in decision-making;
planed further steps to strengthen the participation of young people in the decision-making process at the local, regional and national levels.

More information about the programme (in Ukrainian) at the link.

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" emphasizes the importance of the Council of Europe's Youth Sector Strategy until 2030 and reflects the National Strategy of State Youth Policy until 2030, the State Targeted Social Program "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.