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Back Youth work realities in Ukraine were presented at the seminar in Lublin

The Council of Europe project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III” presented its work in time of war in Ukraine at the seminar “Solidarity with Ukraine”. The seminar takes place in Lublin on 10-13 September 2024 and gathers participants from Erasmus+/ESC Programme Countries and Ukraine. The seminar is co-organised by the Polish National Agency of the Erasmus+ Programme and the European Solidarity Corps, along with the SALTO Eastern Europe and Caucasus Resource Centre. This seminar focuses on critical issues related to international youth co-operation with Ukrainian youth organisations during the period of unprovoked Russian military aggression against Ukraine.

Olena Chernykh, Senior Project Officer, the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, contributed to the seminar and the panel discussion, presented the Council of Europe’s work in Ukraine in the field of youth in time of the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. Since February 2022, the Council of Europe contributes to the development of youth policy and youth work in Ukraine in time of the war through mapping the needs and series of training programmes on social cohesion, trauma-informed youth work, non-formal education, participatory youth policy. It addresses the emerging challenges in the field of youth, including massive displacement across the country, overall insecurity in all aspects of life.

Participants explored the non-formal education approaches in the field of trauma-informed youth work taking part in a capacity building session “How to deal with trauma”. Olena Chernykh presented the experience of development and implementation of a new trauma-informed youth work programme since 2022 as a response to the needs of youth workers and young people in time of aggression of Russian Federation against Ukraine. The programme includes a manual for the training course on trauma-informed youth work, trainings for trainers, implementation of training activities in communities across Ukraine. Following the request, the manual has been translated and published in English.

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 “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction”. The project aims to ensure that young people in Ukraine benefit from participation in youth policy and quality youth work to strengthen their own resilience and well-being, to exercise their human rights and freedoms, democratic participation and citizenship in wartime and post-war times.