On November the 19^th an integration initiative entitled “Our rights: studying and fulfillment in the community” took place in Starobilsk, Luhansk region. The activity was initiated by the Department of Social Work of Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University (moved from Luhansk and currently located in Starobilsk) and supported by the Council of Europe Project “Strengthening the Human Rights Protection of Internally Displaced Persons in Ukraine”.

The activity aimed at informing young internally displaced people and youth between 16 and 25 years old from the host community about their rights, facilitating the communication  and promoting active citizenship and integration. During the first part of the activity, participants got to know each other and learnt about their rights with the cards game “Enter Dignityland!”. “Enter Dignityland!” is an educational game on social rights that can be played with young people to raise their awareness about social rights. It was developed in 2012 by the Youth Department of the Council of Europe in the frame of the “Enter!” project.

In 2015 it was translated in Ukrainian and adapted by “Partnership for every child”. After that, the participants discussed  the initiatives they took to promote active citizenship, meeting with the organizations already working in their communities. The NGO “Dieva Gromada”, “Severodonetsk youth council”, Sport club “Adamant”, “Center of psycho- social adaptation” and Luhansk regional library Gorkiy presented their initiatives and encouraged the participants to join their projects.

More than 30 young people and NGOs’ activists took part in the activity. By the end of the year, in December 2016, the Project “Strengthening the Human Rights Protection of Internally Displaced Persons in Ukraine” will support one more initiative aimed at better integrating IDPs into their host communities in Luhansk region.