On 9 March 2021, the second meeting of the Steering Committee  of the Project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine” was held online.

During the meeting, a list of youth centres to be invited for cooperation within the second component of the Project “Revitalizing Youth Centres and Youth Work” was finalised and approved.

“Revitalizing Youth Centres and Youth Work” is a component of the Project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine” Its goal is to encourage youth centres and youth organisations to review approaches in order to ensure that their strategies meet the needs of young people and are in line with the standards of the Council of Europe on youth civic engagement and youth work. The youth centres are expected, in particular, to make a contribution to the implementation of the principles of the Revised European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life.

The announcement about the invitation of youth centres for the partnership was available from 13 January to 1 February 2021. Twenty four youth centres sent application forms within the established deadline. It was decided to invite fourteen youth centres of all levels for partnership.

National level

• State Institution “All-Ukrainian Youth Centre”

Oblast level

• Oblast Public Institution “Volyn Oblast Youth Centre”
• Donetsk Oblast Children and Youth Centre
• Lviv Oblast Council Public Institution “Lviv Oblast Youth Centre”
• Vinnytsia Oblast Youth Centre “Kvadrat”

Local-level

• Lviv City Youth Centre
• Khmelnytskyi City Youth Centre
• Novomoskovsk City Cultural and Educational Centre for Children and Youth
• Public Institution of the Kyiv City Council Executive Body (Kyiv City State Administration) “Kyiv Youth Centre”
• Non-Governmental Organisation “Okhtyrka Youth Centre”
• Leisure Centre of the Department for Culture and Tourism of the Varash City Council Executive Committee
• Public Institution of the Nizhyn City Council in Chernihiv Oblast “Nizhyn City Youth Centre”
• Public Institution of the Sumy City Council “Sumy City Youth Leisure Centre”
• Novohrad-Volynskyi City Youth Centre

“Revitalizing Youth Centres and Youth Work” component involves joint activities by December 2021, in particular:

• Formation of teams by youth centres (up to 3 persons from a centre)
• Assesment of current problems in the work of youth centres and their ability to establish contact with young people and involve them in their activities
• Preparation of the educational programme for teams
• Capacity-building activities for the teams of youth centres
• Conducting advisory and support seminars by the Council of Europe experts on the needs of the staff of selected youth centres
• Development, implementation and evaluation of pilot projects for “reforming” youth work and principles of youth centres' activity with the support of the Council of Europe experts.
• Development of national standards and recommendations with contribution from participants for the development of inclusive and youth-friendly conditions in youth centres
• Meeting of all participants for consolidation of the results and evaluation

One of the essential elements of this component is to ensure the prerequisites for mutual learning and networking between youth centres from different regions of Ukraine.

The dates of the main activities under the project may change, in particular, due to the requirements as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine” is implemented within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2018-2022 and is based on previous experience and fruitful bilateral cooperation between the Council of Europe and the Ministry of Youth and Sport of Ukraine within the Framework Programme on Cooperation between the Council of Europe and the Ministry of Youth and Sport of Ukraine in the Field of Youth Policy for 2016-2020.

Read more about the Council of Europe's project and resources in the field of youth at: https://www.coe.int/uk/web/kyiv/youth-for-democracy-in-ukraine