Council of Europe*, in cooperation with Poltava Regional Council, is launching a selection of participants, who are residing or studying in Poltava, for implementation of the training programme, developed based on the CoE practical toolkit** for local authorities and non-governmental organisations aimed at enhancing young women and girls’ participation in political and public decision-making processes at local level.

The pilot training programme is intended for women and girls aged 18-25, and is aimed at enhancing their knowledge on human rights, gender equality and the system of local self-government, as well as training the skills necessary for further participation and active engagement in local public and political life, including the skills of efficient communication and advocacy, interpersonal communication, teamwork, leadership qualities, awareness about public, political, and electoral processes. The programme will also help to train the skills needed for development and implementation of participants’ own projects at local level, in cooperation and with the support of the local authorities and non-governmental organisations.

The training sessions will be held in Poltava during November 2021, 2 days per week (tentatively, on Fridays and Saturdays), and will cover the following topics:

• Human rights and gender equality
• Women’s participation in public and political life at regional and local levels
• Political and public engagement: contacts and opportunities
• Leadership and achieving success
• Advocacy basics
• Project management basics
• Development and presentation of a local community/regional development projects

The training sessions are planned to be held in offline format in compliance with all anti-epidemic requirements. In case of deterioration in the epidemic situation, the training sessions will be held in online format.

To participate in the competition, you are invited to fill out the form via the link:  https://forms.gle/35TaPFQa7xnkkByE7

Women and girls with disabilities, internally displaced persons, victims of violence, girls and women from rural areas, members of national minorities, members of the LGBTQI community, women and girls living with HIV/AIDS, women and girls in difficult life circumstances are primarily invited to participate.

Deadline: 2 November 2021 (inclusive)

* Piloting of the Toolkit is implemented in cooperation and with the support of the Council of Europe Projects “Supporting the transparency, inclusiveness and integrity of electoral practice in Ukraine” and “Strengthening civil participation in democratic decision making in Ukraine”

** The toolkit was developed within the framework of the Council of Europe project “Supporting the transparency, inclusiveness and integrity of electoral practice in Ukraine”, implemented within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine for 2018-2022