As part of the Council of Europe Project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine”, on 26–29 August, a training seminar will be held in Kyiv for young people from diverse social backgrounds facing discrimination, specialists of national, regional and local authorities, institutions, representatives of youth organisations and organisations working with youth.

The aim of this training seminar involving young people facing discrimination is to contribute to preventing and combating discrimination in youth policy and youth work at the local, regional and national levels.

The training agenda will presuppose the review of the National Strategy for Creating a Barrier-Free Environment in Ukraine until 2030. The Strategy is designed to create a barrier-free environment for all population groups, ensure equal opportunities for every person to exercise their rights, receive services on an equal footing with others by integrating physical, informational, digital, social and civic, economic and educational barrier-free environment into all spheres of public policies.

It is expected that the results of discussions held during the training will be later used to develop and implement an action plan for Strategy implementation. In particular, the training programme presupposes elaborating best practices with the involvement of young people faced with discrimination, recommendations concerning the contents of training programmes for the staff of youth centres at the national, regional and local levels in Ukraine and in the framework of the “Youth Worker” State Programme.

The training is intended for:

• councillors of local councils and staff of local governments working with youth;
• councillors, employees of consolidated community administrations responsible for youth policy;
• specialists of state and municipal institutions/organisations working with youth;
• representatives of regional and local councils and other advisory bodies;
• youth leaders, representatives of civil society organisations working in the field of preventing and combating discrimination against young people;
• representatives of youth centres and clubs, youth workers who have experience or work in the field of preventing and combating discrimination against young people;
• young people who refer themselves to various groups of young people in society.

The training programme has been developed under the “50/50” model where everything is based on co-management. “50/50” is the ability to create an atmosphere of cooperation between authorities and organisations representing the interests of diverse groups of young people and feel the spirit of partnership that prevails in the Council of Europe youth sector. The programme of the training seminar is focused on the way to increase the involvement of young people from diverse backgrounds who are faced with discrimination in the shaping of youth policy and youth work at the central and local levels and in promoting the best practices in preventing and combating discrimination.

The “50/50” format of the training seminar envisages an equal number of participants representing the authorities and public organisations that bring together young people in Ukraine. Such representation also helps raise the sensitivity of youth policy and youth work to the issue of discrimination of various groups of young people. During the training seminar, participants will learn and discuss legislative norms, new initiatives and best practices for preventing and combating discrimination with a focus on the youth sphere.

Participants will be introduced to basic Council of Europe documents associated with youth policy, such as the Revised European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life and Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to Member States:

• on the access of young people 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.

Applications for participation and selection of participants

• All those willing to participate in the training seminar should complete the application available at the link.
• Applications can be submitted by 23:59 CET on 6 August 2021.

Organisers

The training seminar is organised by the Council of Europe Project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine” in cooperation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine.

More information on the training seminar can be found at https://rm.coe.int/announcement-training-seminar-on-combating-discrimination-in-the-youth/1680a33d4e

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 efficient bilateral cooperation between the Council of Europe and the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine as part of the Framework Programme on Cooperation between the Council of Europe Rec (and the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine in the Field of Youth Policy in 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