23 trainers conducting professional trainings for civil servants and local self-government officials learned more about human rights within the educational and practical course “Participatory Youth Policy”.
The Council of Europe project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase IV” together with the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine held the training from 15 to 20 February 2026 in Lviv. The participants of the training represented 20 regional centres of advanced training and higher education institutions from 13 regions of Ukraine.
The training agenda included:
- consideration of the concept and value of human rights, as well as their reflection in training activities
- study of youth participation in the context of ensuring access to rights
- analysis of current regulations and tools in the youth sector of Ukraine and Europe through the prism of access to human rights and participatory approach
- creating a space for the exchange of experience and networking of trainers of the course “Participatory Youth Policy”
- analysis and rethinking of their training competencies through the prism of human rights values
- development of changes to board game about the participation of young people “Solutions exist!” taking into account the European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life 2025
- familiarization with artificial intelligence tools for teaching the programme, analysis of their opportunities and risks, in particular in the context of ethics and human rights.
Participants explored the potential of the Living Library format to overcome stereotypes and prejudices against young people who experience discrimination in society. In particular, about young people with disabilities, autism, internally displaced young people, blind young people, young representatives of the LGBTI community, transgender young people. The format of the Living Library was organised on the basis of the methodology of the Council of Europe manual “Don't judge a book by its cover!”.
Also, participants could get acquainted with the opportunities of the state programme “Youth Worker” and Ukrainian Youth Foundation.
“Thanks to this training, attitudes have changed and the importance of focusing on human rights and creating a space of trust, security and non-discrimination in the programme “Participatory Youth Policy” has been emphasized” - participant of the training.
In 2023-2024, the Council of Europe project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III” in co-operation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Association of Youth Councils developed and implemented the first educational and practical course “Participatory Youth Policy”.
As part of the course, the Project created a training manual (in the Ukrainian language), conducted two training of trainers in 2023 and 2025, prepared a series of videos on youth participation practices and provided mentoring and expert support to the trainers team in the preparation and implementation of trainings at the regional and local levels, held a consolidation meeting and a public presentation of the key achievements of the programme.
Thanks to these efforts, in 2024-2025, trained trainers in Ukraine implemented 27 advanced training programmes for 870 civil servants, local self-government officials, scientists and educators.
Participatory Youth Policy Course Website - https://www.coe.int/en/web/kyiv/the-program-youth-policy-based-on-participatory-approaches-
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The Council of Europe project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase IV” is implemented within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” for 2023-2026. More information about the project, including news, resources in the field of youth, and open calls for participation in project activities can be found here.
