How does the Council of Europe support professional communities in Ukraine in the context of access to human rights and essential services for internally displaced persons and returnees?

On 4-6 November 2024, trainers of the one-year programme on trauma-informed approach took part in the educational autumn triptych “Training. Development. Community”.

Trainers of the programme are 24 representatives of youth centres and organisations working with internally displaced persons and returnees: youth workers, psychologists and social workers. They represent 13 regions of Ukraine: Kirovohrad, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, Poltava, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Chernivtsi, Volyn, Rivne, Khmelnytskyi, Donetsk. Since September 2024, trainers have already trained 256 social workers, youth workers, psychologists, representatives of civil society organisations.

Trainers exchanged on challenges and good practices on work with different target groups and explored international experience of working with young people experience traumatic events with the participation of invited guests:

• Lidiya Indychenko, youth worker, director of the Donetsk Regional Youth Center on activities of the Youth Centre "Martinen" with the Quality Label of the Council of Europe in Finland with a focus on nature.
• Olesya Musienko, youth worker, trainer, administrator of the youth space "Space of Ideas-European Club" on experience of Romania in working with Ukrainian refugees.
• Anastasia Netrebitska, non-formal education trainer, trainer of the "Youth Diversity Ambassador" programme on activities of the KDYS youth centre with the Quality Label of the Council of Europe in Ireland.

In 2024, to respond to the needs of key national and local partners in Ukraine, the Council of Europe projects "Facilitating access to human rights and essential services for internally displaced persons and returnees at the community level" and "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III"  launched a one-year capacity-building programme “Trauma-informed approach in the context of access to human rights and essential services for internally displaced persons and persons,  returning to Ukraine." The programme strengthens competencies to implement educational and awareness-raising activities on the application of a trauma-informed approach, in particular in working with internally displaced persons and host communities. First training for trainers of the Programme, which took place from 17 to 21 August 2024 in Truskavets, Lviv region.

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Projects launched within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2023-2026 “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction”.