On 27 February 2025, Andrii Chesnokov, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and the project’s team presentedthe key achievements of the Council of Europe in the sphere of youth policy and youth work in Ukraine as part of the Open Doors Day at the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine.
More than 60 representatives of Ukrainian authorities, international organisations, and ambassadors from Council of Europe member states and observer states, had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the project’s results, the current state of youth policy and youth work in Ukraine, as well as in the youth sector of the Council of Europe, and future plans.
Participants among others discussed key outcomes of the training programme “Participatory Youth Policy” within which the 644 civil servants and local self-government officials strengthened their competencies and the long-term capacity building programme “Access to Youth Work” for 10 newly established civil society organisation, working with youth, which engaged 2636 young people in their projects. As well educational resources, developed within the project, were presented, including manuals “Trauma-Informed Youth Work”, “Participatory Youth Policy”, “Social Cohesion and Barrier-Free Environment in the Youth Sector”, a board game “Solution Exists!”, and a visual tool “Зірки. Stars. Les etoiles”, videos of young people's participation practices.
Andriy Chesnokov, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, stressed the critical need to continue the project in 2025-2026 to facilitate the implementation of policies based on youth participatory approaches and to strengthen youth work taking into account the devastating effects of war on young people. As well he emphasized that co-operation within the framework of the project will allow to further develop tools to support the youth sector in Ukraine in the time of war.
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The Council of Europe project "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III" was launched within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” for 2023-2026. The third phase is built on results and experiences in 2020-2022 and expands systemic impact by strengthening youth participation policies and youth work in war and post-war contexts, taking into account the needs of young people.
The project is implemented in co-operation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine in three components: 1) participatory youth policy; 2) recognition of youth work in wartime (in particular, trauma-informed youth work); 3) support of youth centres and youth organisations as platforms for civic activity and democratic participation.
The project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase III” highlights the importance of the Council of Europe's Youth Sector Strategy 2030 and reflects the National Strategy of State Youth Policy until 2030, the State Target Social Programme “Youth of Ukraine” 2021-2025.
The Project encourages youth policy stakeholders in Ukraine to implement and disseminate the Recommendations of the Committee of Ministers to Member States: on the access of youth 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; on Roma youth participation CM/Rec(2023)4; on protecting youth civil society and young people, and supporting their participation in democratic processes CM/Rec(2022)6.
News, Council of Europe resources in the field of youth and open announcements for participation in project activities can be found here.
