The Council of Europe project "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase IV" strengthens participatory youth policies and youth work in Ukraine during the war, taking into account the needs of young people.
400 representatives of youth centres and spaces, youth workers, experts and international partners gathered at the All-Ukrainian Forum of Youth Work "United by Light: Free and Uncollectible" in Lviv from 28 to 30 November 2025. At this landmark event, participants discussed how to make the voices of young people heard and the needs of different groups of young people taken into account, in particular in the context of the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.
Tobias Flessenkemper, Head of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe, who emphasized at the recently held 10th Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth Policy in Valletta, Malta, welcomed the participants: "The 46 member states of the Council of Europe expressed their readiness to continue to help Ukraine and the youth sector directly. And yesterday we took it to the practical stage by signing the Framework Programme of Co-operation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine for the next five years – until 2030."
The Council of Europe project "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase IV" in co-operation with partners and experts held workshops and presented the resources and opportunities of the Council of Europe at the Fair of Organisations. At the workshop "Human Rights and Trauma-Informed Youth Work”, participants explored the visual tool "Зірки. Stars. Les etoiles" and an exercise from the presented new edition of the manual.
At the workshop "Barrier-free environment in the youth sector", participants explored barriers and ways to overcome barriers in the youth sector together. Oleksandr Kavtun, Head of the Department of Communication and Project Management of the Vinnytsia Regional Youth Centre "Kvadrat", presented the content of the National Strategy for Creating a Barrier-Free Environment 2030 and together held a board game about youth participation in decision-making processes "Solutions exist!". Yevheniia Blazhevska, a member of the Youth Council at the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and the Association of Youth Workers of Ukraine, presented her trainer experience and, together with the participants, explored the relationship between human rights and combating discrimination in the youth sector. Yulia Bayda, co-ordinator of the Youth Worker Programme, All-Ukrainian Youth Centre, discussed with the participants the details of the specialised training on barrier-free environment, developed by the Council of Europe.
On 28 – 30 November 2025 in Lviv, the European Youth Capital 2025, the Council of Europe Project presented an exhibition of projects by young people and youth organisations from Ukraine funded by the Council of Europe's European Youth Fund.
The All-Ukrainian Forum of Youth Work "United by Light: Free and Uncollectible" was organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and the All-Ukrainian Youth Center in partnership with the OSCE, the humanitarian organisation "People in Need", the project "EU4Youth: Youth Engagement and Empowerment" co-funded by the EU and BMZ, Democracy Reporting International, the British Council, the CSO "City of Active Citizens", the National Network for the Development of Local Philanthropy, the Council of Europe and UNDP with the financial support to the governments of Denmark, the Czech Republic and Germany, as well as the European Union. The Forum was also organised by: Morshynska, CSO "YouthUp", Association of Youth Workers of Ukraine, CSO "Today about the Future", CSO " SCC Zadzerkalya" and the Network of Youth Spaces Tvory!
The Council of Europe project "Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase IVI" has been launched within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine "Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction" for 2023-2026.
The project encourages youth policy stakeholders in Ukraine to implement and disseminate the Committee of Ministers Recommendations to Member States: on access to social rights for young people from disadvantaged areas, CM/Rec(2015)3; on young people's access to rights, CM/Rec(2016)7; on Youth Work, CM/Rec(2017)4; on the participation of Roma youth, CM/Rec(2023)4; on the protection of youth civil society and youth and support for their participation in democratic processes, CM/Rec(2022)6.
News, resources of the Council of Europe in the field of youth and open announcements for participation in the Project's activities can be found here.
