Council of Europe Project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine”, at the invitation of the Ukrainian Youth Council Association, took part in the I All-Ukrainian Forum for Representatives of Youth Advisory Bodies. The Forum took place from 3 to 5 September 2021 in Kharkiv.

According to the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, the forum brought together 110 young and active representatives of advisory bodies and youth from initiative groups interested in the matter of development of youth council in their communities from across Ukraine.

Maryna Potapenko, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, Roman Semenukha, Deputy Head of Kharkiv Regional State Administration, Oleksiy Chubarov, Director of the Department for Family, Youth and Sports of Kharkiv City Council, and Volodymyr Sonko, Head of the Public Organisation “Ukrainian Youth Council Association”, greeted the participants at the official opening of the forum.

Olena Chernykh, Manager of the Council of Europe Project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine”, took part in the forum panel discussion dedicated to the discussion of pressing issues of the activities of youth councils at the local and regional levels in Ukraine and cooperation with the authorities. Specifically, she highlighted positive results of the “50/50” format used by the Council of Europe in the field of youth to teach teams comprised both of representatives of the authorities and young people. “50/50” training format means that the process is built on the co-management principle. “50/50” is the opportunity to create an atmosphere of cooperation between the authorities and organisations representing the interests of various groups of young people and fee the spirit of partnership that prevails in the Council of Europe's Youth Sector. Thus, the Council of Europe Project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine” held the training of ten community teams partnering with the Project and the training seminar on preventing and combating discrimination in the field of youth policy and youth work in the “50/50” format.

During a marketplace, Mariia Yasenovska, national consultant of the Council of Europe Project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine”, presented the activities of the Project and learning opportunities from the Council of Europe's Youth Sector. In particular, she noted that as part of the Project activities, the revised Compass Manual on Human Rights Education with Young People was edited and published in Ukrainian. In almost 20 years, Compass Manual has become a reference guide for many young people engaged in value-oriented youth work and non-formal education, including in Ukraine.

Diana Dubinska, national consultant of the Council of Europe Project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine”, held a workshop in advocacy of young people's rights, in particular, through the use of Council of Europe's provisions, standards and approaches:

• Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to Member States on young people's access to rights;
• Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe CM/REC(2015)3 on the access of young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods to social rights;
• Revised European Charter on Youth Participation at Local and Regional Levels.

During the Forum, participants joined the discussion of draft regulatory acts on the activities of the National Youth Council, youth advisors, changes to Model provisions on youth consultative and advisory bodies approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1198 of 18 December 2018, where the Council of Europe Project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine” along with other international stakeholders takes part in the development and organisation.

As a reminder, the Forum was aimed at exchanging experiences and best practices in the field of developing youth consultative and advisory bodies in Ukraine, reviewing and discussing the policy for the development of youth councils, determining the development strategy for subsequent years.

The Forum was organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine along with the Administration for Youth and Sports of Kharkiv Regional State Administration, Public Organisation “Ukrainian Youth Council Association”, Public Organisation “Youth Platform” and with the support from the United National Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Ukraine.

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 development 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