On 29 November 2021, the fourth meeting of the Steering Committee Meeting of the Council of Europe Project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine” took place in the mixed format at the All-Ukrainian Youth Centre. The Project is being implemented in 2020-2021 within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2018–2022 and is aimed to promote the strengthening of youth participation and civic activity both in rural and urban areas of Ukraine (including young people with disabilities, minority youth, as well as young migrants, refugees and internally displaced persons) by empowering youth policy stakeholders and enhancing the quality of youth policy and youth work in accordance with the Council of Europe standards. The Project is based on the past experience and fruitful bilateral cooperation between the Council of Europe Youth Sector and the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine.

The meeting was opened by Steen Nørlov, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine and Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on the Coordination of Cooperation Programmes of the Council of Europe. Welcoming speeches were delivered by Maryna Popatenko, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, and Rui Gomes, Project Coordinator, Head of the Education and Training Division of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe.

Maryna Popatenko outlined the positive results and impact of the project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine” on the development of youth policy and youth work at all levels. The Deputy Minister emphasised that the Project was implemented in extremely difficult and unpredictable conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic, facing constant changes in the conditions of holding activities, remote work, replacement of participants, and other circumstances which were beyond the Project’s control and difficult to predict. According to her, the Project has passed this difficult test and was able to implement and achieve good results, so much that the achievements and results of the Project exceeded expectations. Maryna Popatenko stressed that this project was a pilot one, and it showed and identified those good practices and initiatives that could now be without reservations implemented and replicated in other oblasts of Ukraine. It was extremely valuable that within the framework of the Project, the principles and standards of the Council of Europe in the field of youth policy were interpreted to reflect the local context of youth work in Ukraine. The Deputy Minister emphasised that the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine was able to and did participate in the implementation of the Project at all stages: from planning training programmes to participating in planned activities.

Rui Gomes, Project Coordinator, Head of the Education and Training Division of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe, presented the main news in the youth sector of the Council of Europe, including a new youth campaign to revive democracy. This campaign will run from March to November 2022 and will rely on issue-based actions at the local and regional levels on a monthly basis. According to the Joint Council on Youth’s October 2021 decision, the campaign aims to increase the role of young people in the process of reviving participatory democracy in the Council of Europe and restoring mutual trust between young people and democratic institutions and processes. The centrepiece of the campaign is to be a youth event/festival to be held in Strasbourg from 27 June to 2 July 2022, which will also mark the 50th anniversary of the Council of Europe’s youth sector.

Head of the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine and Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on the Coordination of Cooperation Programmes of the Council of Europe Steen Nørlov outlined prospects for further activities and cooperation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine in 2022 and beyond.

During the meeting of the Supervisory Council, participants focused on the analysis and discussion of the need to extend the project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine” into phase 2, which is logical and important in the context of the adoption of the new Law of Ukraine “On the Main Principles of Youth Policy”.

It was also stressed at the meeting that the project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine” was a pilot one and was being implemented in the context of a pandemic. It requires more time for assessment of its outcomes and impact on the lives of young people and subsequent replication of the experience gained in rural and urban communities of Ukraine. Miguel Angel Garcia Lopez, International Project Consultant, presented an overview of the purpose and methodology of evaluating the effectiveness of the project’s educational component, in particular to analyse the pandemic’s impact on the learning outcomes of the Project’s participants and young people’s participation and civic activity level. In particular, the evaluation methodology requires an analysis of good practices for strengthening youth participation in communities and youth centres which are project partners.

Partner communities of the Council of Europe Project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine”

• Vasylkivka community (Kyiv oblast)
• Velyki Kopani community, Kherson Oblast
• Kurne community, Zhytomyr Oblast
• Kuialnyk community, Odesa Oblast
• Novoukrainka community, Kirovohrad Oblast
• Opishnia community, Poltava Oblast
• Prysyvashshia community, Kherson Oblast
• Pryshyb community, Poltava Oblast
• Uzhhorod community, Zakarpattia Oblast
• Khoroshiv community, Zhytomyr Oblast

Partner youth centres of the Council of Europe project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine”

National level

• State Institution “All-Ukrainian Youth Centre”

Oblast level

• Oblast Municipal Institution “Volyn Oblast Youth Centre”
• Donetsk Oblast Children and Youth Centre
• Municipal Institution of the Lviv Oblast Council “Lviv Oblast Youth Centre”
• Vinnytsia Oblast Youth Centre “Kvadrat”

Local level

• Lviv City Youth Centre
• Novohrad-Volynskyi City Youth Centre
• Novomoskovsk City Cultural and Educational Centre for Children and Youth
• Municipal Institution of the Kyiv City Council Executive Body (Kyiv City State Administration) “Kyiv Youth Centre”
• Non-Governmental Organisation “Okhtyrka Youth Centre”
• Leisure Centre of the Department for Culture and Tourism of the Varash City Council Executive Committee
• Municipal Institution of the Nizhyn City Council in Chernihiv Oblast “Nizhyn City Youth Centre”
• Municipal Institution of the Sumy City Council “Sumy City Youth Leisure Centre”
• Novohrad-Volynskyi City Youth Centre

Within the framework of the Council of Europe Project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine” from March 2020 to September 2021:

• Rights and 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 were translated into Ukrainian and published.
• Series of “Council of Europe Quality Label for Youth Centres” manuals “Good Practice in Youth Centres”, “Role, Value and Impact of Youth Centres” and “Quality Management in Youth Centres” was translated into Ukrainian and published.
• The Dictionary of Terminology Used by the Council of Europe in the Youth Policy Field, for Human Rights and Non-Formal Education was prepared and issued.
• The second edition of the Compass Manual on Human Rights Education with Young People was revised for the use of non-sexist language in the Council of Europe and national norms of inclusive language, printed and published online, the online version of the Manual website in Ukrainian was updated.
• The Manual to the Recommendation CM/Rec(2017)4 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to Member States on youth work and “Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover! The Living Library Organisers Guide (2011)” were translated into Ukrainian.
• In August – November 2021, national consultants of the project held mentoring and practical online and offline workshops to support teams of partner local communities in the implementation of their own projects on strengthening youth participation.
• Ten local communities in Ukraine who are project partners under the Young People, Full Citizens component promote youth participation and civic engagement through capacity building, technical advice and mentoring based on Council of Europe standards and approaches in the youth field.
• In November 2021, teams from ten partner communities took part in a meeting to develop competencies through the study and analysis of the experience of participating in the Council of Europe’s “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine” project.
• Teams from fourteen youth centres that are partners of the Council of Europe project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine” are implementing projects to strengthen youth participation.
• In November 2021, teams from fourteen partner youth centres took part in a five-day meeting to develop competencies through the study and analysis of the experience of participating in the Council of Europe’s “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine” project.
• Three training workshops on the strengthening of youth participation and civic engagement in the 50/50 format for teams from ten local partner communities took place in July and September 2021.
• In August – November 2021, national consultants of the project held mentoring and practical workshops to support 14 youth centres teams partnering with the project in the implementation of their own projects on strengthening youth participation.
• In June 2021, teams of fourteen youth centres in Ukraine partnering with the Project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine” researched Council of Europe principles and approaches in the field of youth during a 5-day online training workshop on youth participation and civic engagement.
• In August 2021, Kyiv hosted a training workshop on preventing and combating discrimination in youth policy and youth work aimed to promote the prevention of and counteraction to discrimination in youth policy and youth work at the local, regional and national levels involving young people faced with such discrimination. In particular, the workshop’s participants developed recommendations for an educational programme for youth centres in Ukraine and for the State Programme “Youth Worker“.
• In April 2021, experts who are the project’s national consultants completed a 5-day training on effective and meaningful planning, implementation and assessment capacity building, support and other activities in ten local communities and fourteen youth centres partnering with the Council of Europe Project “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine”.
• A survey of the needs of young people in communities and youth centres partnering with the project was conducted.

Members of the Steering Committee added constructive feedback on the project implementation and highlighted the need to continue the project in 2022 and 2023.