UNDP in Ukraine

The project aims to support youth inclusion in Ukraine and to foster democratic reforms and youth civic engagement. The project will build the capacities of 52 Youth Centres, youth community organizations as well as universities and schools in 11 regions and the Crimea. Via an inclusive approach, young women and men will gain competencies necessary for their pro-active involvement in social and decision-making processes. 

Address: 1, Klovskiy Uzviz Kyiv, 01021 Phones: +380 44 253  93 63 Web-site: coming soon E-mail: info@undp.org.ua Project Manager: Wendy Shapiro (international) Evgeniya Petrivska (national) UNDP Programme Manager: Oksana Remiga

The project aims to support youth inclusion in Ukraine and to foster democratic reforms and youth civic engagement. The project will build the capacities of 52 Youth Centres, youth community organizations as well as universities and schools in the country's 11 Regions and Crimea. Via an inclusive approach, young women and men will gain competencies necessary for their pro-active involvement in social and decision-making processes.

Duration: 01.09.2008-30.08.2011

Volunteerism will be promoted and practiced as a tool for achieving local development goals, particularly those identified by youth. Capacities of volunteers and volunteer-involving organizations will be strengthened.

The project is addressing the issue of youth inclusion, a new concept for Ukraine, with the introduction of innovative approaches such as: using volunteerism as a tool for achieving local development goals; bridging the gap between young people from rural and urban areas; introducing ICT as a tool for youth social activism; creating an environment for social community projects; and fostering inter-generational dialogue.

A particular emphasis is placed on working with marginalized, socially-excluded young women and men who, due to geographic, economic, gender and/or cultural barriers, are disadvantaged in today's Ukrainian society. The project will empower young women and men and increase both the number of volunteers as well as the number of meaningful volunteerism opportunities in rural and urban communities throughout Ukraine.

In the era of knowledge economy and creation of information society, to be efficient and successful, young people need to gain XXI century skills, such as ICT skills, problem solving, effective negotiation skills, teamwork, creativity, activist, etc. Therefore all the activities in the project are related to ICT & XXIc skills development to available young people to be successful in life and career development.

The project is a vivid example of efficient public-private partnership between UNDP, Ukrainian Government, NGOs and Intel. It's real social corporate responsibility of Intel Corporation at work, as it creates synergy, the situation of success. We are open to new partnership in this project.

What is the Project's Mission?

This project provides soft resources in terms of training, skills and support rather than hard resources such as computers or facilities. This project is about changing minds, so that the young people we touch will believe that they can create the life, community and country where they want to live.

It works at the level of changing the mentality of youth, by offering hope and ways to put that hope into action, step by step. And it works at the highest level of human endeavour, that of contributing and helping others.

The Project covers Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Rivne, Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Sumy, Lugansk, Chernigiv, Mykolaiv Regions, and AR Crimea.

How is the Project carried out?

To achieve the set goals, the Project has the following key components and undertakes the following operations:

1. Conduct seminars, capacity building trainings for Youth Centres. Assistance in Institutionalization Process of Youth Centres and maintenance for their activities.
2. Creation and support of Institute of Leadership Successors in local areas.
3. Promoting volunteering in social programmes on grass-routs level.
4. Creation of a Ukrainian Youth Portal, containing online training, distance courses, e-communities, work groups and networking among youth to share skills and experience.
5. Workings with ICT as a tool for children and youth in local areas with limited access to computers, development their skills and increase potential of community activity.
6. Piloting the INTEL® "Skills for Success" curriculum, which has 2 courses "Technologies and Communities" and "Technologies at Work". The Programme is designed to equip school children with the necessary skills to be proactive, to solve problems in their communities, to make good choices including in their decision of a future field for professional development, as well as the ICT and other XXI century skills. The curriculum has been translated and adapted for the Ukrainian educational system in close coordination and cooperation with Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine experts.
7. Implementing Web 2.0 tools for social programs for youth on community level, creating the platform for students' on-line communities for youth problem solving and positive experience exchange.
8. Conduct Living Heritage Component aimed to delete gap between generations (with large involvement of university students in selected Regions). On-line library creation for Living Heritage Component.

Interim results 2008:

I. Cooperation with government and Project Partners: signed Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and United Nations Development Programme.
II. Project support: completed translation of Skills for Success books and began the process of adaptation, prepared Plan for Training for NUNV, trainers and facilitators, submitted applications for the Living Heritage component of the Project.
III. Cooperation with Target Groups: compiled information on the technical characteristic of the 52 regional Youth Centers, which are located in 10 oblasts in Ukraine, complied a list of centers available to cooperate with NUNV facilitators (consisting of 20 universities and 36 schools in 12 oblasts in Ukraine).

Project's partners and donors:

National Executing Agency: Ministry of Ukraine for Family, Youth and Sports

National Project Director: Mr. Konstantyn Zakharenko, Director of the Department for Youth, Ministry of Ukraine for Family, Youth and Sports

Project Board members:
Ministry of Ukraine for Family, Youth and Sports
Ministry for Education and Sciences of Ukraine
INTEL Ukraine Microelectronics Ltd.
United Nations Development Programme
United Nations Volunteers
Ukraine 3000, International Charitable Fund
All-Ukrainian Association of youth cooperation "Alternative-V", National NGO

There are 3 Donors to the Project:
United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Volunteers and INTEL Ukraine Microelectronics Ltd.

Total resources required: USD 1,119,300.