PROJECT REPORT
PROJECT REPORT
“Transfer of Visegrad Group countries’ experience and building capacity of civil society organizations in Eastern Europe in financial education for youth” September 2015 – October 2016
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PROJECT REPORT
PROJECT REPORT
“Transfer of Visegrad Group countries’ experience and building capacity of civil society organizations in Eastern Europe in financial education for youth”
September 2015 – October 2016
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CONTENTS
FOREWORD AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.........................................................................................5 ABOUT THE PROJECT............................................................................................................................6 PROJECT PARTNERS..............................................................................................................................7 IMPLEMENTATION PERIOD AND TIMELINE.....................................................................................8 Project kick-off meeting – BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA.......................................................................10 Master Training – TBILISI, GEORGIA.................................................................................................12 International seminar on curriculum integration and teacher training – MINSK,BELARUS.........14 Financial inclusion and education workshop – KYIV,UKRAINE................................................16 Active learning methods and product development workshop – BAKU, AZERBAIJAN......18 Workshop on active learning methods – CHISINAU, MOLDOVA..................................................20 Act for Impact – CYFI International Summit 2016 – BUCHAREST, ROMANIA..............................22 TRANSLATED MATERIALS...................................................................................................................24 PROJECT OUTCOMES AND WAY FORWARD...................................................................................24
INSTITUTE FOR TRAINING AND CONSULTING IN BANKING
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PROJECT PARTNERS We thank you all for your invaluable support which helped us deliver the results reported herein. 4
FOREWORD AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The current report was compiled by Karina Avakyan and Bianca Isaincu from Child & Youth Finance International (CYFI) Secretariat team. The report outlines main activities, events, highlights and results achieved during the implementation of the project “Transfer of Visegrad Group countries’ experience and building capacity of civil society organizations in Eastern Europe in the field of youth financial education” that CYFI has implemented together with 9 project partners within the V4EaP Program – Flagship Project of the International Visegrad Fund (IVF). The project was implemented during the period September 2015 – October 2016. CYFI would like to extend our gratitude to our project partners that made implementation of this project a particularly fruitful and enriching experience: Microfinance Center (Poland), Institute of Banking Education of the National Bank of
Slovakia, The Foundation for Improvement of Financial Culture (Hungary), European Financial Planning Association (Czech Republic), National Youth and Children Palace (Georgia), Banking University (Ukraine), Institute of Educational Sciences (Moldova), Youth Entrepreneurship Support and Development Center (Belarus), Reliable Youth Future NGO (Azerbaijan). Moreover, we would like to thank other governmental authorities, civil society and private sector stakeholders for their support, contribution and active participation in the activities of this project:
Moclair (Animated Training); • Children of Slovakia Foundation; • Savings Banks Foundation for International Cooperation; • Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of Czech Republic; • Ministry of Finance of Slovak Republic The photos for the current report were taken during project activities or were provided by the project partners. For any inquiries regarding this project and its activities, feel free to contact the Project Coordinator from CYFI Secretariat via Karina (at) childfinance.org
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National Bank of the Republic of Belarus; National Bank of Ukraine; National Bank of Georgia; Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia; • Central Bank of Azerbaijan; • Aflatoun International and Mr. Paul
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ABOUT THE PROJECT The project “Transfer of Visegrad Group countries’ experience and building capacity of civil society organizations in Eastern Europe in the field of youth financial education” was initiated by CYFI Secretariat in summer 2015, with the aim to exchange the experience of the Central European/ Visegrad countries in delivering financial education to youth, and disseminate these best practices in Eastern Partnership countries of Eastern Europe, who are currently in different stages of developing financial literacy activities and programmes in their countries. The project initially envisaged three different action areas:
1. CAPACITY BUILDING
The project aimed at building institutional capacity of project partners, civil society organizations and public institutions in EaP countries in the areas of financial literacy and economic citizenship education for children and youth, using the extensive experience of Central European countries.
2. TRAINING OF TRAINERS
The project implied workshops and trainings for building and developing technical expertise of participating organizations in order to further develop financial literacy and economic citizenship programs for children and youth by transferring the acquired knowledge in the countries in both regions. The partner organizations gathered a national group of organizations involved in financial literacy initiatives, with whom they would further cooperate on disseminating the knowledge and expertise acquired during the project.
3. STRENGTHEN MULTISTAKEHOLDER (PUBLICPRIVATE-CIVIL SOCIETY) COOPERATION
The project aimed to bring together representatives of civil society organizations, local governments, public institutions and private sector aimed at
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creating a multi-faceted approach and uniting the efforts of different stakeholders in the countries. That is why the project partners include training providers, microfinance resource network, research university, non-profit and youth-serving organizations. Trainings were envisaged to be attended by the experts from central banks, ministries of education and finance and other public sector institutions, as well as civil society and private sector representatives. Through the knowledge acquired, civil society organizations participating in the projects were to act as leaders and trainers of professionals in their home countries for the implementation of financial education programs. Such multi-stakeholder approach was aimed at strengthening also the collaboration between privates sector and NGOs, private and public institutions, and foster publiccivil society partnerships. The overall implementation of the project followed these priorities outlined above. During implementation the specific situation of each participating country was examined and taken into account, and the content of each event and training was customized and prepared accordingly, based on the nationallevel requests (in case of the national-level events in EaP countries). The project envisaged 6 activities organized in both Visegrad and Eastern Partnership regions. The kick-off meeting, held in Slovakia, was to set the tone and determine priorities for the further Master Training event. Four national-level meetings and trainings followed and were conducted in each EaP country. Moreover, some of the EaP representatives participated in another international meeting - the Child & Youth Finance International Summit 2016 in Romania in June 2016.
PROJECT PARTNERS INSTITUTE FOR TRAINING AND CONSULTING IN BANKING
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The partners of the project are stakeholders from the civil society and public institutions in the Visegrad Group countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia) and Eastern Partnership countries (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine).
PROJECT COORDINATOR/LEAD:
1. Child & Youth Finance International - Netherlands
CENTRAL EUROPE (V4 COUNTRIES): 2. 3. 4. 5.
European Financial Planning Association - Czech Republic The Foundation for Improvement of Financial Culture - Hungary Microfinance Centre - Poland Institute of Banking Education of the National Bank of Slovakia - Slovakia
EASTERN EUROPE (V4 EASTERN PARTNERSHIP COUNTRIES): 6. Reliable Youth Future NGO - Azerbaijan 7. Youth Entrepreneurship Support and Development Center - Belarus 8. National Children and Youth Palace - Georgia 9. Institute of Educational Sciences - Moldova 10. Banking University - Ukraine
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IMPLEMENTATION PERIOD AND TIMELINE The project was implemented during the period September 2015 - October 2016 and consisted of several stages outlined below. The following timeline represents just the main activities of the project, and does not reflect the whole wide scope of work that CYFI and its project partners conducted in the course of the project, as well as other financial education initiatives that have been developed in some of the countries by some project partners, following the experience of the project. The Results section at the end of the current report tries to summarize the main outcomes and achievements of the project, even not directly linked with the major activities conducted.
❶ SEPTEMBER – OCTOBER 2015
❷ OCTOBER 2015
❸ NOVEMBER 2015 – MARCH 2016
Preparatory stage
Project kick-off meeting with all project partners
Preparations to Master Training
• Collecting information and reviewing the status quo in participating countries;
• Took place in Bratislava, Slovakia, kindly hosted by the Institute of Banking Education of the National Bank of Slovakia, 22-23 October 2015;
• Approaching experts in selected thematic areas among CYFI network, project partners and beyond;
• Identifying gaps and discussing needs and expectations with partners; • Engage other civil society, private and public stakeholders for cooperation in the project; • Determine the timeline of the project.
• Gathered all 10 project partners, as well as representatives of government institutions, educational authorities, civil society and public sector from 10 countries. • The baseline situation in the countries was presented and main thematic areas for further training were identified.
• Assigning topics to experts based on their experience and expertise; • Development of the content; • Translation of necessary materials; • Coordination of material creation among trainers; • Preparation of Training, creation and publication of the training materials; • Consultations with experts from national authorities, public institutions and civil society organizations from V4 and EaP partners; • Engagements of other parties for participation in the Master training (e.g. representatives of the central banks, educational authorities, private sector).
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❹ APRIL 2016
❺ MAY 2016 – AUGUST 2016
❻ MAY 2016 – OCTOBER 2016
❼ SEPTEMBER 2016 – OCTOBER 2016
Master Training (Location: Tbilisi, Georgia)
Thematic workshops and seminars in EaP countries
Best practice documentation
Evaluation and reporting
Three-day intensive training for all project partners from CYFI, partner organizations and external experts on the following topics:
• CYFI, project partners and national stakeholders decided on priorities and themes most relevant to the context of each EaP country where the events were to be conducted.
• Gathering information on the best practices in Visegrad countries for the Guide;
• Writing and publishing the project report;
• Creating national standards for financial education; • Frameworks for financial education: Economic Citizenship Education Framework; • National financial education strategies; • Stakeholders and stakeholder management in financial education; • National curriculum integration models; • Teacher training;
• Engagement of relevant experts and participants, determining logistics of the event; • Four national-level events have been conducted – in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. • Some of the stakeholders involved in the project had a chance to attend CYFI International Summit – Act for Impact in Bucharest, Romania in June 2016.
• Consultation with national stakeholders on the best practice publication, collecting and integrating feedback;
• Financial reporting and audit; • Gathering feedback from partners and discussion of further activities and initiatives.
• Exchange of information between project partners, facilitation of knowledge transition and new project agreements (e.g. establishment of new financial education clubs for children in Belarus and Georgia by the project partners; • Publishing the Best Practice Guide and other materials produced in the course of the project.
• Active-learning methods in financial education; • The role of advocacy in financial education and fundraising. Coinciding with the Master Training, the same days the national stakeholder meeting for Georgia was conducted in Tbilisi with the participation of National Bank of Georgia, Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, and other civil society organizations. 9
Project kick-off meeting
Bratislava, Slovakia Number of days: 2 days, from 22 – 23 October 2015 Location: Institute of Banking Education of the National Bank of Slovakia, Bratislava, Slovakia Participants: 27 participants from 10 different countries Main areas: 1. Youth financial education programs and national strategies for financial education. 2. V4 countries‘ experience in national strategies and programs for financial education: Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland. 3. EaP countries‘ experience in national strategies and programs for financial education: Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine. 4. Challenges and lessons learned from the public – civil society, public-private, and private-civil society cooperation 5. Challenges and lessons about teacher training and teaching methodologies. 6. Types, content and delivery models of financial education programs: challenges and lessons learned. Objectives: • For all project partners to get familiar with each other and determine the common framework for cooperation, coordinated by CYFI; • Present the current situation and mapping on each participating country and particular experience of each partner on youth financial education to determine the strengths, weaknesses and needs of each stakeholder; • Present the conducted gap analysis and determine the main needed streams for training sessions; • Initial division of roles & responsibilities in preparation for the Master training. Participants: V4 participants: Czech Republic: 1) European Financial Planning Association 2) Association of finance and citizen literacy
Hungary: 3) Foundation for Improvement of Financial Culture
Belarus: 13) Youth Entrepreneurship and Development Center Georgia: 14) National Bank of Georgia 15) National Youth and Children Palace of Georgia
Poland: 4) Microfinance Center 5) Warsaw Institute of Banking Slovakia: 6) Ministry of Finance of Slovak Republic 7) Institute of Banking Education of the National Bank of Slovakia 8) Children of Slovakia Foundation 9) IUVENTA - Slovak Youth Institute 10) International Visegrad Fund
Participation by region
Moldova: 16) Institute of Educational Sciences Ukraine: 17) Banking University International participants and experts: 18) Child & Youth Finance International 19) A flatoun International
Participation by sector
• V4: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia
• EaP: Azerbaijan, Belarus, •
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EaP participants: Azerbaijan: 11) Reliable Youth Future NGO 12) Central Bank of Azerbaijan
Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine International
Main outcomes • Gap analysis was conducted and main needs identified; • Roles and responsibilities decided on and divided in preparation for the Master Training, project work plan developed; • Baseline of all participating countries has been established and further streams for collaboration identified; • Stakeholders from different and same countries were connected for exploring further cooperation opportunities in the countries. Meeting evaluation The main objective of meeting evaluation was to improve the quality of further meetings and trainings, and to evaluate the satisfaction of participants. Evaluation form that was distributed to all participants included questions regarding logistics, program, contribution to the discussions, objectives of the meeting, ideas discussed etc. The throughout analysis of participants’ evaluation was conducted by CYFI. Below one can find some of the highlights of the evaluation conducted.
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Master Training
Tbilisi, Georgia Number of days: 3 days, from 13 – 15 April 2016 Location: National Youth and Children Palace, Tbilisi, Georgia Participants: 22 participants from 11 different countries. Main areas: • Creating national standards for financial education; • Frameworks for financial education: Economic Citizenship Education Framework; • National financial education strategies; • Stakeholders and stakeholder management in financial education; • National curriculum integration models; • Teacher training; • Active-learning methods in financial education; • The role of advocacy in financial education and fundraising. The training was held in English and Russian languages. Each training session lasted between 1 and 3 hours, and included a combination of presentations, group work and interactive discussions. The training sessions were delivered by CYFI staff, experts from project partners and international experts. Objectives: • Share in-depth experience in each of training areas for the participants, • Brainstorm on the ways to apply models presented in participating countries; • Bring together stakeholders from different sectors to discuss ways for effective cooperation in these areas; • Identify the most relevant topics for each of the countries for further national-level trainings.
Participants: V4 participants: Czech Republic: 1) European Financial Planning Association
Hungary: 2) International Training Center for Bankers Ltd./ Foundation for Improvement of Financial Culture Poland: 3) Microfinance Center Slovakia: 4) Institute of Banking Education of the National Bank of Slovakia 5) Children of Slovakia Foundation
EaP participants: Azerbaijan: 6) Reliable Youth Future NGO 7) Central Bank of Azerbaijan
Belarus: 8) Youth Entrepreneurship Support and Development Center 9) National Bank of Republic of Belarus Georgia: 10) National Youth and Children Palace of Georgia 11) National Bank of Georgia 12) Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia 13) Coalition for Financial Literacy Moldova: 14) Institute of Educational Sciences 15) Pedagogical Assistance Center Ukraine: 16) Banking University International participants and experts: 17) Child & Youth Finance International 18) A flatoun International 19) International consultant Mr. Paul Moclair
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Participation by region
Participation by sector
• V4: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia
• EaP: Azerbaijan, Belarus, •
Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine International
Main outcomes • Participants were trained on various topics related to financial literacy of children and youth; • Interactive discussions took place and priorities for cooperation were identified by different organizations from the same country; • An agreement has been reached to establish the first financial education Aflateen club in Georgia at the National Children and Youth Palace; • Commitment has been achieved from financial regulators in Azerbaijan and Belarus to support national-level dissemination events in their countries. Meeting evaluation Again, evaluation form that was distributed to all participants included questions regarding logistics, program, contribution to the discussions, objectives of the meeting, quality of the training, experience of the trainers, topics discussed etc. The throughout analysis of participants’ evaluation was conducted by CYFI. Below one can find some of the highlights of the evaluation conducted.
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International seminar on curriculum integration and teacher training
Minsk, Belarus Number of days: 2 days, 25-26 May 2016 Location: Minsk, Belarus Participants: Curriculum integration seminar – 40 participants / Teacher training – 25 participants Main areas: Republic of Belarus is currently in the process of integrating financial education in the school curriculum under the National Financial Literacy Plan for 2013-2018, hence the activities and themes of the project have been very timely in the country. Based on the discussion between the project partners, the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus and Ministry of Education and Science of Belarus, the need for two seminars emerged – the seminar for the educational public sector on the integration of financial education in the school curriculum, as well as the teacher training for selected teachers who could already start implementing financial education components in their class activities, using active learning methodologies. Therefore, the event was split in 2 days with different target groups. Curriculum Integration Seminar The international seminar on 25th of May gathered more than 40 representatives, mostly from the Ministry of Education, but also from the National Bank, the National Association of Banks and the National Association of Insurance Providers, hosted by the National Bank of Belarus. The event was also inaugurated by the Deputy Governor of the National Bank, emphasizing the importance of the topic for Belarus. The program of this intensive seminar included providing participants with the knowledge about: • overall framework for integration of financial and economic citizenship education in the school curriculum; • concrete examples of financial literacy standards setting from Slovakia and Czech Republic; • Sharing in-depth experience on three different curriculum integration models – from Brazil, Moldova and Ukraine (by Central Bank of Brazil, Institute of Educational Sciences of Moldova and Banking University of Ukraine respectively). • Providing participants with the opportunity to share their own experience of innovative pilot integration projects in Belarus; • Give a floor for an open discussion for the best model and way forward for the local context in Belarus, and discuss venues for cooperation between financial and educational authorities in this field. Teacher Training Seminar On the next day, May 26th Youth Entrepreneurship Support and Development Centre (YESDC) together with CYFI and Aflatoun International organized a seminar for teachers and civil society organizations’ representatives at the National Youth Palace in Minsk. The seminar was aimed to disseminate information about the project and the possible models for delivering financial education in Belorussian schools, using the international experience of other countries. The intensive training on using Aflateen program as one of the methods to deliver financial and social education to children was conducted for more than 25 teachers and educators that came from different regions of the country. Main outcomes: • Ministry of Education and Science and National Bank of the Republic of Belarus defined the next steps for continuing the intensive process of integration of core elements of economic citizenship education in the school curriculum; • Youth Entrepreneurship Support and Development Centre (YESDC) has signed an agreement with Aflatoun for implementation of the financial and social education program at the National Youth Palace, and took responsibility of coordinating the network of teachers, supporting them with trainings and materials.
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Financial inclusion and education workshop
Kyiv, Ukraine
Number of days: 1 day, 8 July 2016 Location: Kyiv, Ukraine Participants: More than 30 representatives of the banking sector, financial regulatory and educational authorities, ministries and civil society sector representatives. Main areas: In Ukraine the National Bank has also taken an active stance on supporting the project and in cooperation with CYFI and Banking University organized and hosted the dissemination workshop in Kyiv, Ukraine. The workshop was focused on the role of the role of public-private partnerships and the role of the private and civil society sectors in improving financial literacy and access to basic financial services for young people (like savings products) in Ukraine. The workshop had the following objectives: • • • •
To present the concept of an integrated approach to financial education to local stakeholders in Ukraine; To introduce the concept of Schoolbank and its various implementation options; Discuss the existing financial education programs for children and youth in Ukraine; Presentation of the best practices of foreign private sector involvement in financial education and access to programs for children and youth; • Discuss potential collaboration and further action plans for the development of financial inclusion and financial education programs for youth in Ukraine. During the seminar, CYFI presented parts of its Product Development Workshop module, including business and CSR case for financial institutions, and discussed various technological and innovative solutions for Ukrainian FSPs to start investing in savings programs for youth, as well as engaging in financial education activities. The guest speaker from Savings Banks’ Foundation for International Cooperation (SBFIC) presented the approach of German Savings Banks to improving financial capability of youth, as well as various ways to educate youth to save. The seminar also included the panel that discussed the state of the field in Ukraine that featured presentations of the hosts of the event – the National Bank of Ukraine, as well as Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, Banking University, and case study from one of the private banks. The workshop offered a platform for an open discussion on various possibilities for collaboration and cross-sector cooperation in this field for institutions from different industries. Main outcomes: • Many participants expressed interest in engaging in financial education activities and collaborate with the national stakeholders in these areas – CYFI is continuing follow-up with various organizations; • Continuing discussions on integrating themes around youth financial education and inclusion in the work plan of national stakeholders; • Reassured commitment from the Ministry of Education of Ukraine for the process of integration of financial literacy elements in the compulsory school curriculum.
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Active learning methods and product development workshop
Baku, Azerbaijan Number of days: 3 days, 29 – 31 August 2016 Location: Baku, Azerbaijan Participants: 20 participants from the banking sector, financial regulatory and educational authorities and civil society sector representatives. Main areas: The training covered topics such as active learning methods for financial education and access to basic financial services for young people in Azerbaijan. The first two days of the seminar focused on active learning methods. Participants enjoyed learning how financial education can be delivered in an innovative and fun manner. These methods can be applied not only to children and youth programs but also to adults in any contexts. The workshop also included a presentation of the project partner Reliable Youth Future NGO on the projects that are carried out by the organization in the country, the challenges faced and the potential solutions. The multi-stakeholder group discussed avenues of collaboration and the possibility of supporting going further the project partner with their initiatives. During the third day of the seminar, CYFI presented parts of its Product Development Workshop module, including business and CSR case for financial institutions, and discussed various technological and innovative solutions for Azerbaijani FSPs to start investing in savings programs for youth. Although the regulation in Azerbaijan is quite strict, the Central bank has shown its interest and availability to start discussing with the private sector the possibility of changing such regulation into a more child-friendly one. Main outcomes: • The trainers were trained to deliver financial education programs on active learning methods for financial education. • The concept of an integrated approach to financial education was presented to local stakeholders in Azerbaijan. Also, the project Schoolbank was presented, together with its main implementation options. • During the meeting was discussed the existing financial education programs for children and youth in Azerbaijan and the project partner presentation of updates on their program (Reliable Youth Future NGO).
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Workshop on active learning methods
Chisinau, Moldova
Number of days: 4 days, 23 – 26 August 2016 Location: Chisinau, Republic of Moldova Participants: more than 25 teachers and representatives of the civil society organizations interested in implementing financial education and inclusion projects in the Republic of Moldova, National Bank of Moldova and representatives from the private sector and civil society. Moreover, three representatives from Georgia took part in the training Main areas: The training focused on empowering teachers on delivering financial education using active learning methods. It provided the participants with a standard 14-hour educational module which can be used by the project partners involved in the implementation of the SchoolBank project. The training was delivered by CYFI staff and international consultant Paul Moclair,, as well as local experts from the Institute of Educational Sciences. They discussed the possibility of implementing financial education in the Moldovan national curricula as crosscurricular subject. Main outcomes: • Following the training, it is expected that more than five schools in the country will implement the educational materials provided. The workshop was conducted as part of the implementation of the Schoolbank pilot in the Republic of Moldova. • National Bank of Moldova has expressed its willingness to contribute to the project and to integrate financial education programs for children and youth into the national strategy for financial education which is at the moment in draft • Three Georgian organizations that took part in the training have adopted the materials for their program, and are in the process of adapting and customizing the materials.
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Act for Impact – CYFI International Summit 2016
Bucharest, Romania
Number of days: 3 days, 27-29 June 2016 Location: Bucharest, Romania Participants: More than 170 representatives from more 50 countries, representing the range and scope of CYFI global network, including 10 participants representing project partners and countries. About CYFI Summit 2016 Act for Impact - the 4th Child & Youth Finance International Summit and Strategy Launch - gathered government officials, senior practitioners, innovators and young people to address the gaps, challenges and opportunities for economic empowerment of young people across the globe. Discussions were accelerated, best practices shared and duplicated and concrete steps taken in the development of a global plan of action for youth economic citizenship. The 2016 summit, which was hosted by the National Bank of Romania, Ministry of National Education and Scientific Research and Financial Supervisory Authority of Romania, was centred on the launch of the CYFI strategy for the years 2016-2020. An important phase of CYFI is the focus on more in-depth collaboration and the focus on scaling financial inclusion. CYFI partners from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, as well as Poland and Slovakia had a chance to participate in the CYFI International Summit, participate in experience sharing, networking opportunities with the global network, thus building their capacity to further advance financial education and financial inclusion programmes in their countries.
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Main outcomes: • Launch of CYFI 2016-2020 strategy; • Sharing innovations and best practices based on the current youth economic citizenship landscape; • Presenting effective project models that can be taken to scale; • Offering hands on workshops and knowledge sharing sessions to promote institutional learning and the dissemination of best practice; • Launching two new CYFI product lines (Endorsement and the Network Response Program) to provide additional benefits for the CYFI network; • Inspiring active youth participation and outreach, both nationally and internationally, and incorporating youth views in the strategic planning of the international network. Including main outcomes related to the project: • Further networking and knowledge sharing between V4 and EaP countries; • Agreements on further development of financial inclusion and education projects • Laid foundation for further cooperation and implementation of successful national-level workshops in Azerbaijan, Moldova and Ukraine in summer 2016, as well as the development of SchoolBank project in Georgia and Moldova
More information about CYFI International Summit 2016 – Act for Impact can be found in the Summit Report on CYFI website. Read the Summit Report here: www://issuu.com/childfinanceinternational/docs/cyfi_summit_report_2016
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TRANSLATED MATERIALS In the course of project implementation, the following important materials have been translated into English or Russian language in order to achieve the wider targeted and effective dissemination in all participating countries: • The CYFI Guide “Banking a new generation. Developing responsible retail
banking products or children and youth” is now available in Russian; • “Tools for effective advocacy” are available in English and Russian; • Recommendations for the introduction of Social and Financial Education into the contents of secondary education from the Ministry of Education of Moldova – translated in both English and Russian;
• Guides on implementation of financial literacy course and teacher training both for secondary and high school from Ukraine – translated both in English and Russian; • CYFI “Guide to Economic Citizenship Education. Quality Financial, Social and Livelihoods Education” is now available in Russian.
PROJECT OUTCOMES AND WAY FORWARD Just within one year, the project has generated substantial interest in participating countries, achieved by clear multi-stakeholder and collaborative approach, led by CYFI Secretariat, utilizing its country-level and international network. As envisaged from the beginning, the reach of the project extended much wider than project partners, with public sector institutions ranging from financial regulatory to educational authorities; private sector players, including but not limiting to the banking sector; NGOs and youth-serving organizations; as well as a variety of international experts and consultants have been brought to the project in order for it to reach its goals. This multi-stakeholder approach ensured the high quality of materials produced, meetings and trainings conducted, and concrete action plans being formulated. In some EaP countries, institutions working in the field of financial education for years already, have met and were brought together for the first time thanks to the project, thus providing an opportunity for networking and discussing ways to join efforts and ensure sustainability and scalability of the national initiatives. Active involvement and participation of the central banks and ministries of education in all EaP countries, for example by hosting and co-organizing the events, fostered the success of national-level seminars. Having the public sector institutions on board
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proved to have significant impact on both quality and quantity of attracted participants, level of discussions, as well as media and public attention to the project, and thus to its thematic areas. During the implementation of the project, an impressive number of best practices for the implementation of financial education was collected not only from V4 countries but also from EaP countries. Due to the efforts of Visegrad project partners, a lot of examples of successful programs from Central Europe have been brought to the table, and were either discussed during the meetings, or included in the Best Practice Guide that has already received very positive feedback from the partners. The results of the project included not only direct outcomes of the meetings and training events outlined in the previous section, but also some indirect very encouraging consequences resulted from the networking and capacity building opportunities that the project provided. in the long run, we expect to have even more positive outcomes and new initiatives emerging from the participating countries. Some encouraging ones are already outlined below: • Establishment of the Aflateen club by the National Children and Youth Palace in Tbilisi, Georgia, the first financial education program at the Palace. The first
classes for children plan to start in October 2016, with the support of public authorities in the country. • Significant advancements in the implementation of SchoolBank project (combination of financial education and financial inclusion) on the national level in Georgia, including enhanced cooperation between financial regulatory and educational authorities in the country. • Enhanced cooperation between the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus and Ministry of Education and Science in the process of integration of financial education in the school curriculum and new commitments made by two institutions in the course of the project; • Consideration of the national financial standards by example of Slovakia and Czech Republic in Belarus and Ukraine as one of the possible ways forward; • New Aflatoun - financial and social education pilot – started in Belarus by YESDP at the National Youth Palace of Belarus as a result of teacher training conducted there within the project in May 2016. • SchoolBank concept received significant interest in Ukraine from stakeholders from different sectors and ways to implement it are being discussed at the moment. Several banking institutions have also expressed interest in engaging in financial education for youth and developing child friendly banking products.
• Progress in the implementation of a pilot project in the Republic of Moldova on incorporating financial education in the school curriculum for 14-year-old students has been achieved after the teacher training in Moldova. • Central Bank of Azerbaijan will be considering working with the private sector representatives to adapt regulation
on access to services to a more childfriendly one. This is not an exhaustive list of outcomes of the project and more news and updates are expected as time progress. CYFI will continue constant communication with all project partners and participants, dissemination the materials and results of the project, as well as coordination of
already emerged initiatives. CYFI will continue provide advisory and network connection support to institutions in participating countries, and document the emerging best practices, projects and program results.
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