Annual Report 2014
European Youth Parliament – Ukraine
CONTENTS PRESIDENT’S WORD
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EYP – UKRAINE IN NUMBERS
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EYP – UKRAINE ANNIVERSARY
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EYP – UKRAINE IN MEDIA
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8TH NATIONAL SELECTION CONFERENCE
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REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
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EYP WEEKENDS
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AGORA ON SECURITY KYIV
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OUR MEMBERS ABROAD
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TRAININGS
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INVOLVING TEACHERS
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UNDERSTANDING EUROPE
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FINANCIAL REPORT
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2014 BOARD
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2015 YEAR PLAN
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PARTNERS
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PRESIDENT’S WORD Dear friends, Let me address you on behalf of the European Youth Parliament – Ukraine and share with you the experiences of 2014 and some of our plans for the upcoming 2015. Overall, 2014 has been a rather challenging year for both our country and our organization. Despite the turbulence, the EYP – Ukraine has managed to hold a number of events, maintain existing partnerships and implement its long awaited bigscale international event. Correlating with policy on regional development, the organization continued further growth across Ukraine with its compact conferences – the EYP Weekends. We covered the previously «untouched» western city of Uzhgorod and southern Kherson, later on returning gladly to Sumy and Kyiv. In line with this policy, the most important event of the year – the National Selection Conference – took place in the peaceful city in the Central Ukraine – Cherkasy. Our constant strive for excellence allowed to set a new bar in event organizing: Agora on Security Kyiv 2014 (ASK) is a new role model for international events within the network of European Youth Parliament in Europe. In 2015, we aim at better development of the organisation from the inside and reviving interaction with our alumni. Along with that, we are eager to bring our activists closer to the Ukrainian civic society by means of engaging into various social initiatives. Regional development stays our priority this year, therefore, we have already planned the twoday conferences – EYP Weekends – during the Global Youth Service Day in Spring; our main event – the 9th National Selection Conference will take place in the marvelous old city of Lutsk; and the grand outreach set of short conferences – 5th Inter-Rail Tour will happen in 15 cities in autumn. Additionally, the EYP – Ukraine plans on tightening cooperation with school teachers. 2015 is a very special year for our organization: this year, the EYP – Ukraine turns 15 years. The anniversary of an over a decade of youth development and non-formal education will be marked with special celebration, previously planned for summer. Stay tuned for more EYP, fight your fears and dream big with us! Sincerely yours, Kristina Chelmakina President
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EYP – UKRAINE IN NUMBERS 58 events in Ukraine, among them 2 large sessions 18 presentations of EYP-Ukraine 5 EU Crash Courses 5 Happy Hours 5 Trainings 212 official members (+93 new members) 99 total number of organisers at Ukrainian events 116 number of trips made by 69 Ukrainians attending 50 events 81 international EYPers visiting Ukrainian events 1945 Total number of participants at the events 1479 unique participants
2980 (+1455 new followers) VKontakte likes 2652 (+987 new followers) Twitter followers 868 (+141 new followers) Facebook likes
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EUROPEAN YOUTH PARLIAMENT – UKRAINE 14thANNIVERSARY International Youth NGO «European Youth Parliament – Ukraine» (EYP – Ukraine) represents one of 41 National Committees of the European Youth Parliament. Registered with the Government of Ukraine on May 18, 2002, it is a full-fledged participant of civil society development process in Ukraine. De facto, the EYP – Ukraine has been successfully operating in Ukraine since 2000, involving young Ukrainians in activities of one of the largest European platforms for debate, intercultural encounters, educational work and exchange of ideas among young Europeans. Annually, the EYP – Ukraine conducts a National Session selecting delegations to represent Ukraine at EYP international and regional sessions in Europe, as well as regional conferences in Ukrainian cities, and other youth projects.
During its lifetime, the EYP – Ukraine has acquired professional expertise and valuable experience in organising different kinds of youth events: regional and international sessions, national conferences, trainings and workshops etc. Experienced and talented young people ready to volunteer their time and efforts to implement interesting projects is the most valuable resource we possess. In 2014, the EYP – Ukraine celebrated its 14th Anniversary. The official part took place in Ukraine Crisis Media Center, where active members of organisation spoke about their EYP achievements as well as upcoming EYP projects. The participants also enjoyed active discussions, teambuilding, and communication.
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EYP – UKRAINE IN MEDIA
In April, the EYP – Ukraine, together with leading universities in Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, and Donetsk has organised a TV conference with American universities of Harvard, Colombia, and Yale. It was hosted at a studio of 1st National TV Channel, where Ukrainian EYPers had a chance to share their thoughts on burning issues with their foreign peers in prime time. Later our members were invited as guest speakers to 1st National TV programmes twice. Afterwards, the EYP – Ukraine became regular on Teleakademia - a TV programme by 1st National TV in cooperation with Open University of Maidan. Open University of Maidan is a civil initiative born in December 2013 at Maidan aimed at educating public on social and and economic issues.
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After Maidan, the University continues it work via various offline and online channels, one of which is Teleakademia. The programme gives space for lecturers to share their knowledge with an audience in the room, as well as behind the scenes.
The project is open: everyone can register, come to listen to a lecture, ask questions, and participate in the discussions with the lecturer and other participants. From September to December, 22 EYPers had a chance to listen to lectures by representatives of Open University of Maidan and to participate in open discussions at 12 issues of Teleakademia. One of the biggest successes was the media coverage of Agora on Security Kyiv. Various printed and online media outlets attended a press conference organised in the framework of the forum. Among others, who covered the event, the 1st National TV dedicated a whole issue of Teleakademia to ASK: the project itself and the issues that had been raised there were discussed with ASK participants as well as experts, and broadcasted afterwards. Our main appearance on the radio was in spring, when our President, Yegor Vlasenko, was interviewed by Radio Kyiv.
8TH NATIONAL SELECTION CONFERENCE OF EYP – UKRAINE National Selection Conference (National Session) in Ukraine occurs once a year and aims to select its best participants to the Ukrainian delegation, which will represent EYP – Ukraine at International Sessions. National Sessions are held in all National Committees of the EYP. National Selection Conference usually lasts 4-5 days, during which delegates work in committees discussing political, economic, social and cultural issues that are on agenda of the respective committees of the European Parliament. 8th National Selection Conference of the EYP – Ukraine was held in August in the wonderful city of Cherkasy. More than 100 participants from all over Ukraine and Europe have gathered to discuss issues, united under the umbrella topic «E u ro p e fo r th e p e o p l e, b y t he p e o p l e ». During 4 days, the participants were identifying problems and debating solutions for a broad list of topics connected with current European issues. The topics ranged from Ukraine-
EU-Russia relations, mass surveillance, youth unemployment, HIV, cigarette consumption, gender discrimination, and democratic deficit to journalism ethics. Several delegations were selected to represent Ukraine at international gatherings of the European Youth Parliament, including the spring International Session in Izmir, Turkey, as well as various International Forums. The organising team was lead by Olha Shvets (UA) and Iryna Garbuz (UA). Session President, Kati Parn (EE) has managed the team of 15 committee moderators. Oleksii Prylipka (UA), session Editor, has created the event’s media coverage together with his team of journalists. 8th National Selection Conference was supported by «Movement for Cherkasy’s prosperity», British Embassy, French Embassy, Jansen Capital Management, Charity Foundation «Open Hearts of Ukraine», Cherkasy City Council and Cherkasy District Administration.
REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Bringing the European Youth Parliament to different regions of Ukraine has always been an important task of the organisation. 2 consecutive InterRail Tours in previous years have involved hundreds of young leaders from most of the country’s region into EYP sessions and internal organisational activities. In 2014, bearing in mind the complicated situation in the country, a decision was made to conduct several rounds of EYP Weekends, which were still united by umbrella topics and were linked to various events. This has allowed a greater flexibility to reach towns and regions that would have otherwise constituted a logistical challenge during a tour. 517 young minds at 10 locations have taken part in these Weekends. A great milestone for the National Committee was also marked in 2014 as Uzhgorod became the last previously unreached region on the map. Apart from that, a great effort was spent on holding presentations of the organisation in the regions as well as developing a strong platform for regional representatives. In total, more than 700 people in 11 regions got acquainted with EYP – Ukraine, more than 200 people have witnessed the organisation’s public appearances.
Regional Outreach in 2014
National Session
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International Event
EYP Weekends
Other events
REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT EYP-WEEKENDS EYP Weekend is a two-day event, which aims to promote the organisation and trains youth to participate in bigger EYP events, such as the National Selection Conference. Despite the relatively brief format, the structure of such session is similar to the structure of usual EYP events and includes Teambuilding, Committee Work and the General Assembly. The main advantage of this format is the possibility to organise sessions in many regions of the country. This year, all the Weekends were held under the general topic ÂŤIn i t i ati v e o f th e y o u th - well- being of t he count r yÂť. A total of 517 participants joined the events. EYP Weekend in Kyiv Date: April 26-27 Number of participants: 71
EYP Weekend in Sumy Date: May 17-18 Number of participants: 61
EYP Weekend in Kyiv (KPI) Date: May 17-18 Number of participants: 46
EYP Weekend in Kharkiv Date: September 20-21 Number of participants: 49
EYP Weekend in Mykolaiv Date: May 17-18 Number of participants: 43
EYP Weekend in Kherson Date: October 11-12 Number of participants: 55
EYP Weekend in Zhytomyr Date: May 17-18 Number of participants: 40
EYP Weekend in Boryspil Date: October 18-19 Number of participants: 73
EYP Weekend in Dniprodzerzhynsk Date: May 17-18 Number of participants: 50
EYP Weekend in Uzhgorod Date: November 22-23 Number of participants: 29
ASK 2014 AGORA ON SECURITY KYIV
During November 2-9, Kyiv was hosting International Forum of the European Youth Parliament, «Agora on Security Kyiv» (a.k.a. ASK), which gathered active young citizens from across Europe. 130 participants from 26 countries aged 18 to 30 came together to build a common vision for Europe’s security policy. The overarching theme of the forum was «R e : t h i n k S e c uri ty – H ac k O ld Pa r a d i g ms ».
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The event was organised by the European Youth Parliament – Ukraine and led by the President Martin Hoffman (DE) and Project Managers Anya Suprunenko (UA) and Kseniia Choni (UA). Throughout the week, participants worked in nine working groups, each focusing on a particular dimension of European security, which included:
finance, healthcare, military, governance, trade, energy, environment, cyber security and agronomy. Although ASK had the traditional setting of a working group, it contained three types of events that stirred up the discussions, gave participants the chance to exchange their ideas with people outside of their working group, and additionally get new and fresh ideas: - Morning lectures - optional activities taking place during breakfast and featuring experts on the security and related fields, who provided additional input for all participants - Barcamp - an ‘unconference’ that offers a peer-to-peer format, where each participant could host and run a workshop
- World Café - a structured conversational event, in which groups of people discussed different topics at thematic tables, switching them periodically and getting introduced to the previous discussion at their new table by a «table host». As organisers were striving to share innovative academic approaches of the event with the wider audience, they invited the local youth to participate in several academic discussions and cultural events. All those willing to participate were welcome to register and come listen to a morning lecture or see the talents of the participants at the Euroconcert. Furthermore, one of the working groups was dealing with HIV/AIDS policies, thus the ASK team cooperated closely with UNDP, who initially suggested the topic and the involvement of a local HIV positive community. This collaboration resulted in HIV positive teenagers giving an insight to their lives at the Barcamp, which was mutually beneficial and extremely useful for both the teenagers and ASK participants. As a result of the Agora, a joint report of all nine working groups was drafted in order to create a comprehensive vision for European security across the key dimensions. The report attempted to represent the whole complexity of the problem discussed by ASK participants. It also reflected the thinking process of a group and explained what areas they focused on. Agora on Security Kyiv 2014 was well covered by Ukrainian media. Highly influential TV channels, as well as news agencies, visited the official events of the project. One episode of the TV show «Teleakademia» by First National
TV Channel was fully devoted to ASK. Project participants and organisers had a chance to share their impressions and discuss outcomes of the event in order to motivate youth all over the country to get involved in active citizenship, to care about global issues and to inspire youngsters to change their mind-sets. The Forum was visited by the EU Ambassador to Ukraine Jan Tombinski, Director of Democratic Citizenship and Participation Department of the Council of Europe Jean-Cristophe Bas and the Chairmain of the Schwarzkopf Stiftung «Junges Europa» Andre Schmitz-Schwarzkopf. Also, in his video address, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier greeted the participants of the Forum. This project was supported by the German Federal Foreign Office, Charity Foundation «Open Hearts of Ukraine», Ministry for Youth and Sports of Ukraine, Financial Group Sparkasse, German Savings Banks Association, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Future Leaders Exchange Programme (FLEX), Stiftung Mercator, Hertie-Stiftung, Sapinda, Deutsche Telekom, Hellenic and the Council of Europe.
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OUR MEMBERS ABROAD Following the basic practice of the European Youth Parliament, the Ukrainian National Committee has sent the delegations to the International Sessions – flagship events of the whole organisation. The 75th International Session in Riga took place on March 15-23 and had its discussions focused around current European politics and cultural heritage. Ukraine was represented by 5 Delegates, 1 Organiser and 1 Vice-President at this session The 76th International Session in Barcelona took place between July 25 August 3 under the topic “Walking towards a common European spirit”. Ukraine was represented by a large delegation of 7 members. The members of the European Youth Parliament – Ukraine have also taken part in multiple regional and national conferences as well as international forums held by the
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20 fellow national committees: Armenia, Austria, Check Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey. Ukrainian EYPers have actively participated in several trainings on the international level. Also, EYP Ukraine was represented at the EYP Think Tank on Youth Unemployment, which took place on April 10-13 in Berlin, Germany. Ukrainian National Committee was an active participant of the organisational life of the European Youth Parliament through one on its governance mechanisms – the Board of National Committees. During both BNC meetings in 2014, the Ukrainian NC was among the most active participants of the discussion, presenting strong opinion in supports of the interests of Eastern European National Committees.
TRAININGS One of the main goals of the European Youth Parliament – Ukraine is to provide its members with numerous opportunities to develop their knowledge, personal and professional skills. The common ways to achieve this is through participating in sessions in various roles and through becoming a part of the activities of the National Committee by joining one of the departments. The EYP – Ukraine goes far beyond that and offers multiple trainings every year. In 2014, a broad range of training opportunities has been offered. The trainings covered the areas crucial for the organisation’s management as well as offered insights on developing session-related skills. Furthermore, due to the introduction of several innovative projects, several events were dedicated to building up competencies in those areas.
Fundraising Training on August 21 was dedicated to coaching the fundraising department on organizing their work effectively and was conducted by our partner Jansen Capital Management. Session skills trainings Training in EYP Journalism was held on February 8-9. Participants learned about key competences and the hidden sides of EYP journalism from one of the most outstanding journalists of the EYP network - Janne Vanhemmens from Belgium. Chairs Training for EYP Weekends was conducted on September 6-7 by an experienced Ukrainian EYP Alumnus Oleg Shimanskyy and was dedicated to coaching freshly selected Chairpersons ahead of the autumn series of Weekends.
Organisation management trainings
Project trainings
3rd Alumni Weekend on November 29-30 has covered modules on National Committee structure, Communications, Regional Development, Project Management, Technical Tools, and International structure of the EYP.
Teacher’s Training on September 27 has marked the launch of the EYP – Ukraine’s initiative to actively collaborate with teachers in order to foster development of the young generation of country’s future leaders. The trainers of the event were experienced alumnae of the EYP – Ukraine: Anna Lachykhina and Tetiana Korniichuk.
Regional Development Training on November 15-16 brought together multiple regional representatives of the EYP – Ukraine to develop the Regional Development vision and build a strong foundation for the regional representation platform.
Understanding Europe Training for Trainers on December 5-7 was designed to form a strong team of project coaches ahead of expanding the initiative further in Ukraine.
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INVOLVING TEACHERS According to the post-training evaluation, every participant found it useful and interesting: 83% would strongly recommend the training to their colleagues and recommend EYP to their students. The European Youth Parliament is an organisation, that focuses not only on students, but also on teachers. Teachers are one of the sources of socialisation for all students. Teachers prepare youngsters for further discoveries in life as well as may encourage them to join youth organisations. Teachers can potentially be promoters of EYP, although at this point of time such potential is not fully utilised in Ukraine. For many years, the organisation has been involving teachers in its activities, especially in accompanying delegations to the sessions abroad. In 2014, the cooperation with the teachers improved substantially. The EYP – Ukraine initiated a project for teachers called «EYP with Tea» – Training for school teachers aimed to establish training courses for teachers on a regular basis. This should ensure a continuous exchange and cooperation both on academic and pedagogic levels, convey the European idea, and also maintain the permanent reach of as many delegates as possible. The cooperation with the EYP offers school teachers: - complementary elements for their syllabus - insights in team-building and facilitation techniques
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- new learning experience – break out of routine - fresh teaching material and knowledge about the EU - exchange with colleagues from abroad. The 1st Training for School Teachers took place on September 27. It gathered a total of 17 participants. Representatives were mostly from Kyiv, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, and Chernihiv. Anna Lachykhina and Tetiana Korniichuk, the EYP – Ukraine alumnae, became the trainers of the event. As a result of the training, one of its participants, Olga Murasova, travelled to Braga NSC of EYP Portugal accompanying the Ukrainian delegation. She also initiated and continues to assist the organisers of Kyiv School Session, which will take place on March 25-28 2015.
UNDERSTANDING EUROPE
Understanding Europe project is a recent initiative of the European Youth Parliament and Schwarzkopf Foundation. In Ukraine, its aim is to tell Ukrainian high school students about the European Union and its foundations.
(UA), and Maria Fedoruk (UA). Several special workshops for future trainers and regional representatives took place, including moderating students’ groups, setting up a project, and cooperation with the EYP – Ukraine.
On December 5-7, the Understanding Europe Train-the-Trainer event was organised in Kyiv by the EYP – Ukraine and Understanding Europe – Ukraine team with the support of the EYP International Office and Schwarzkopf Foundation.
The following educational institutions took part of the programme in 2014: - International Relations Lyceum 51, Kyiv - Kyiv Alumni Resource Center - Specialised School 82, Kyiv - Kyiv Business Lyceum
20 participants from different regions of Ukraine had an opportunity to discuss the project implementation in their regions and get to know the actual course by experiencing it with German and Ukrainian trainers – Kerstin Eckart (DE), Thomas Leszke (DE), Michael Rozhkov
A total of 124 high school students got involved into the programme.
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FINANCIAL REPORT Funds raised
â‚´UAH
Private and Corporate Sponsorship
20 000
Public Sector
1 130 648
Foundations
233 275
Members and Participants
33 500
Total Funds raised
1 417 423
Spendings Administrative
13 429
8th National Selection Conference
102 783
Agora on Security Kyiv
1 103 295
Regional Development
31 710
Understanding Europe
73 179
Trainings and other events
14 793
Total Spendings
1 339 189
01.01.2015 Financial Position
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78 234
Private and Corporate Sponsorship
Administrative
Public Sector
8th National Selection Conference
Foundations
Agora on Security Kyiv
Memebers and Participants
Regional Development Understanding Europe Trainings and other events
2014 BOARD 2014 BOARD AND AND AUDITING AUDITING COMMITTEE Yegor Vlasenko President
Tetiana Korniichuk Vice-President on International Activities
Lidiia Zhgyr Vice-President on Fundraising
Michael Rozhkov Board Member on Regional Development
Olena Yermakova Board Member on Public Relations
Kateryna Yegorova Board Member on Human Resources
Liza Skorobreshchuk Secretary
Anna Suprunenko Member of the Auditing Committee
Anton Verkhovodov Member of the Auditing Committee
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2015 YEAR PLAN
Chairs Training February
Kyiv School Session March
9th National Selection Conference August
Organisers’ training March
General Assembly September
EYP Weekend Marathon April
5th InterRail Tour October
General Assembly April
General Assembly Elections December
15th Anniversary of June
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EYP 4 Tea: Training for Teachers July
PARTNERS
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