Mr Andriy Chesnikov, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine for European Integration, paid a visit to the Council of Europe Youth Department on 10 May 2022, to discuss the support that the Department can provide to the Ukrainian youth sector in the current situation and in a post-war context. It was recalled that, in March 2022, the Joint Council on Youth-CMJ adopted a statement expressing its readiness to mobilise fully the experience, skills and expertise of the Council of Europe youth sector and to assist its Ukrainian partners in meeting present and future challenges.

On that occasion, a non-exhaustive list of measures and actions to be implemented as soon as the conditions on the ground   would allow it was equally adopted by the CMJ.

Since the meeting, a dedicated CMJ Working Group met on 19 May to examine policy developments within the Council of Europe and from the Ukrainian authorities, review the activities already taking place within the Youth for Democracy! Phase II project, and discuss possible additional actions to be undertaken in the light of the needs of the Ukrainian authorities.

On 11-12 May two Council of Europe projects “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase II” and “Internal Displacement in Ukraine: Building Solutions Phase II” co-organised an online training seminar "How to help yourself and young people" for forty-eight youth workers and youth policy makers in Ukraine. The training focused on the basics of burnout prevention, compassion fatigue and psychological support skills in crisis situations.

Since March, the project of the Council of Europe “Youth for Democracy in Ukraine: Phase II” follows the current situation in the field of youth policy and youth work in war time in Ukraine and revised the working plan until the end of 2022. One of the priorities of the revised plan is to organise capacity-building activities for youth workers to provide assistance and help to IDPs, returnees, vulnerable groups in the war period. 

The first online event of the Partnership Agreement 2022 between ERYICA and the Council of Europe took place on 29 April 2022 in the form of an Online Café where young refugees and youth information providers held a discussion to better understand young refugees’ situation and needs, especially in terms of information and counselling and in the current context. Youth information can play an essential role in lives and integration of young refugees into local communities.

The 33rd General Assembly of ERYICA took place on 11-13 May 2022 in Barcelona. The focus of this year’s event was "Youth participation in youth information". And its highlight was the Awarding Ceremony of the European Quality Label for Youth Information Services.

A webinar on «New forms of sexual abuse: what Youth Information workers can do» (31 May 2022) focused on combatting child and youth sexual abuse, harassment and grooming in the context of rising popularity of social media. The two years of the Covid-19 pandemic pushed more and more young people to resort to Internet for building or maintaining their friendships and relationships. Modern digitalised life brings both opportunities and threats. Unfortunately, online grooming, sexual harassment, harmful sexual behaviour, peer-on-peer abuse, gang-related sexual violence, and other forms of sexual abuse targeting children and youth are fast-growing and may happen anytime and anywhere. In this context, youth information services and the youth work sector, in general, are increasingly in need of resources, protocols and programmes able to support young people’s resilience.

“I like my coffee with no sugar and my education with no oppression” – this is one of the mottos of the study session organised in the European Youth Centre Strasbourg in cooperation with the Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions  from 16 to 20 May 2022. 

nAIce to meet you - How You(th) Can Protect Digital Human Rights was the title of the study session organised in cooperation with International Federation of Liberal Youth. It addressed concerns regarding insufficient regulations for protection of human rights online when violations are done by/through machine learning tools (Artificial Intelligence). The participants reflected on how dangerous the misuse of AI can be when the state uses its power to apply AI in law enforcement.

For participants, the activity provided a unique opportunity to explore the implications (and potential responses) of this tendency of the limitation of human rights in many societies. The session gathered 30 participants on from 16 to 20 May at the European Youth Centre Budapest

The National Youth Council of Macedonia, in cooperation with the national youth councils of Romania, Ukraine and Bulgaria and the NGO R-Roma, implemented a study session on Multi-Sectoral Cooperation for Inclusion of Roma Youth at the European Youth Centre in Budapest, from 23 to 26 May 2022.

The study session aimed to strengthen social inclusion of young Roma through the means of advocacy and structural dialogue with diverse stakeholders. 

How can you promote value-based education in your learning mobility projects? Which values are to be explored, promoted and encouraged in non-formal learning? Can learning mobility contribute to preparing young people to be active in society and to be agents of change?

The EU-Council of Europe Youth Partnership has published a new training kit (t-kit): read it online and order your copy.

Are you interested in quality projects, learning about the Q! tools and gaining insights to boost sustainability, values, mental health and digital aspects of your projects?

Join the event of the European Platform on Learning Mobility to celebrate the relaunch of learning mobility, share experiences related to the pandemic and discuss the future of learning mobility. The event will take place on 9 June at 10-13:00 CEST online. Please register before the event.

This event is part of the Q! Boost campaign, presented at the EPLM Resource Group meeting on 17 May, in Brussels. We have also started to plan the EPLM conference on sustainability and learning mobility, which will take place in February 2023. Keep an eye on the EPLM website and social media for updated on the conference!