Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly-Vanadzor

Youth Advisory Boards for Peace

Dates & Duration

2020-2021

Aims and objectives

The project aims at enhancing the application of the guidelines of the UN’s Security Council Resolution 2250 (UNSCR 2250), involving local youth as key actors influencing conflict-related community issues and establishing sustainable mechanisms for youth participation at local and national level in Georgia and Armenia.

Accordingly, the project foresee the following objectives:

• To increase the competences of youth leaders to train other peers, advocate to local authorities and address conflict-related community issues in a participatory and inclusive manner
• To foster the establishment of sustainable initiatives for youth peace advocacy and youth policy development by creating the youth advisory boards for peace (YABP)
• To enhance an exchange of practices for youth policy development and cooperation in the South Caucasus region

Activities

The project will offer a comprehensive training programme for the fellows and provide with opportunities and spaces to involve local youth in advocating and influencing conflict-related community issues affecting young people in Georgia, Armenia and Ukraine.

1. Competence development for young leaders  

The educational programme aims at equipping young leaders with the ability to conduct youth related training and educational activities, needs based community activities fostering youth participation and establishing links to local authorities and decision-makers in order to improve the situation of youth at local level on conflict-related issues. 

The programme is composed of the following activities:

CDP 01: an international training course on peacebuilding and community mobilisiation (mobility) – Bakuriani, Georgia, on March  7-14

CDP 02: a job-shadowing in EU organisations – Italy from May 18-June 1, Hungary from May 11-31 

CDP 03: a training of trainers on non-formal education for youth under the framework of peace education (mobility) – Rustavi, Georgia, on November 2-9

CDP 04: Study Visit – Italy, on June 15-21

2. Local youth training programme  

The programme is based in peer-to-peer education from the fellows to other. The programme will help to disseminate the project initiatives -and specially the YABPs- and engage youngsters from Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine on the following steps of the project. The element of peer-to-peer education provides a unique opportunity for the fellows to develop the competences acquired during the first activity of the project. The activities for this programme are:

LYTP 01: mentored planning workshops for young fellows (2021)

LYTP 02: peer-education on youth policy development, advocacy and peace education (4 in each EaP country)

3. Youth Advisory Boards for Peace (YABP)  

The programme aims to provide a platform for youth organisations to co-develop and jointly establish sustainable forms of cooperation at municipal level for addressing youth conflict-related issues. The programme contains the following core activities:

YABP 01: strategic planning meeting to establish the YABPs, October 12-16, 2020 

YABP 02: establishment and operations of the YABPs, (2020)

YABP 03: Local presentations of the YABPs to stakeholders and youth (2020)

YABP 04: regular meetings of the YABPs coordination teams (2021)

4.  Dissemination Measures (objectives 2 and 3)

DM 01: website for the Project and  YABPs (2021)

DM 02: International presentation of the Project outcomes to other CSOs and stakeholders (2021)

DM 03: development of a lessons learnt document to share the YABPs approach to other organisations in the participating countries.

Who can participate:

Young people at the age of 20-35 from RA, Lori region, Vanadzor (or nearby settlements).

The working language is English. All the trainings and non-local group meetings, job-shadowing and study visit will be in English, therefore the participants should have good knowledge of English.  

It is preferable that the participants have volunteer’s experience in community, youth, peacebuilding activities and initiatives, have non-discriminatory approaches to new people and new cultures.   

If you are interested in the project, send your CV and motivation letter (appx. 1 page) by e-mail: asadikyan@hcav.am by February 18, 2020, or submit to Armine Sadikyan at  HCA Vanadzor office, address: 59 Tigran Mets, Vanadzor, Armenia.  

Partner organisations/country

Armenia (HCA Vanadzor), Georgia (Academy for Peace and Development), Ukraine (Unit), Netherlands (Tree Party), Hungary (ICRP), Italy (Vicolocorto)