InclusiON NOW! Development of Inclusive Youth Work in the Eastern Partnership countries
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Equality, inclusion and diversity are core values of youth work in Europe. Many vulnerable young people in the Eastern Partnership countries have limited access to the four major aspects of inclusion: education, healthcare, employment and civic participation. The youth inclusion gaps in the Eastern Partnership countries are covering a broad spectrum of dimensions, from gender rights to the rights of people with disabilities.
Given this context, a European consortium of youth organizations implements a project – “InclusiON NOW! Development of Inclusive Youth Work in the Eastern Partnership countries”.
We aim to offer an opportunity for a professional development to a group of youth professionals in the Eastern Partnership countries who work in the area of youth inclusion. Additionally, we are aiming at incorporating the issue of inclusion of young people to the advocacy goals of the Working Group 4 of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum and advocate for more youth inclusion both at the national and European levels.
- Sharing experiences and best practices on increasing inclusiveness of youth work provided to the disadvantaged young people in the Eastern Partnership countries.
- Equipping young professionals from the Eastern Partnership countries with practical tools and methods to use in their everyday work with disadvantaged young people.
- Creating a network of partners in the EU and the Eastern Partnership who jointly develop quality youth work measures to support inclusion of disadvantaged young people
- Mapping good practices, training activities, tools and methodologies, which promote youth inclusion and disseminating them among the members of the Working Group 4 of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum and beyond
- Incorporating the issue of inclusion of young people under the risk of marginalization in the advocacy goals of the Working Group 4 of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum
- Disseminating and mainstreaming the results, recommendations and the position paper elaborated within the project among the relevant EU institutions and the national governments in the Eastern Partnership countries.
Activity 1: Development of a tailor-made training module on Youth Inclusion in the Eastern Partnership countries for Youth Workers and Youth Educators
Activity 2: InclusiON NOW! Training for Youth Workers and Youth Educators in the Eastern Partnership countries (based on the training module)
Activity 3: Study Visit to Fryshuset Youth Center in Sweden
Activity 4: Development of a package of Recommendations
Activity 5: Advocacy of the recommendations and objectives of the EaP CSF among national and European stakeholders
The project is implemented by Armenian Progressive Youth NGO (Armenia) in cooperation with the Belarusian students’ association (Belarus), the Local Democracy Agency (Georgia), the Foundation for Advancement (Moldova), the Youth organization “STAN” (Ukraine), IZ – Association for the Promotion of Diversity, Dialogue and Education (Austria), AEGEE-Europe (Belgium) and Fryshuset Foundation (Sweden).
The project benefits from support through the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum Re-granting Scheme (FSTP) and is funded by the European Union as part of its support to civil society in the region.
RA Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the Armenian Progressive Youth NGO have signed the memorandum of understanding, within the frame of which humanitarian aid will be provided in the form of monthly supplies of food and other essential items to 900 families living in Yerevan city and its neighboring regions.
For the implementation of the work, the organization will recruit and train volunteers. The organization will also take care of the all necessary expenses during the humanitarian support, including food, hygiene items, acquisition and transportation of other necessary items, the printing of the information leaflets, areas, equipment, obtaining medical and protective resources, and other administrative expenses.
I lived 10 months in a very peaceful village near Zurich called Feldbach. Our house was situated on the shore of the lake Zurich. I was volunteer in Synergy Village helping them with accomodating visitors and guests in the guesthouse, cafe and events. I was working 5 days in a week 6 hours per day and was also responsible for landscape gardening, creative and decoration work, renovations, cooking and baking.
What did I get? -I discovered myself. 
My Erasmus story began in Wroclaw, Poland in November, 2019 when I was 24. I didn’t know much about the city, but now I can say that it was an inspiration at first sight. Wroclaw is a cultural melting pot combining almost all the religions of Europe. For the first time in my life I felt like a true citizen of a European Capital of Culture. Thus, I took the dare of going to hunt for 300 mystical gnomes representing the opposition movement of combating authoritarian regime established under the stern eye of Soviet communists in 1980s. And the witnessing walls of the Soviet regime has contributed to the broad understanding of the term ‘TOLERANCE’ intended to be digested during the 10 days spent in the city.
Growing-up in an Armenian religious family I have always been thought that ‘tolerance’ and ‘acceptance’ and ‘love’ is something that feeds every person in need. It seems that I have been quite aware of these words, but… Having the chance to participate in the Erasmus+ project “YOU are the Tolerance” organized by the Ideal Lab Foundation (the sending organization was the Armenian Progressive Youth NGO) made me contradict lots of values I appreciated before. I came to understand that it was not about liabilities and must-DOs, but openness to argument, willingness to self-doubt, aptitude to see other people’s points of view, enlightened to recognize not man or woman, but HUMAN.
Let’s not forget that every Erasmus+ experience has its challenges at first: I got to meet new people from the other parts of the world, I was anxious about my inclusive capacities, I was overthinking on sharing my private zone of isolation with people from diverse backgrounds and interests. And yes, the brick walls are there for a reason. They have the mission to give us an opportunity to be once more assured how badly we want something and stop us when the desire is not extremely enough. This experience has made me realize how magical the corners of every wall can be and how terrible it is that we know so little about it, so many mind-blowing places that we have never thought existed and so many extraordinary people that we have never met.
By embracing the valuable knowledge that I have gained from this exchange program, I take the chance to emphasize about the motivation, new perspectives, never-ending memories, and most importantly friends for a whole lifetime. On the very first day when we were drawing about our expectations from the program, I outlined friends keeping hands, but imagine… what if all our fictional thoughts come true. Our simple opportunities step by step become responsibilities and here the FEIENDSHIP begins.
Now, I know that we should use every possible opportunity to learn about different faces of the fast-growing society, experience the colors of adventures and make great stories to tell when we are old enough to our minds. Four months have passed and my gratefulness for every moment never ends. Missing the flight from one country to another, taking the wrong direction countless times, getting lost in a big unknown city, appearing in suburbs and being sure that it was the place where I meant to be, missing the last train, trying strange foods and eating without knowing what was inside, being the first at each Polish inspiration event, planning trips at every single opportunity, and so on, and so forth. Is it possible to be jealous of your own days? Well…if it is, I definitely and unquestionably am.
