Conference: Youth Inclusion and Youth Participation in Eastern Partnership region

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Դարձի՛ր կամավոր-

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Նոր կամավորների հավաքագրման ծրագիրն իրականացվում է ՀԱԵ-ի կողմից՝ խթանելու հայ երիտասարդների մասնակցությունը երիտասարդական ծրագրերում, ինչպես նաև համայնքի կյանքում: Կամավորները ներդնում են իրենց ժամանակը և մասնագիտական հմտությունները՝ ի շահ կազմակերպության ու համայնքի՝ միևնույն ժամանակ զարգացնելով իրենց անձնային և մասնագիտական հմտությունները:

Հայտադիմումների ընդունման կարգ

Եթե որոշել եք դիմել կամավորների հավաքագրման ծրագրին, հետևե՛ք ստորև նշված հրահանգներին և համոզվե՛ք, որ բարեհաջող եք լրացրել հայտադիմումը։ Հայտադիմումների ընդունման վերջնաժամկետն է փետրվարի 20-ը, 2019 թվական։
Հայտադիմումը լրացնելու համար հետևե՛ք հետևյալ հղմանը՝ https://goo.gl/2wvc7y։

Կամավորական շրջանը տևում է 6 ամիս՝ մարտից սեպտեմբեր։
Նախընտրական փուլն անցած թեկնածուները կհրավիրվեն հարցազրույցի։

Քայլ 1՝ ծանոթացե՛ք պահանջներին,
Քայլ 2՝ ընտրե՛ք՝ ՀԱԵ բաժիններից որում եք ցանկանում կամավորել,
Քայլ 3՝ լրացրե՛ք հայտադիմումը,
Քայլ 4՝ պատրաստվե՛ք հարցազրույցին։

Յուրաքանչյուր բաժինը բաղկացած է 10-40 կամավորներից։

Ստորև կարող եք ավելի մանրամասն ծանոթանալ ծրագրում ներգրավվելու պահանջներին ու պայմաններին և աշխատանքային խմբերի գործունեությանը։

Նոր կամավորների հավաքագրման ծրագրին դիմելու վերջնաժամկետը փետրվարի 20-ն է։

Integration through EVS

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The Erasmus+ Partnership connected 27 youth workers from Austria, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Greece, Spain, Ukraine and the Netherlands.

The PBA aimed on the long-lasting perspective to increase the number of targeted youngsters with fewer opportunities in EVS projects.

The project took place in Drobollach (Austria) during March 28-April 05, 2018. At first, the participants got to know each other. They had guests from Erasmus+ regional office Carinthia after team-building activities were followed.

Volunteering and its philosophy were among the first days of the agenda. The participants received sufficient skills to develop future EVS projects that support integration.The participants from different countries came up with several international EVS project ideas. The PBA was financed by Erasmus + Programme and Austrian National Agency (Jugend in Aktion 2014-2020).

“Empower Youth” Personal Development Courses

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Արդեն 9 ամիս է ինչ «Հայ առաջադեմ երիտասարդություն» ՀԿ-ն իրականացնում է «Empower Youth» ծրագիրը։ Ծրագիրը ստեղծվել և իրականացվում է ՀԱԵ 5 կամավորների կողմից։ Դասընթացի թիրախային խումբը ավագ դպրոցի և հիմնական դպրոցի վերջին՝ 9-րդ դասարանի աշակերտներն են: Ծրագիրի շրջանակներում կամզակերպվող դասընթացները Հայաստանի մարզերում բնակվող պատանիներին և երիտասարդներին են ներկայացնում ՀԱԵ-ի հիմնադրման, զարգացման և ընդհանուր գործընթացի պատմությունը:

Կամավորներից Նոնա Հովհաննիսյանը վարում է դասընթաց՝ նվիրված «European Volunteering Service»` Եվրոպական կամավորական ծառայություն, ծրագիրին։ Դասընթացի ընթացքում ներկայացվում է ծրագրի տեսլականը, նպատակները, հնարավորությունները և ծրագրին մասնակցելու կարգը։
Իր ելույթի ժամանակ Նոնան նշեց, որ EVS-ը հիանալի հնարավորություն է այլ երկրներում կամավորական աշխատանքի առավելություններին ծանոթանալու, նոր կարողություններ ձեռք բերելու, նոր լեզուներ սովորելու և, որն ամենակարևորն է, ոչ ֆորմալ կրթական հնարավորություններին ծանոթանալու համար։

Կամավորներից Մհեր Նալբանդյանը ներկայացնում է ինչպես գրել ինքնակենսագրական (CV) և մոտիվացիոն նամակ (ML)։ «Աշխատանքային շուկայում մեզ ներկայացնելու համար անհրաժեշտ է կազմել խելամիտ և շուկայի ստանդարտներին համապատասխանող ինքնակենսագրական։ Իսկ մոտիվացիոն նամակում հարկավոր է ճիշտ ձևակերպված լինեն տվյալ աշխատանքին դիմելու դրդապատճառները և թե ինչու կազմակերպություն պետք է ընտրի հենց Ձեզ, – իր ելույթի ընթացքում նշեց Մհերը»։

Արսեն Ասատրյանը դասընթացների շրջանակներում խոսում է երազանքի աշխատանքի մասին։ Դասընթացի այս հատվածը փորձում է բարձրացնել աշակերտների շրջանակներում ճիշտ աշխատանք և մասնագիտության ընտրության իմացությունը: Դասընթացը խրախուսում է աշակերտներին իրենց հոբիները վերածել աշխատանքի և ընդգծում է հասարակական աշխատանքի կարևորությունը։

Կամավորներից Տաթևիկ Թադևոսյանը պատմում է, թե ինչպես ներկայանալ աշխատանքի հարցազրուցին։ Նպատակն է՝ ունենալ երկխոսություն մասնակիցների միջև որպես գործատու-աշխատող և հակառակը, ներկայացնել մասնակիցներին հարցազրուցի ընդհանուր բնույթը և սովորեցնել՝ ինչպես խոսել, հաղորդակցվել գործատուի հետ։
Իսկ վերջում կամավորներից Մերի Անդրեասյանը մասնակիցների հետ խաղում է <<օդապարուկ>> կոչվող խաղը, որի ընթացքում մասնակիցները պետք է այնպես ներկայացնեն իրենց աշխատանքի դերի և կարևորությունը, որ օդապարուկից չընկնեն։

Եղեգնաձորում ծրագրին մասնակիցներից մեկը իր կարծիքը հայտնեց ծրագրի մասին.
– Լսելով Վայոց Ձորում ծրագրի իրականացման մասին՝ որոշեցի մասնակցել՝ հաշվի առնելով ներառված հետաքրքիր թեմաները: Սակայն ծրագիրն ավելին էր, քան ես պատկերացնում էի. ներկաների փորձի փոխանակում, մասնագիտական հմտություններ, հետաքրքրությունների կիսում, CV-ի ճիշտ կազմում։ Ծրագիրը համապատասխան և հետաքրքրաշարժ բովանդակություն ուներ, իսկ սեմինարավարները, չնայած դասընթացավարների երիտասարդ լինելուն, բավականին մասնագիտացված էին: Այս ամենը ամփոփելով՝ կարելի է ասել, որ ծրագիրը լիովին ստացված էր: Ուզում եմ շնորհակալություն հայտնել ծրագիրը մեզ՝ Վայոց Ձորի պատանիներիս հետ անցկացնելու համար: Հուսովեմ՝ նման ծրագրերով կրկին կհանդիպենք:

Ծրագրի արդյունքում ՀԱԵ կամավորները փորձում են ձևավորել ավելի զարգացած և տեղեկացված հասարակություն՝ օգնելով աշակերտներին ավելի հարմար աշխատանք և մասնագիտություն ընտրելու հարցում:

Everybody Counts! A Handbook on Inclusion and Participation of young people in EP countries

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We are excited to share with all of you our handbook ”Everybody Counts!” on inclusion and participation of young people in Eastern Partnership countries.

The project “Everybody Counts” is developed by Armenian Progressive Youth NGO in partnership with Foundation for Advancement of Moldova and Society Initiative Institute, Ukraine. The project fosters integration and participation of young people from rural and deprived urban areas through raising awareness on youth participation opportunities and providing job preparation, digital and mobility trainings.

Low level of youth participation in rural and deprived urban areas remains one of the key issues across the Eastern Partnership countries. Specifically in Armenia, Moldova and Ukraine there is a lack of youth participation structures in rural areas. At the same time, young people are not able to join the decision-making processes on youth issues at a local level. There are either no youth consultative bodies or youth councils in the municipalities or the existing ones are formal in their nature. In order to fill this gap of participation, together with our partners in Moldova and Ukraine we have implemented “Everybody Counts: Rural Youth Empowerment in Eastern Partnership Countries” project which aimed to empower young people and youth leaders in rural and deprived urban areas in Armenia, Moldova and Ukraine through series of workshops and awareness raising meeting.

In our handbook the main outlines of the training courses in Armenia, Moldova and the Ukraine are briefly represented.

The training courses in Armenia have demonstrated that it is of great significance to admit that when developing youth policy, projects or any activity in which young people are targeted, young people must not be dismissed as lacking capabilities or being deprived by circumstance, rather young people collectively can be an asset to development; at local, national, regional and international levels.

You can also familiarize yourselves with the results of the surveys carried out by our Moldovian colleagues where the young people share their opinion on their involvement in the socio-economic and political life of the country in many different respects i.e. employment, financial viability, supports by institutions etc. However, the results are far from being comforting and, unfortunately, it is today’s reality in Moldova.

The participants of the training course in the Ukraine have come to the following possible ways of solving the centralization of youth opportunities in one place. Some of the solutions to the problem according to the Ukranian youth workers can be adopting a system of preferential crediting of rural youth for the construction of housing, the purchase of durable goods; involving the mass media in the coverage of the social situation and development of youth, implementation of the state youth policy in the village and so on.

Some other interesting highlights of the project can be found in our handbook, which you can download by following the link bellow:

English version of the Handbook
Russian Version of the Handbook

This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union.

Lost and Found | Anahit’s EVS Story

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“If you want to find yourself, lose yourself in the service of others.” This was the idea that was in my head after realizing that I was done with the university life, not willing to start a career either. As a result, I decided to volunteer in order to clarify what I really want for my future. Believe me or not, it worked very well. OK… It’s always better to start from the beginning.
I started to look for an EVS project with no specific country in my mind. I just wanted it somehow to be related to either sports or arts. That’s when I came across with an announcement called “Gmina Dabrowa in Poland looks for a volunteer to conduct sports activities in the community”.

It was not until I reached Poland that I found out that it’s not Dabrowa, but Dąbrowa (“ą” read as a nasal “o”). Gmina Dąbrowa is a community of 14 small villages. The organization hosting my EVS project is called after it: “Gmina Dąbrowa”, and it works closely with all the institutions in gmina. We usually prefer big cities, because they give us bigger opportunities, but when you choose to volunteer, you are meant to create opportunities for the ones who need them. It has been a life changing decision for me when I moved to a small village after 20 years of ‘yerevaning’. However now, at the very end of my project, I recall that decision as the best way to serve my needs, wants and desires. I came here with “A1” level of Polish (I learnt my first phrase at the airport: *WARNING: just don’t try to read it, use Google* okulary przeciwsłoneczne, aka sunglasses) and I’m leaving with B1 level. During all my stay my co-volunteer/flatmate Daria and I have been blogging about our experience. Starting from January 12 my blog was only in Polish (I’m happy nobody sees this proud peacock face of mine now). However, EVS is not only about the language we talk, but also about the language of the activities. I came here to conduct sport activities, but the best part of EVS projects is that you adjust your project to the community needs. I am more than proud to say that I’m leaving my second home with a number achievements: a volleyball club, a gym club, assistance in a bunch of activities, excursions and events organized by the schools or kindergartens of the community, as well as by local municipality and even the library of the nearby town, Mogilno. From the first day our organization gave us the opportunity to fulfill the projects we wanted to. I can remark two most amazing projects I’m proud of to have conducted (peacock face again):

-“Treasure Hunt”. The project was designed for the 1-3rd grade students devoted to the knowledge of the surrounding world, starting from the creation of the universe to the environment of our own planet. The “Treasure Hunt” had two stages: preparation and a trip to the Planetarium in Torun.

-“Theatre club in Szczepanowo”. On the 21st of June the main stage of our gmina (it’s a moving one) hosted “The Little Prince”, with the Polish screenplay adopted by me and 13 actors, 9 of which were from my school theatre club in Szczepanowo.

Just in a couple of weeks I’m leaving a part of my heart in Dąbrowa and taking back to Armenia all the love, smiles, a bunch of memories, an amazing language (with some weird word forms) and most importantly a new Anahit. I hope that what I have left is as important for my big family in gmina Dąbrowa, as whatever I’m taking from them.

Now a secret for my dearest reader: you read about my experience, but “what is essential is invisible to the eye”, you’d better just ‘EVS’ yourself and see it in your heart.
P.S. Peacock face couldn’t farewell without informing: the video we created about our EVS project in Dąbrowa was among 10 winners on European Youth Card Video Awards 2018.

Human Library in Yerevan, Armenia

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There is a kind of library in the world where you can see the books breathe, you can watch them blink, cry, laugh, and think. You can ask them any sort of questions and get a real answer. That is what the books hope you will do.

On the 12th of April, Armenian Progressive Youth NGO organized Human Library, that gave an opportunity to the participants to share their thoughts regarding their experiences.

Human Library is an innovative “Book-Reader” space, which is designed to build understanding for diversity by providing a framework for real encounters about important issues. Open and honest conversations may lead to greater acceptance, tolerance and social cohesion in Armenia.

The event hosted eight people who volunteered to become “Books” by making their experiences open and available, usually on issues that people tend to have a difficult time discussing. The titles of the book represented stigmatized or stereotyped minority groups in Armenia. For example, people representing ethnic, religious minorities, LGBT community or any other community that is exposed to general misconceptions, stigma, stereotyping and or prejudice.

The Books were lent out to curious readers who asked them questions and challenge their own perceptions on different minority groups in Armenia. That is the objective of Human Library: to create a space that can challenge and break social stereotypes and prejudices through real face-to-face conversations.

During the event, we hosted more than 100 people. The attendees were not only Armenians but also youth workers from six different countries, who were in Yerevan in the frames of the long-term training course “Everyone Matters”.

The event was quite dynamic and interesting. “Readers” got the answers to their questions, talking to people with different outlooks. We can firmly say that “readers” learned to look at life from a different perspective. This was also a great opportunity for “books” to speak about their life stories and share their emotions, thoughts and fears. They also spoke about the experiences how they overcame the difficulties they faced in their lives.

Artak Arakelyan, the “Book” labeled as “Queer”, shared his experience with us, ‘This project had a great psychological influence on me because it was the first time when I had the chance to publicly speak about myself, my sexuality and sexual life, my feelings, fears and thoughts. I tried to present the negative sides of my experience in a more colorful way because I didn’t want anyone to face the difficulties that gave me a thick skin.’

Kristine’s Experience in Poland

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What is European Voluntary Service? The first time I asked this question was more than two years ago.

A friend of mine told me about various opportunities with ERASMUS+ program to volunteer in Europe. Consequently, I started doing more research and realized that it was something I really want to do. It sounded like a perfect opportunity to expand my horizons and figure out what to do in the future. The only thing I knew for sure was that I want to work with youth. This helped me choose from thousands of projects on European Youth Portal. Nevertheless, after some motivation letters, the whole process for a while seemed futile. Luckily for me, just when I was about to lose hope, my friend sent me a project where the partner organization was APY. I immediately applied and I got to the next stage! Several interviews and offers to participate in projects followed. The one that I set my heart on was in Rzeszow, Poland with an organisation called INPRO.

I am not going to lie, I was both excited and anxious the month before the project was supposed to start. I signed up for living in Poland for the whole year. I was going there alone, not knowing anyone, having no clue what to expect. There were so many things that could have gone wrong… From the first day I arrived though, I instantly felt that I made the right decision choosing Rzeszow. I could not have imagined a warmer welcome from INPRO! After this great start, everyone continued to be so helpful, kind and do everything in their power to make us, EVS volunteers, feel at home. INPRO did accept us as like new family members. People there are wonderful, I like them a lot. They are very open-minded and doing awesome job. People out of the organization are also nice. Not everybody speaks English, but this was a good for me to practice the local language.

INPRO is based in a small city Rzeszow in the southeastern Poland. Initiatives of the INPRO Association focus primarily on the personal development and education of young people from Rzeszów and the Podkarpackie Province. Through their projects and workshops, they seek to reach people not only from other cultural backgrounds, but also to represent diversity in origin, age, and beliefs. Activities are aimed at realization outside formal educational programs of the highest quality. They create an international environment and provide space for individual development. In INPRO I was in charge of many events and workshops dedicated to young people living in the city related to human rights, hate speech, discrimination and intercurtural education.  Apart of that I was doing administrative work, social media management, web editor and of course my personal project, I was teaching Russian language.

People that I am surrounded by are of the utmost importance for me. I am so glad to know that I have made friends that I can count on. Living far away from home, no matter how used to it you are, is never easy. Therefore, it is incredibly good to know that I found people to share my joy with and who will be there to support me when I need it.

Volunteering in INPRO is definitely one of the best decisions I have made so far. The experience is just invaluable! I couldn’t have anticipated in my wildest dreams how much I would grow to love people here, how much I wouldl learn and improve professionally. European Voluntary Service is an experience I will always be grateful for. I am very grateful for my sending and hosting organizations as well.

I would like to end this by encouraging you to give EVS a shot. If you’re thinking about it but you’re not completely convinced yet or it sounds too good to be true, I promise you it is not. It is true, the programme covers all your expenses (don’t expect any luxuries though) and the things you’ll learn and experiences you’ll have will likely change your view on life. You’ll feel so motivated to travel and meet more people and get to know other cultures.

Everyone Matters! Training Course on Diversity Management and Youth Inclusion

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Quite frequently young people in rural communities are deprived of their right to participate in the decision making processes concerning different issues of their local communities, environmental or educational problems and so on. This phenomenon has always existed in many countries, particularly in Eastern Partnership countries, because of social discrimination, unawareness, unfairness etc.

Inspired by the vision of creating a united society of young people, who celebrate and foster cultural and social diversity both on professional and personal levels, who are ready to develop the inclusion of rural and unprivileged young people in various types of social activities, we designed and implemented the training course “Everyone Matters!”. The training course gathered 35 young workers from 7 different countries to improve their skills of integrating young people from deprived urban areas into social activities and help them grow to be active citizens of their countries.

Throughout the training course the participants took part in different discussions on the following topics: Equality vs Equity, Diversity & Communication, Power and Privilege and so on. After being presented to several topics, our youth workers designed and conducted their own workshops, through which they practiced their newly acquired skills and knowledge.

In addition to the educational part, the training courses organized by Armenian Progressive Youth NGO also give the chance to discover the culture and history of Armenia. Hence, the participants also had the opportunity to visit some cultural and historical sights. The tour began with a visit to the Blue Mosque, located in Yerevan, Armenia. Afterwards, they headed towards the Temple of Garni, the best-known structure and symbol of pre-Christian Armenia. In the end, they visited the Geghard Monastery, which was carved out of cliffs. An inseparable part of Armenian culture is of course Armenian cuisine: during the trip, the participants got to taste the famous Armenian barbecue (or “khorovats”), baked and tried authentic Armenian bread, called “lavash”, they also made and tasted chuchkhela (or “sujukh” as the Armenians call it).

The participants were very impressed by the activities of the training course considering it to be a great experience, that will help them to pass their knowledge on to their friends, colleagues and other members of the organizations that they present.