By Dmytro Syniak

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Lesia Holoaid may well be considered one of Ukraine’s top youth specialists. While studying at Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatiuk National Pedagogical University, she created and led a youth council in her hometown of Zboriv. Some of the council’s initiatives were reported by Decentralisation. She later became a councillor of the Zboriv City Council and president of the Youth Congress of the Zboriv community. She then worked as a project manager for volunteer development at the Ministry of Youth and Sports and was a member of the board of the Ukrainian Youth Councils Association. She also worked as an assistant to a Member of Parliament. Around a month ago, Lesia returned to Zboriv in a new capacity as a youth policy adviser to the Head of the Ternopil Regional Military Administration. In this interview, we talk to Lesia about her plans for her new role and the youth policy of communities. 

 

The number of youth councils in Ukraine has tripled in four years

 

What led to your appointment in this role, which is rather uncommon for Ukraine?

In fact, I worked very hard to ensure that this position was created. I fought for it for three years. For three years, I convinced various officials that a specialist in this area was needed. However, the previous leadership was not interested in the regional youth council or the youth adviser position. They said it was not the right time. When the leadership changed, I tried again, not really hoping for success. Instead, I wanted to make sure that I had done everything I could to implement this idea and that I had not missed a single opportunity. You always have to knock on the door in the hope that someone will open it. And they did...

What factors influenced this?

Perhaps it worked because I came with a prepared action plan based on my experience at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, in the public sector, and in various national projects. I am also familiar with how certain models of youth work operate in other regions, and this is reflected in my plan.

Does this mean that the youth policy of the Ternopil Regional Military Administration is going to change significantly?

My work extends beyond the Ternopil region to the whole of Ukraine, as many of the youth council projects that I coordinate at the NGO Youth Platform cover all regions of our country. Last year, as part of my responsibilities at the NGO, I coordinated the Dialogues of Victory programme for 20 youth councils from 17 regions of Ukraine. This programme advocated for youth initiatives and developed youth influence in decision-making processes. I plan to continue doing this in the future. I also chair the National Association of Youth Counsellors and do my best to share positive experiences and media coverage. For example, following the publication of an article on the Decentralisation website, the youth council of the Pidvolochysk community expressed an interest in our ideas for monitoring the activities of local councillors and later introduced a similar system.

Successfully?

- Hmm... Unfortunately not. In Zboriv, we have always felt supported by the city authorities, but this is not the case in every community. This is why the programme did not work very well in Pidvolochysk. This is a fairly typical situation in general. If the head of the community is against it, nothing will work. If they are in favour, however, the project or initiative is likely to succeed. For instance, in one community in Volyn, young people were unable to promote their programme to introduce feminine titles in official community documents and speeches by officials, as the entire settlement council leadership was against it. They consider Ukrainian words to denote female councillor, manager, and director to be problematic in official community documents…

Your first step in your new position was to...

Conduct a survey of existing youth councils in the region to find out about the needs and challenges faced by young people. In my opinion, it is impossible to work effectively without conducting surveys. It is wrong to decide what to do with young people on your own without consulting them. First of all, we need to ask the young people themselves. That is precisely what we did. We will have the results in June.

You said that you only interviewed members of existing youth councils in the region. What about communities without youth councils?

In fact, the second step that I am planning to take, in partnership with two national-level NGOs, is to set up a free mentoring programme for these communities. I consider establishing youth councils to be key to working with young people. Therefore, we will provide comprehensive support to any community that wants to establish a youth council. We will advise them on everything and support all their youth-related initiatives.

What are your plans until the survey results are available?

Another important aspect of my work involves providing institutional support for the regional youth council. It was recently established with members of various NGOs, student and school self-government, and community activists. These people now need to establish links with the relevant offices and departments of the regional military administration. In order to do this, they need to understand how a youth council at regional level should function. The first thing we did was conduct basic training for the regional youth council members. We demonstrated their capabilities and the tools available to them. The third initiative that I introduced at the Ternopil Regional Military Administration was cross-sectoralism in youth policy.

What do you mean by that?

This is a relatively new idea. For example, the regional administration has a healthcare department, whereas the relevant ministry deals with healthcare issues at the national level. We want both the ministry and the department to consider young people in their programmes and activities. This work is made easier by the fact that youth councils have already been formed within the ministries. We have started to cooperate with these councils. During a recent meeting with the youth council at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, for instance, we discussed ways to support young professional athletes.

Do officials support you in this, since we are talking about rebuilding the entire state system?

Different government officials and departments have different attitudes towards youth policy. Often, relevant specialists believe that youth policy is limited to Youth Day, Children’s Day, and a few football tournaments. They find it difficult to realise that, in fact, youth policy is a cross-sectoral phenomenon and should be present in all strategies and targeted programmes. Young people are present in every field of work because they are people aged 14 to 45. Yet this is stubbornly overlooked, and unfortunately, youth policy remains a non-priority area for both communities and the state.

Although the number of youth councils in Ukraine has tripled in four years, less than half of them are effective. How can these councils be revitalised?

While the USAID Agency was operational, the existence of even weak youth councils was somewhat justified because they could raise funds for their activities. USAID particularly supported youth councils by sending consultants to promote youth programmes. Now, however, weak youth councils have to seek help from stronger ones. In these circumstances, the importance of various unifying organisations, including the Ukrainian Youth Councils Association, has grown significantly. With around 80 delegates from different regions, it is possible to contact them and receive a prompt response. Thus, the lack of donor support is counterbalanced by more active communication and networking.

 

Classes with young people in the Zboriv community

 

Young activists of the Zboriv community

 

Young people are no longer interested in entertainment; they are interested in developing their careers

 

How has full-scale war changed the way communities work with young people?

During the first two years of the large-scale invasion, most youth councils played an active role in the volunteer movement. They opened various headquarters, hubs, and resilience centres, and volunteered extensively: some helped internally displaced persons, while others supported the army. Consequently, young men and women have somewhat neglected their advisory work in favour of community leadership and the promotion of youth programmes. Things are now returning to normal: youth councils are starting to become involved in targeted programmes and influence the decisions of local councils.

What were the most interesting youth initiatives of the past year?

Barrier-free issues have become a popular topic among young people. This involves adopting barrier-free programmes in the community and developing barrier-free routes. The Youth Congress of the Zboriv community, in particular, developed a comprehensive programme called ‘School Ambassadors of Inclusiveness’ for educational institutions. This programme was designed to train teachers and members of student self-government. The programme addressed not only physical barriers, but also social, mental, and linguistic barriers. Youth councils in Zakarpattia work in a similar way. In particular, I think the Dovzhany Youth Council has done a wonderful job with a project concerning equal opportunities for all residents. Firstly, young people held several events and training sessions for different target audiences to bring them up to speed. For example, they explained what barrier-free language is. Many were surprised to learn that the correct term is ‘person with a disability’ rather than ‘invalid’.

Why has this topic, which probably appeals more to older people, attracted the attention of young people?

I think the main reason is that young people often have a better understanding than adults of how important barrier-free access is for veterans and Ukraine’s European integration. Unlike local government employees, who are busy with their daily routines, young people attend various training sessions in this area and are generally aware of progressive trends. In general, young people have become much more interested in and involved in adult issues in recent years. While before the full-scale invasion, leisure, entertainment, and discos were by far the most popular activities for young people, now the main demand is for career education and opportunities for personal development. Young people are interested in project management, acquiring certain professions and agricultural and business development. Nowadays, youth councils support the military and internally displaced persons (IDPs), and help to restore their communities and economies.

In what ways do young people get involved in community economic issues?

Many communities have economic development programmes that exclude young people. Young people are forming working groups to change these programmes so that they reflect their own interests and needs. In particular, young people lobby for various training courses to be included in local programmes, teaching them how to write a CV and behave at a job interview. Last year, such seminars were held in three communities in the Ternopil region with my participation alone. However, the demand for these seminars is much greater. These events are also needed by many veterans who lost several years of their lives because of the war and are now trying to make up for it.

 

Training for teachers and student activists on an inclusive approach to education and self-government in the Zboriv community. Thanks to young people, the community’s main focus this year is promoting a barrier-free environment  

 

The young people of the Zboriv community actively volunteer to help organise various fundraisers and auctions

 

 

Many 18- and 19-year-olds have never been to a regular disco…

 

In what ways does the war affect the work of youth councils? What role does it play in their work?

Of course, youth councils do not organise military training directly, but they do initiate various related training activities, such as first aid, mine safety, and information security training. They also play an active role in volunteering, transforming their youth spaces into hubs for volunteers. For instance, the Zboriv community has its own BAVOVNA HUB, founded by young people. This serves as a place where they collect items for the army, organise charity events, and paint shell casings for auction. Overall, the war has caused many negative changes. The worst of these was the mass exodus of young people from their communities. Now, we consider it a success if more than five young men attend any training session. This has also led to a decrease in the overall motivation of youth councils.

Do young people leave for other countries?

Not only. They often move to larger communities. You might wonder what is wrong with that. To some extent, this is a natural process. However, consider what usually happens to active young people when they move. Those who used to attend youth council meetings, negotiate with the local council, and advocate for things no longer do so in their new place. Perhaps they consider themselves strangers or have too many new problems. Either way, these people are lost as activists for both the community they left and the one they came to. It is also very difficult to find a replacement for them in their old community.

Ernest Hemingway designated the generation of young people that had experienced wartime as a ‘lost generation’. Could the same be said of Ukrainians under the age of 35 today?

I would not describe all young people as a ‘lost generation’, primarily because the war had a vastly different impact on different regions. The problems in different regions are often diametrically opposed. I am most concerned about the fate of young people in the occupied territories. Having researched this topic for a long time, I can say with confidence that the situation there is the worst. However, the problems faced by these young people cannot be compared with those experienced by young people in communities such as those in the Lviv region… The Kherson region has its own set of problems. There are virtually no conditions for normal work with the young people there. What kind of work can we talk about when young people can be killed by russian drones on their way to training? Having worked with young people in the Kherson region, I can confirm that this threat is very real. Yes, there is danger in the Lviv and Ternopil regions, but it is much less than in Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Sumy. The different opportunities available for youth development in various parts of our country result in varying levels of education and youth cohesion. In Zakarpattia, for example, it is much easier to gather young people in a local community centre, play educational games with them, and conduct training than it is in a community twenty kilometres away from the front line. In communities on the front line, there are often no young people left.

Are young people experiencing any mental tension related to the war?

Yes, especially teenagers. Those who used to position themselves as activists and the driving force behind positive change are now often demotivated. First, they did nothing because of the pandemic, and then because of the full-scale russian invasion… These young people are growing up with TikTok and YouTube, and as a result, they are much less socially active. Many 18- and 19-year-olds have never been to a regular disco. What can we say about their participation in youth council activities? They are less socially adept than the 25+ generation, who experienced a more traditional youth and could study in person rather than remotely. They are more closed off mentally, less educated, and less active. They chat with artificial intelligence and are not interested in changing their communities. This is a big problem.

 

 

First aid training in the Zboriv community

 

Charity auction in the BAVOVNA HUB youth space of the Zboriv community

 

 

The aggressor’s budget for youth work is seven times higher than Ukraine’s…

 

You mentioned that you are researching the situation of young people in the occupied territories. Could you expand on this?

The situation there is very difficult for us because we cannot do anything to change it, and it is a stalemate. The biggest problem is that russia invests a lot of money in Ukrainian youth and youth policy in the occupied territories. Its investment is at least five times greater than ours. This is even more than in some EU countries. However, russia is making this investment because it needs new soldiers in the future. When we regain these territories — and I believe we will — we will have to work hard to restore the Ukrainian identity of the people there, especially the young people. 

Is russian work with young people simply propaganda?

I think many Ukrainians will be surprised to learn that russia has various grant programmes for young people and creates youth spaces and centres, just as we do. But, unlike us, youth policy in russia receives priority funding. Clearly, many of the ideas have been copied from ours; for example, the idea of holding the Youth Capital competition. However, this does not make the situation any easier. We underestimate the enemy. We think that everyone in russia wears vatnyks and chuni and drinks buckets of vodka, and therefore cannot achieve anything. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Russia holds huge youth forums several times a year, bringing together young people from the occupied territories. Time and again, they are told stories about russia’s greatness. Schools in the occupied territories are regularly visited by ‘heroes from the front line’, who provide military training and teach a distorted version of history to children. Large sums of money are allocated for all this. 

You said that russia copies our youth policy ideas. However, it seems that there are some differences in how these ideas are implemented. Could you tell us about them?

The main difference is that young people in Ukraine always have a choice. They only participate in the work of youth councils or events organised by these councils if they wish to do so. They are encouraged, but not forced, to participate. In russia, nobody asks anyone anything. Young people are obliged to attend certain training sessions and hold certain positions within the structures of youth organisations such as Yunarmiya. This has a significant impact on young people. We do not impose anything; we give them the opportunity to make their own choices. Whether this is better or worse than what happens in russia, you can judge for yourself. However, I believe that our approach is sound and that we will not force anyone in the future.

However, with this approach, only active young people receive various training opportunities, access to open youth spaces and grants, while passive young people are often left behind. Should we pay special attention to this?

Yes, you are right; this problem does exist. Passive young people often have no civic education or civic position, and this passivity has been reinforced by the pandemic and the full-scale invasion. In my opinion, the responsibility for this lies not only with the authorities at various levels, but also with civil society. Without its support, it is difficult to effect change. All authorities should take young people into account in all their decisions. This is because they are not only the state’s main social capital, but also the smallest demographic group. It is terrible that this goes unnoticed. When young people approach the local council for funding to run a targeted programme, they often receive the same response: ‘We don’t have the money for that.’ Of course, the situation varies from place to place, but I want to emphasise that when officials respond in this way, they are making a choice. I will tell you how this choice will turn out in the near future. An active young person who could develop their own community will go abroad to study and never return, ending up picking strawberries or working in supermarkets. Rather than facilitating this outflow, officials should resist it.

 

 

Vector Hub youth space created in the Vyshnivets community with the support from the DOBRE Programme.

 

Nowadays, the Vector Hub youth space not only hosts events for young people, but also a variety of informal community activities

 

If young people are supported, the number of people leaving communities will be significantly reduced

 

However, you must admit that there is no direct correlation between local councils paying attention to youth issues and young people moving to big cities, which you mentioned earlier. You have also left the Zboriv community... This shows that even in ideal communities where a lot of money is spent on youth policy and young people are well supported, they will still go to big cities. After all, big cities offer more opportunities for self-realisation, don’t they?

There is a direct correlation, which I have witnessed first-hand through my own experience and that of many of my colleagues. I have now returned to Zboriv, my native town, from Lutsk, although I no longer work for the Zboriv City Council… Believe me, if young people are supported, the number of people leaving communities will be significantly reduced. After all, passive young people are influenced by their more active peers, and if they see that the community is improving, they are more likely to stay. I want community leaders and local councillors to hear me: when you deny an active young person the opportunity to start a social initiative, you are also denying dozens of young people who look up to them. You are right; many of them are determined to seek a better life elsewhere. Therefore, the local authorities must convince them, through action rather than words, that they should not do so. Otherwise, they will be left only with pensioners. These people will not move anywhere. But will this develop the community? 

Community leaders usually prioritise funding for schools, hospitals, and roads. If you suggest that building a basketball court for young people is a higher priority, many of them will probably laugh. Do you remember the protests by local residents against the resurfacing of pavements in their communities? Do you think these residents would support the allocation of money for youth initiatives? Is this relevant?

If local government officials think that now is not the right time, they will find themselves without young people. Who will then need the hospitals and schools they are so protective of? Pay attention to which problem the leaders of the communities consider to be the most important, besides the war. The population outflow! They talk about it at all kinds of forums. Yet they fail to grasp that repairing a hospital will not stop this exodus. Of course, infrastructure is important, but you can also involve young people in matters of infrastructure and ask them for their vision of its development.

Will the construction of a basketball court help?

No, it will not. However, if young people feel that they can achieve their goals locally, this will definitely have an impact. This is especially true if cooperation with young people is based on a partnership model, as it was in the Zboriv community, for example. There, we young people decided to monitor the attendance of city councillors at city council sessions. This idea came not only from us, but also from the mayor. During a meeting, he told us that local councillors were not attending sessions, so we came up with a way to change this. In other words, it works through cooperation. I also want to emphasise that helping young people benefits the whole community.

What do you mean by that? Could you provide an example to illustrate this?

Young people say they need a youth centre? Great! But the community needs a co-working space and a venue for various gatherings — somewhere smaller than a club. This means that it will not be a purely youth-oriented space where only young people hang out, but rather a community centre that can be used by all community members according to a set schedule. This is exactly the kind of centre currently operating in the Vyshnivets community. Residents can watch films, play board games, and hold educational events, workshops, and competitions. The Zolotnyky community has a similar space at the cultural centre. Such spaces bring together not only young people, but also the wider community. They also facilitate social work. For instance, a survey of the Kopychyntsi community revealed that young people lacked a basketball court. Therefore, the young people organised a clean-up day and built the court themselves.

 

Youth of the Kopychyntsi community built a basketball court themselves. The community only purchased the materials

 

Youth of the Kopychyntsi community raised funds from a grant and UAH 110 thousand from the community budget to create a basketball court

 

 

Youth councils act as a bridge between the authorities and young people…

 

What is the biggest obstacle to cooperation between young people and local authorities?

Misunderstanding the situation and stereotypical thinking. Young people think, ‘We definitely won’t be heard, so why should we waste our time on this?’ Local council employees, on the other hand, think, ‘What can these kids offer us except the idea of buying a tennis table?’ In this situation, what is needed is a facilitator or mediator, such as a youth worker. They understand young people and know how to convey their concerns to managers. They can also advise young people on what is and what is not realistic, and what is and what is not interesting. Young people tend to think in maximalist terms.

Where can we find youth workers like this?

The easiest way is to educate young people who are already active. First of all, however, you need to understand why this is necessary.

How much might a high-quality youth policy cost a community? Can you provide any figures or calculations?

Young people usually ask for money to support information or advocacy campaigns, youth spaces, social projects, forums, and seminars. However, what is peculiar about this situation is that young people often find the money for these initiatives themselves through various grant programmes. A typical youth council only requires basic facilities from the community, such as a place to meet or work on implementing their ideas, and transport to travel to starosta districts, for example. Nothing more!

What about the budget for implementing your ideas? For example, how will the football pitch be repaired? If it is almost impossible to find sponsors, who will pay for this? At the moment, everyone is donating to the army, so football is definitely not a priority.

This way of thinking is a common mistake. Often, youth council employees themselves think that they are like NGO members and need millions of hryvnias to operate. In reality, however, you need no money to advocate for a programme, attend a session, meet with the mayor or meet with residents. All you need is the willpower and a team ready to implement it. Believe me, many youth initiatives of youth councils in Ukraine take place without any financial support from local councils. Even large-scale projects, such as youth spaces, are funded by grants.

Could you give us an example to illustrate the difference between a youth council and a non-governmental organisation? I want you to return to the spoilt football pitch…

Here we go! The youth council has been approached by a local football team, which naturally consists mostly of young people. The youth council should not finance any repairs because it is neither a local council nor a public organisation. The football team should not approach the local council directly, as they do not know who to contact or how to submit their request. The youth council is aware of this. They may even know how to attract sponsorship or grants. In any case, the youth council can draw up a proposal or local initiative and present it at a session of the local council or a budget commission meeting. This would make the youth council a kind of bridge between young people and the authorities. In my opinion, this is its ideal use. Any community member can approach the youth council with their idea first rather than go to the mayor directly. After all, the mayor often has no time for small, individual initiatives, but the youth council may well be interested in them.

How can local youth councils help, if not with money?

They can help create these youth council teams, jointly draw up a work plan for a year or term, and organise various training sessions. However, if the community begins to provide funding for the youth council, it will automatically transform it into a public organisation, which completely undermines the philosophy behind creating such councils. Rather than being a tool for implementing large-scale social projects, the youth council should be an advisory body to the local council, representing the interests of young people. Nothing more! The activities of youth councils should not be aimed solely at young people. They should also be open to public organisations operating in the community, schools with student self-government, and cultural and sports initiatives. For example, the youth council in the Bar community in the Vinnytsia region organised a two-day forum for young people where they identified the most important problems affecting the whole community and drew up a development programme. Community leaders could also be of great help to young people if they changed their attitude towards them.

 

Training on grant writing organised by the Ukrainian Youth Foundation in Zboriv

 

Lesia Holoiad (centre) at the ‘The Role of Youth in the Development of Ukraine: From Past to Present’ forum organised by NGO Youth Platform. Together with communications managers of the NGO Youth Platform Sofiia Verbytska and Sofiia Prus (left), who are also members of the youth councils of the Pidhaitsi and Torchyn communities

 

A youth council is not a club or an amateur group, but an effective tool for community development  

 

What do you mean by that? What attitude should the community have towards the youth council and young people?

Local self-government officials and community members often perceive youth councils as clubs or amateur groups. These stereotypes need to be rejected, and it must be recognised that youth councils solve problems for the whole community, not just young people. For example, if a youth council organises a park clean-up or tree planting, won’t the whole community benefit? In the Zboriv community, for instance, young people recently held a discussion on barrier-free access. While some were interested and welcomed the initiative, others wrote on social media: ‘This is nonsense! This is ridiculous!’ Why is that? What are the arguments? There are none! The person has just decided to write like this. If I were 17 or 18, this would have demotivated me. Local councils can influence people’s attitudes. This could be achieved through a few posts or speeches by the mayor emphasising the importance of young people and their work.

You have put forward some rather revolutionary ideas. Do they align with the state’s broader youth policy?

They do. For example, I meet with various members of the youth council at the Ministry of Youth and Sports all the time. What makes this council interesting is that it combines three areas: youth, sports, and civic identity. Overall, the ministry’s work has improved in recent years. Previously, ministry employees were seen as almost godlike figures, difficult to approach or even talk to. Now, not only do they have no problem giving out their phone numbers and email addresses, they also encourage you to contact them. Perhaps this openness and democracy has been adopted from the European Union, where it has long been the norm, or it may simply be a result of growth. In any case, I am very pleased with the present work of the Ministry of Youth and Sports. They are now implementing high-quality programmes, taking an interest in the situation in the regions, striving for change and engaging in dialogue.

Does the Ministry have the necessary funds to implement these changes?

This year, the state budget has allocated a relatively small sum of UAH 55 million to the state youth policy. However, we will make do with what we have. Young people can find the money for anything if they are given the opportunity! Even in the darkest of times, you can switch on the light. If there is a fire inside you, you can use it to warm not only yourself, but others too. This is particularly true of our young men and women.