Youth
volunteers and coordinators from Belarus Red Cross, Ukraine
Red Cross Society and Red Cross of Moldova gathered for the
annual Youth Forum in Minsk 26-28 October, the capital of Belarus.
The Youth Forum was a second meeting of youth from Belarus,
Moldova and Ukraine (BMU). The forum was held in the framework
of the “Cross-Country Youth Integration and Cooperation
Programme”, supported by the Danish Red Cross and the
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
The goals of the forum were: to unite efforts of youth in the
National Societies of the region; to develop joint events and
activities for 2006; and to elect Regional Youth Coordination
Committee (RYCC) to coordinate youth initiatives and take responsibility
for the implementation of joint regional activities.
49 youth volunteers and employees from three National Societies,
as well as representatives of IFRC Minsk Delegation, Danish
RC, French RC and ICRC Kyiv Delegation participated in the forum.
Through general sessions with presentations and discussions
as well as group work, excitement, vigour, motivation and encouragement
to scale up and mainstream youth activities was created. A daily
bulletin was also created every day by the participants themselves.
The participants felt energised to do more and to network with
each other for exchange of ideas, sharing experiences and learning
from one another.
Youth representatives from the BMU Network shared their experience
and discussed major achievements over the past year, including
leadership trainings, a regional competition called “My
humanitarian deed”, summer school, peer education, “Red
Cross Volunteer 2005” competition and other local youth
initiatives.
The forum was a good occasion to discuss and improve youth policies
and strategies in the three National Societies, and three new
drafts were created. Furthermore, issues regarding the role
of youth in the BMU region were raised, and recommendations
from the forum will be used in the development of national volunteer
policies.
The Red Cross youth representatives agreed on at least five
joint youth activities for 2006: social theatre, a focus week
called “the rainbow of good actions”, a drawing
competition with the themes “Red Cross through children’s
eyes” and “the Seven Fundamental Principles in seven
posters”, volunteer management trainings and a volunteer
team competition.
The coordination and implementation of these activities will
be the responsibility of the BMU network Regional Youth Coordination
Committee. It was elected during the Youth Forum and has of
nine members, three from each country.
The forum was a practical display of the progress in youth development
in the region. It provided space for reflection on youth work
and networking. Hopefully, this forum will become an annual
event for sharing of experiences and learning from each other!
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| Candidates
to BMU Regional Youth Coordination Committee presented
their “election programs”.
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| The
Forum work was run both in general sessions (presentations
and discussions) and in group work.
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