The first meeting of the Committee of the Youth Exchange Council of Ukraine and Lithuania was held in the format of a video conference with the participation of Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Oleksiy Dniprov.
Oleksiy Dniprov greeted the participants of the meeting and noted that young Ukrainians are now the majority in the Armed Forces and are actively engaged in volunteering. Therefore, the development of youth policy is one of the priorities for the Head of State and the Presidential Office.
He noted that Volodymyr Zelenskyy periodically holds meetings with young people, communicates with them on topical issues and monitors the implementation of tasks and instructions based on the results of such meetings. In addition, the Council on Youth Issues under the President of Ukraine was established and is actively functioning. Its task is to assist in the development of quality policies and their implementation.
Taking this opportunity, Oleksiy Dneprov expressed gratitude to the Lithuanian partners for the great support and sincere assistance that Lithuania provides not only to Ukrainian youth, but also to all citizens of Ukraine who are currently staying in its territory.
Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine Maryna Popatenko, who is the Chairperson of the Ukrainian part of the Committee, congratulated the participants on the start of its work and thanked the Lithuanian partners who in 2022 adapted the work of the Council to the challenges facing Ukraine in the context of Russia's full-scale war against our country in the shortest possible time.
In her turn, Deputy Minister of Social Security and Labour of the Republic of Lithuania, Chairperson of the Lithuanian part of the Committee Vilma Augienė noted that Ukraine is now fighting not only for itself, but also for the whole democratic world, and therefore the assistance from the partner states is a priority. She emphasized that the joint successes in the youth exchange program demonstrate that much can be achieved if we work together.
Following the meeting, the priorities of the project competition in the framework of the Youth Exchange Council of Ukraine and Lithuania were agreed upon. These are support for youth initiatives aimed at overcoming the consequences of Russia's war against Ukraine, assistance to young people affected by the aggression, in particular through volunteering, strengthening ties and exchange of experience between scout organizations of Ukraine and Lithuania in order to form an active civil position of youth, cooperation between youth and local communities to integrate youth into community life, exchange of experience between youth workers, youth centers and organizations to strengthen the mental health of youth.
Details and conditions of the 2023 competition will be published on the website of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine.
The Youth Exchange Council of Ukraine and Lithuania was established to intensify cooperation between young people to build friendly relations between the peoples of the two countries by holding a competition of projects of civil society institutions working with young people. In accordance with the Agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania on the Youth Exchange Council of Ukraine and Lithuania, the Committee of the Council agrees on the priorities and conditions of the competition of projects of civil society institutions working with youth and decides on the winners.