Eastern Partnership Youth Engagement Summit

agenda day 1

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Moderation:
Ms Maryna Korzh, Belarus
Mr Laimonas Ragauskas, Lithuania

agenda day 2

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speakers

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A - L

Ms. Angela Achitei, Alaturi de Voi Foundaiton, Romania

"For the past 18 years, Angela Achitei has been the leader of the Close to You Romania Foundation (CTY), one of the biggest Romanian organizations specialized in social entrepreneurship and in social services. Angela is one of the promoters of the Law on Social Economy in Romania, having developed in time, within the organization, three social enterprises with the brands UtilDeco, JobDirect and WISE.travel. Another accomplishment is the ADV Academy, as instrument for professional capacity building in the field of social entrepreneurship. Together with other colleagues from the sector, Angela set the foundations of national platforms in the field, such as FONSS., RISE Romania, FOND and the NGO Coalition for Structural Funds. In 2016, Angela Achitei won the EY Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award and for the past 3 years she has been involved in developing social entrepreneurship in the Republic of Moldova and in Ukraine. Angela Achitei is trained as social assistant; she has a Master’s degree in integrated education of people with disabilities and is currently following Doctoral studies in the strategic management of social businesses. Her life principle is 'What we do every day …, defines what happens tomorrow!'"

Ms. Anneli Ahonen, European External Action Service’s East StratCom Task Force

Head of East Stratcom Task Force, a team in the EEAS that addresses Russia’s disinformation through proactive communication and media support in the Eastern Partnership countries, and exposes disinformation on EUvsDisinfo.eu. Before joining the East Stratcom Task Force in 2017, Ahonen was working as a foreign reporter in St. Petersburg for eight years and covered, among other topics, St. Petersburg troll factory’s activities at its early stages.

Ms. Juulia Baer-Bader, EaP CSF Secretariat

Juulia Baer-Bader, works currently as the Communications Manager at the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum Secretariat (EaP CSF) based in Brussels. At the same time, she supports the work of EaP CSF Working Group 4, covering youth, culture, education and research and innovation topics within the EU and Eastern Partnership countries.

Mr. Roman Banari, National Youth Council of Moldova

"Roman currently serves as the General Secretary of National Youth Council of Moldova, at some time being an expert of the Think Tank on Youth Participation in Salto-Youth PI. Aditional to this Roman is an activist for human rights and non-discrimination, with specialisation on youth with fewer opportunities. His areas of expertise include including youth participation and youth structured dialogue. Roman credo is ”youth voice is power but we have to push it up”."

Mr. Revaz Charkviani, Head of Youth Agency of Georgia

Rezo Charkviani started his work in the field of youth, last year, when he was appointed as an advisor to Prime Minister of Georgia on youth affairs.
Rezo currently is a head of the newly established Youth Agency of Georgia, and is working on the development of a sustainable ecosystem of youth sector that is based on “leaving no one behind” principle and international practices.
Rezo is successful Entrepreneur and Startupper. His experience counts numerous of developed projects and initiatives.
He holds an academic degree in Branding and Marketing and has been an associate professor for more than 8 years.

Mr. Christian Danielsson, Director General, DG NEAR

"Christian Danielsson is the Director-General for Neigbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations at the European Commission. He joined the European Commission in 1995 as a Member of the Cabinet of Commissioner Anita Gradin. He held several positions in the Commission, including Deputy Head of Cabinet of Vice-President Verheugen and Director in DG Enlargement. From 2008 to 2010 Christian Danielsson was Permanent Representative for Sweden before he became Deputy Secretary-General of the European Commission in 2011. In 2013 he became Director-General for Enlargement and since 2015 he is Director-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations. Before joining the Commission, he worked for the Swedish diplomatic service. Christian Danielsson has graduated in Business Administration and Economics at the Stockholm School of Economics."

Mr. Arjen Deij, ETF

Arjen Deij has been involved in shaping competency-based education systems working in vocational education, adult learning and higher education. He has worked on reforming qualification systems in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. He helped to shape the EQF and supported its implementation. He worked for and supported the development of qualifications agencies. Outcome based systems offer the possibility to create much more flexibility and learner focused systems. This is an opportunity. Arjen focused his activities over the last four years more on learning covering curriculum development, elearning and the role of teachers and learners. How these development connect with Human Capital Development and opportunities for Youth in Eastern Partnership is explained in his presentation based on ETF’s Torino Process.

Mr. Ivan Gheorghiu, State Secretary, Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, Republic of Moldova

Mr. Gheorghiu has a large experience in the field of sports and youth. Being an award winning athlete, he transposed his knowledge and experience into teaching. He is a vice-rector for administration and project management of the "Ştefan cel Mare" Academy and State secretary at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research, responsible for youth and sports policies.

Mrs. Silvia Grant, EU NEIGHBOURS east

Silvia GRANT is the Team Leader and Campaign Coordinator of ‘EU NEIGHBOURS east’ regional communication project. She is a specialist in communication and public diplomacy with 26+ year of professional experience in working with international organisations. For the last five years, Silvia has been at the heart of the development and application in practice of the EU’s strategic communication approach, by introducing the #strongertogether overarching campaign and designing/developing the Young European Ambassadors initiative. Silvia has a Master’s degree in public international law; she is multilingual and has extensive experience in leading multi-national teams.

Mr. Benjamin Gunther, Board Member, European Youth Forum

"Benjamin is a board member of the European Youth Forum. He first got involved with youth organisations in 2010 by joining the young socialists. Starting at the local level, he quickly focused on European politics and thereby got involved with international youth work while starting to volunteer for the German National Committee for International Youth Cooperation (DNK).
He works part-time for the educational department of the Lower Saxony Memorials Foundation in the field of international Holocaust education. Benjamin holds a B.A. in History and English Literature & Linguistics. He studied in Berlin (Germany), Sheffield (U.K.) & Amman (Jordan). He is currently doing his Masters in Historical and English Education at the Humboldt University Berlin."

Mr. Mateusz Jezowski, Foundation for the Development of the Educational System

Mateusz Jeżowski is a Research and Analysis Department coordinator at the Polish National Agency of Erasmus+ Programme and Youth Wiki national correspondent. Since 2006 he has been involved research projects on youth, education and international mobility, with a special focus on transnational volunteering activities. He co-authored three books on youth policy in Poland and in the Eastern Europe and Caucasus countries and authored several research reports on international mobility impact on young people, local communities, youth organisations and schools.

Ms. Anneli Kimber Lindwall, EU NEIGHBOURS east

Anneli KIMBER LINDWALL is a communication professional with more than 18 years of experience in the public and international development sectors in the EU and in its Eastern Neighbourhood. Currently she is the strategic communication adviser for the European Commission funded ‘EU NEIGHBOURS east’ project. For the past five years, she worked as a strategic communication expert at the European External Action Service. As part of the East Stratcom Task Force there, she developed EU's strategic communication towards its eastern partners. Previously, she has worked as a diplomat and as a senior communication consultant for the EU and the UNDP in Armenia, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.

Ms. Dolores Kores, Director of Office for Youth, Slovenia

Dolores Kores, is currently acting director of Office of the Republic of Slovenia for youth. Previously she worked as managing director of public and privat organizations enaged in tourism, sport, culture and youth. She cooperated closly through her career with youth organizations on different level, mostly in the field of social entrepreneurship and employment of socialy excluded young people She established social enterprise for the peopole with disability and helped others as mentor to the students in the field of social entrepreneurship.

Ms. Alyona Lis, EU4Youth-Youth Engagement Roadmaps Project

Senior non-key expert with the project ‘Youth Engagement Roadmaps’, specialised in the field of social entrepreneurship and strengthening capacity of civil society organisations (CSOs) in the Eastern partner countries, organiser of three social business forums in Belarus, country coordinator for international social startup competition SAP up (BY) and of the EU-funded project “Social Entrepreneurship Incubator (BY), trainer and mentor on social entrepreneurship, member of the Working Group on the development of legislation on social entrepreneurship in Belarus, researcher.

Mr. Andrey Lobovich, First Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Protection, Belarus

RESPONSIBLE FOR, development of proposals for the formation and implementation of state policy in the field of employment; coordination of work on the implementation of the activities of the subprogram "Promotion of employment" of the State program on social protection and promotion of employment for 2016 – 2020.; coordination of organizational and methodological work to improve the wage system of public-sector employees; organization and development of proposals for improving the National Qualifications System of the Republic of Belarus; coordination of work to improve the composition and structure of social standards.

M - W

Mr. Vassilis Maragos, Head of Unit, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus & Eastern Partnership, DG NEAR

" Vassilis Maragos is Head of Unit for Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus & Eastern Partnership in the European Commission's Directorate-General for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR). Vassilis Maragos has studied law and political science has been dealing with EU external relations and enlargement since the 1990s. He held positions in the EU Delegations in Sofia and Skopje as well as in the European Commission in Brussels on enlargement and neighbourhood policy."

Ms. Jasna Maric-Krajacic, DG EAC

"I am very passionate about youth issues and feel very privileged to be working for and with young people for the last six years – first in the European Parliament in the Youth Outreach Unit and now in the European Commission as Policy officer in the Youth Unit. My dossiers include the EU Youth Strategy, youth participation in general and especially the EU Youth Dialogue, a central participation tool for young people, where young people and youth organisations debate with policy and decision makers, as well as experts, researchers and other relevant civil society actors. Its aim is to ensure that the opinion, views and needs of young people and youth organisations are taken into account when defining the EU's youth policies. I truly believe and have been proven right on many occasions that young people have a lot to say and are ready to shape the future of Europe – they are shapers not listeners! I hope I can give to the young people here today some ideas and motivate them to use the participatory tools the EU offers to them via its, programmes, policies and initiatives. EU youth policy cooperation is about creating more and equal opportunities in education and in the labour market, as well as promoting active citizenship, social participation and solidarity. Within the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027, we also encourage dialogue on how we can mobilize the EU's youth programmes Erasmus + and the European Solidarity Corps to enable all young people to participate in local, national and international community development."

Mr. Artur Martirosyan, , Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, Armenia

Mr. Artur Martirosyan joined the Ministry team in February 2020 as the Deputy Minister of Education, Culture, Science and Sport of Armenia. Mr. Martirosyan moved to government from the development sector. He has 18 years of experience with international organizations and nonprofits in the development sector, including World Vision Armenia, World Vision USA, Oxfam, TFA. His expertise is in the areas he cares the most: education, youth empowerment, advocacy, human rights, child protection, poverty reduction, transition to democracy. Mr. Martirosyan has PhD in Political Science from YSU, Armenia with profound continuous non-formal education in Europe, the USA and elsewhere.

Ms. Katarina Mathernova, Deputy Director-General for Neighbourhood East and Institution Building, DG NEAR

"In September 2015, Katarína Mathernová assumed her function as Deputy Director General of DG NEAR, the Directorate General for Neighbourhood & Enlargement Negotiations. She has previously served as Deputy Director General in DG Regional Policy where she was in charge of Cohesion Policy Coordination between 2007-2010.
Ms Mathernová has held senior management and advisory posts at the European Commission, the World Bank (2002-2004 and 2010-2014), and in the reform government in Slovakia (1998-2002) where she was Chief Institutional and Policy Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, key architect of the Slovak economy's transformation.
K. Mathernová holds a Juris Doctor degree from Comenius University in Bratislava, a Masters of Law degree from the University of Michigan, is a member of the New York Bar, and speaks six languages. She started her career in private practice of law in the US, with distinguished New York and Washington DC Law Firms. Her distinctions include the award Slovak Woman of the Year in 2000 and the Pro Bono Human Rights award in 1993 from the International Human Rights Law Group. She is a member of several Boards and the author of publications on Slovak and Czech economic and legal affairs. "

Mr. Lawrence Meredith, Director Neighbourhood East & Institution Building

Mr Meredith has been Director for Neighbourhood East and Institution Building in DG NEAR in the European Commission since 1 December 2015. In 2015, he was Head of Strategy in DG NEAR, and led work on the European Neighbourhood Policy Review. Previously, he has worked for 10 years on Enlargement Policy, both as Head of Strategy and Head of the Kosovo Issues Unit. He worked in the Cabinet of Commissioner Louis Michel on Southern Africa & the Pacific. Mr Meredith studied Russian & French at Oxford University.

Mr. Cesare Onestini, Director, European Training Foundation

Cesare Onestini took up the post of Director of the European Training Foundation in September 2017.
Prior to joining the ETF, he was Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to India and Bhutan. He joined the European Commission in 1995, working for six years in education and training policy starting by promoting cooperation in education and training. He has developed intercultural education projects, coordinated school partnerships and teachers’ mobility across EU Member States and was part of the team which developed proposals for the first EU programme for Lifelong Learning.
He has since worked for the European Union in international trade, security and crisis management and external relations, where he was Head of Political and Security Council Affairs in the EU Delegation to the United Nations in New York. Mr Onestini joined the European External Action Service in 2010, playing a key role in setting the service up, as advisor to the Chief Operating Officer and Head of the Corporate Board Secretariat, before his appointment as Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to India and Bhutan, where he served for three years.
In the 2013-14 academic year, he was a Visiting Fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy of the National University of Singapore. Cesare Onestini is a graduate of Oxford University, where he achieved a doctorate in higher education policy.

Ms. Anna Ostrikova, UNDP Ukraine

"Anna Ostrikova is a Youth Officer at United Nation Development Programme Ukraine. She cooperates with the governmental organizations, civic society organizations, wide network of organizations working with young people, and young people themselves in developing and implementing initiatives for and with young people of Ukraine."

Mr. Andriy Pavlovych, EU4Youth Coordination and Support team

Andriy’s activities in civic sector began from the renewal of the scout movement in Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and his engagement in development of volunteer movement and civic education. He coordinated numerous international programs aimed at youth development, strengthening youth organizations’ capacity and implementation of youth initiatives. Starting from 2005 until this day, Andriy has worked for SALTO EECA, the centre that grants unique opportunities for growth of youth organizations and develops inter-sectoral cooperation with the purpose of increasing the impact of NGOs over the formation of youth policy in the countries of its operation. Since 2019 Andriy is involved in the EU4Youth Coordination and Support Project.

Ms. Maryna Popatenko, Deputy Minister, Ministry for youth and sports of Ukraine

Prior to joining the Ministry of Youth and Sport of Ukraine, Ms Popatenko served as Head of the Department of Youth Policy and National-Patriotic Education of the Kyiv Oblast State Administration (2017-2020). From 2006-2011 she held a number of different positions with Sumy Oblast State Administration working on youth and family issues and starting 2011 worked in the Youth Center of Sumy city in different positions.
Ms. Popatenko is a graduate from Sumy State University (Master’s degree in Organizational Management) and National Academy of Public Administration under the President of Ukraine (degree in Public Administration). She also holds awards of Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine reward for special achievements of youth in the development of Ukraine (2017), Gratitude of the Prime Minister of Ukraine (2018), Diploma of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine (2018).

Mr. Azad Rahimov, Minister of Youth and Sports of Azerbaijan

"Career History
1981-1986: Student of the Azerbaijan Languages University
1986-1987: Military service
1987-1989 : Head of the department of the Khatai district Committee of the Youth Union (Komsomol) of Azerbaijan
1989-1990 : Head of the Khatai district Committee of the Youth Union (Komsomol) of Azerbaijan
1990-1993 : Head of Youth Organizations Committee of Azerbaijan
1994-1998 : General Director of the Ros-Imesko Ltd. Company
1998-2006 : Director General of the Italdizayn Close Joint-Stock Company
2005-2006 :President of the Azerbaijan Dance Sport Federation
From December 2006 to the date: Vice-president of the National Olympic Committee
From February 2006 to the date: Minister for Youth and Sport of the Republic of Azerbaijan
"

Mr. Andreja Rosandic, European Association of Venture Philanthropists (EVPA)

Andreja is a consultant in the area of social entrepreneurship after having her own social enterprise NatureCheck producing healthy food granola. Prior to NatureCheck Andreja was Sustainability Manager at NESsT being responsible for global fundraising and consulting strategy implementation within NESsT Global Investment Relation Team. Andreja served on the Supervisory Board of The Social Cooperative for Ethical Financing. She has over 17 years’ experience in project management, working with organizations ranging from USAID to EU funded consortiums. Previously, Andreja worked for five years at the Academy for Educational Development (AED) where she was responsible for managing a variety of small grants for various NGOs. She also worked on several EU projects, as an Evaluator for PHARE 2005 and 2006, as well as a Consultant in the field of Vocational Education. In addition, she worked for a year as an advocate of Children’s Rights. Andreja holds a Master of Science degree in Multidisciplinary Studies from State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo and a Bachelor’s degree in Social Pedagogy from the University of Zagreb, Croatia.

Mr. Janis Rungulis, European External Action Service’s East StratCom Task Force

Janis RUNGULIS has been part of the EU's East Stratcom Task Force since 2015. Janis has been developing communication campaigns across the Eastern Partnership region to raise awareness about tangible benefits that the EU is bringing to people there. Since this year, he is more involved in the team's efforts to address pro-Kremlin disinformation: Janis coordinates the awareness raising campaigns. Previously Janis was the spokesperson of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the EU in Brussels dealing with telecommunications, transport, energy, environment, education and other topics. Janis has also worked for the leading public relations (Porter Novelli), advertising (DDB) and media agencies (Omnicom Media Group) in Latvia.

Ms. Frederique Rychener, DG EMPL

Frédérique Rychener is Policy Officer at the Unit for international issues in the European Commission's Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion where she is charge of the Eastern partnership and Central Asian regions.
She has a longstanding experience within this Department and Directorate-General as policy officer working on employment policy in the EU, accession countries and the Western Balkans. She has an academic background in management, labour economics and industrial sociology. Before joining the European Commission, she worked in European and French agencies, specialized in training policies and in a research centre in France.

Dr. Rolf Schmachtenberg, Permanent State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Germany

Dr. Rolf Schmachtenberg has been Permanent State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs since March 2018. He is responsible for the areas Social Insurance/Provision for Old Age, Participation/Matters relating to Persons with Disabilities, Social Compensation/Social Assistance and European Employment and Social Policy. After studies of Mathematics and study stays in the USA and Norway he earned a doctorate in economics. He has many years of experience in labour market policy, participation/matters relating to persons with disabilities and European labour market and social policy. His responsibilities included in particular the Federal Participation Act, the further development of the Act on Equal Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities and the National Action Plan regarding the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Ms. Florencia Van Houdt, Head of Unit, Youth, Volunteer Solidarity and Traineeships Office, DG EAC

Mrs Floor van Houdt works in the European Commission since 25 years. She is currently active as Head of Unit in charge of 'Youth, Volunteer Solidarity and Traineeships Office'. In this capacity, she deals with EU Youth Policy, youth activities under Erasmus+, the European Solidarity Corps and other actions for young people. She also leads the Commission’s traineeships programme. Prior to her current position, she worked on EU policies on research, entrepreneurship and maritime affairs. Before joining the Commission, she studied law and European Studies in the Netherlands, Spain and Belgium and worked as a European affairs consultant.

Mr. Olivér Várhelyi, EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement

Link to CV

Ms. Ivana Vrhovski, International Cooperation Unit, DG EAC

Ivana Vrhovski is a Policy Officer at the European Commission, Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture. Ivana has over 15 years of experience in European education and traning policies and programmes, including design and management of the Erasmus+ Programme. She is working in the International Cooperation Unit and is responsible for cooperation with Eastern Partnership countries and Russia.

Ms. Joke Wiercx, EU4Youth Coordination and Support team

Joke Wiercx is Doctor in Political Sciences and has sixteen years of experience in EU policy research working in academia and in public and private sector. She is now Senior Manager in EY Belgium where she is involved in projects for several DGs of the European Commission. Joke has a particular expertise in developing and monitoring of KPIs. Since September 2018 she is involved in the EU4Youth Support and Coordination as senior monitoring expert. As policy analyst at DG JUST, she has been involved in the development of the Consumer Scoreboards and contributed to the development of the impact assessment tool for consumer impacts. Furthermore she has been working as gender expert on several projects, building further on her academic work in gender studies.

resources

Presentations and PPT's

Webinar 1

Webinar 2

Webinar 3

Webinar 4

About

The Eastern Partnership Youth Engagement Summit will be the first big online-only EU – Eastern Partnership (EaP) youth event. It will be a free, globally accessible meeting for registered participants, for which neither the speakers nor the participants need to travel.

Around 400-450 active, critical and responsible youth leaders and youth workers will have a unique opportunity to hold a dialogue amongst themselves and with EU and EaP policy makers on achievements and challenges in the youth field in the European Union and its Eastern Neighbourhood region. Participants will be invited to share good practices and experiences in the field of youth work and youth policy in both the EU and Eastern Partner countries. The outcomes of discussions and possible conclusions will be documented in the form of report and shared with the relevant stakeholders

2020 is an important year for the Eastern Partnership process. On the one hand, it is a conclusive year for implementing the “20 Deliverables by 2020” policy priorities. On the other hand, following the “Joint Communication: Eastern Partnership policy beyond 2020”, published on 18 March and endorsed by the Council of the European Union on 11 May, it is the year when a new policy framework of the EU will pave the way to a new set of common objectives for the future Eastern Partnership process. Building on the results of the 2017 – 2020 “Youth and Education Package” which was developed to fulfil policy objectives defined in “Deliverable 18 - Strengthen investment in young people’s skills, entrepreneurship and employability”, a New Deal for Youth will keep EU investment in youth in the focus of the EaP.

The overall OBJECTIVE of the EaP Youth Summit is to celebrate and promote past and ongoing EU - EaP cooperation investing in the future of young people and facilitate a dialogue between policy makers and youth on the overall approach and concrete steps for the future under the Eastern Partnership. The Summit will provide space for discussion, exchange on best practices and lessons learned, as well as networking and inspiration for future cooperation.

THEMATIC FOCUS: “Youth engagement in the EaP: exploring the present and navigating the future!”
The main TOPICS of the EaP Youth Summit include:

• The Eastern Partnership beyond 2020 and the role for young people (Communication 03/2020 and Council Conclusions 05/2020).
• Youth participation in policy making by strengthening EaP Youth Councils and the EaP Civil Society Forum;
• Youth transition from education to work through skills development;
• Youth social entrepreneurship realities and good practices;
• EU vs. disinformation through positive communication;
• Achievements under the EU4Youth package, with focus on Erasmus+ and EU4Youth.

Expected RESULTS of the Youth Summit:

• Sharing and celebration of inspirational practices of youth work in the field of employment, entrepreneurship and civic engagement;
• Exploration and recognition of achievements of the EU Youth Programmes in Eastern Partner countries;
• Harvesting conclusions for navigating the future opportunities for young people in Eastern Partner countries beyond 2020.