A grant program of youth initiatives UPSHIFT Ukraine has been presented in Mariupol. Under the project, professional mentors will teach youth the basics of social entrepreneurship. The representatives of Mariupol City Council, UNICEF and the UPSHIFT project told about its implementation.
For three months, program participants will learn the basics of entrepreneurship. They will have to develop a project aimed at the development of Mariupol or the solution of a specific problem of the community. The best of them will receive a grant in the amount of UAH 60 000 to implement their ideas. The program is aimed at young people aged from 14 to 21.
According to Alvaro Vadillo, the Head of UNICEF Office in Mariupol, the project helps to form the entrepreneurial skills of adolescents as agents of social changes. This is especially important for the eastern regions of Ukraine.
‘We must support the youth of eastern Ukraine to make them representatives of change. We are confident that they will be able to make a global contribution to social change’, he said.
In turn, the head of the youth and sports department, Alexei Kazantsev, noted that the city supports this project and will also attract Mariupol youth to participate in it.
‘Today Mariupol is actively developing. School repairs, sports development and festivals are aimed at ensuring that the young generation has all the opportunities for development and self-realization. Now there is a positive trend - more and more school graduates choose Mariupol, staying in their hometown, rather than leaving, as it was a few years ago. That is why such projects are very important for us,’ he stressed.
Matti Maasikas, Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, noted: ‘In the regions of Ukraine affected by the conflict, young people grow up in conditions of inadequate physical security and difficult financial situation. Despite this, they have big dreams. The goal of our joint program with UNICEF is to provide adolescents with skills that will enable them to translate their innovative ideas. After the success of UPSHIFT in Kharkov and in other countries, we are expanding the project in Mariupol. We are looking forward to seeing what social projects young people will implement in their communities’.
The enrolment of the participants from Mariupol continues until September 24. The program is implemented by the NGO Professional Development Kharkov Fund with the financial support of UNICEF and the European Union.
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