Ukrainian Youth Developing Their Communities and Contributing to Victory

“Youth are not only our future but also our present” – this phrase has become increasingly common in Ukraine. Ukrainian youth have always been, and continue to be, key agents of change. Youth initiated the Granite Revolution in 1990, which contributed to Ukraine’s independence, protested against election fraud in 2004, and defended Ukraine’s right to European integration in 2013-2014. Today, young people are mobilizing in the Ukrainian army to defend their country, creating public or charitable organizations, and launching socially responsible businesses.

Since 2021, the National Network of Local Philanthropy Development has been implementing the Youth Banks of Initiatives project to support active youth in their communities. Youth Banks of Initiatives is an international model that engages youth in civil society across the world. It consists of 9 core steps that cover various topics, such as identifying and prioritizing community needs, fundraising, communications, PR, and more. These stages are designed to be completed over a year, with youth aged 14 to 25 working together with their coordinator (an experienced professional acting as a facilitator). In 2023-2024, the National Network of Local Philanthropy Development carried out the project with the support of Robert Bosch Stiftung, and we would like to tell you more about the unique aspects of this youth project in Ukraine.

Work with a Youth Bank begins with the coordinator forming a team of active youth, which becomes the Youth Bank’s committee. The team familiarizes itself with the work, does team-building, and plans its future activities. Afterward, the team conducts a survey among local youth to identify their most pressing concerns and uses this information to choose the focus areas for their own grant competition. For example, in 2022-2023, after the full-scale invasion, many Youth Bank committees focused on supporting and socializing internally displaced persons (IDPs). At the same time, the Youth Bank committee organizes various activities to fundraise for the grant competition for local youth. For example, the Youth Bank of Initiatives in Vinnytsia organized a movie night with a quiz, showing a Sherlock Holmes film in its original language, followed by a quiz about the movie, where those who scored the highest points received prizes. Once the funds are raised and the main focus areas are determined, the Youth Bank committee applies for a matching grant from the National Network of Local Philanthropy Development. If the grant application is approved, the Youth Bank committee proceeds to organize its own grant competition to support the best youth projects in line with the identified priorities. The Youth Bank committee independently handles paperwork, creates announcements, distributes funds, and consults their coordinator if needed. After selecting which projects to support, the committee disburses funds, monitors project implementation, and reviews reports once the work is complete. They also prepare a report on their work for the National Network of Local Philanthropy Development. In parallel with these activities, various online and offline conferences are held for Youth Bank committees. For example, in 2023-2024, a conference was held for Youth Banks of Initiatives and community foundations in Ukraine under the theme “Philanthropy Unites Generations,” and representatives of Youth Bank committees traveled on a study trip to Italian Youth Banks to learn through peer-to-peer interaction. An interesting fact: thanks to support from Robert Bosch Stiftung, the National Network of Local Philanthropy Development has increased the number of Youth Banks from 9 to 20 across Ukraine!

Here’s what some of the program participants have to say about their involvement: 

“We and only we can develop our country to the point where we won’t need to go abroad to be happy. We can be happy in our own country. Our state is beautiful, it just needs a little help,” says Stepan from Hlynyany, Lviv region. “Youth Bank is the place where everyone can showcase their abilities. You can do something incredible for your city,” says Ivanka from Boryslav, Lviv region.

Thanks to this model, NNLPD gains broad access to youth from various localities with diverse experiences and ideas. They also have the opportunity to teach young people and show them how the civic sector works from the inside. The youth gain a wide range of both soft and hard skills, such as fundraising, analyzing local needs and resources, planning and implementing projects, community engagement, collaboration with businesses, PR, and SMM management.

So, what kinds of projects do young people implement? A wide variety of them. For example, youth theater productions, forums to enhance political awareness among young people, lectures on sexual education, the production of films about the problems faced by children during the war, eco-friendly events, greening of school yards, collecting and purchasing new books for the local library, and much more. The most important thing is that local youth themselves choose and implement projects that matter to them and acquire relevant skills along the way. The National Network of Local Philanthropy Development and Robert Bosch Stiftung support them in this.

“The Youth Bank model is unique because, first and foremost, it arises when there is a demand from local youth, it allocates funds to a competition that meets youth requests, and it operates based on the needs of the youth. Secondly, it doesn’t require young people to function within rigid frameworks created by others. We only ask them to conduct an analysis and, based on that, run a competition; after that, it’s their choice how they see their team and activities. They determine their scale and ambitions. Thirdly, the Youth Bank directly impacts many young people. Why? Because the committee doesn’t directly implement projects but helps others do so, which can also be considered a project. In other words, the youth participating in the competition bring public good and gain experience in project implementation. The Youth Bank committee learns to analyze, fundraise, organize the competition (which is also a project), and then manage the teams that implement smaller projects. Why am I involved in this? In my youth, I had no opportunities to do anything interesting. Literally nothing. And it’s not just my opinion – my entire generation, which managed to break free, also wonders, ‘Why was there always a void in our town, with no place for young people to go, and how did we manage to survive without losing ourselves?’ For me, the Youth Bank is, first and foremost, an opportunity to give others what I never had. To fulfill themselves, to be in an environment ready for change, and to have the ability to influence reality. But what’s equally important is why I’m here. The best sons and daughters of Ukraine die every day. These are the people who once were activists, the core of the Ukrainian nation. They now have a different mission, and the new generation is left with their legacy and growing problems. So, I want to believe that my work gives every participant a little more understanding and confidence in their place in this country and their true power, so that when the time comes, they are ready,” shares Maksym, Project Manager of Youth Banks of Initiatives.

The Youth Banks of Initiatives project demonstrates that Ukrainian youth are not only capable of responding to today’s challenges but are also actively shaping the future of their communities and the country as a whole. With the support of international partners such as Robert Bosch Stiftung, youth gain important skills, implement socially significant projects, and strengthen civil society. The increase in the number of Youth Banks shows that this initiative is necessary and effective. It also serves as an example of how local initiatives can change the world around us, and we believe it will inspire new generations to achieve even greater accomplishments.