"Together Have Your Say!" 50-50 training course for specialists from public authorities working with young people and representatives of youth NGOs in Armenia

Aims & objectives

The course aimed to improve participants’ competences to develop youth participation in youth policy processes in Armenia, especially at the local level, and to implement projects for youth participation in line with the Council of Europe Revised European Charter on Youth participation and the Recommendation on Young People’s Access to Rights.

The course objectives were:
To develop a common understanding of the rights-based approach towards youth participation and youth policy;
To discuss the current context, recent initiatives and developments in the youth field and analyse the actual state of play, roles of different stakeholders including local authorities in youth policy in Armenia;
To explore, analyse and to reflect on existent forms, tools and methods for youth participation, on their accessibility, efficiency and relevance for diverse groups of young people in Armenia, particularly in rural areas and contexts;
To develop participants’ knowledge about the European Revised Charter on the participation of young people in local and regional life and Recommendation on Young People’s Access to Rights and to reflect how to apply them in their contexts in Armenia;
To develop participants’ competences to facilitate youth participation in decision making process and in strengthening cooperation between different stakeholders of the youth field at local, regional and national levels;
To contribute to improving dialogue and cooperation among participants for new initiatives that sustain and strengthen youth participation, notably in rural areas;
To improve knowledge about and strengthen cooperation between the Council of Europe and youth policy actors in Armenia.

Target group & international/intercultural composition of the group & team

The target group were youth workers and public authorities of Armenia, the training team was international - Armenia, Belarus, Russia

Training methods used & main activities

Interactive methods were mostly used, simulation exercises, small group work, discussions and debates

Outcomes of the activity

Participants were able to:
Understand better the profile of young people in rural areas and learn about their actual needs;
Gain knowledge on youth-field actors in Armenia in the current situation, will map relevant stakeholders, will be able to identify risks and opportunities at the level of local communities;
Be able to reflect critically on and analyse existing youth policy and youth work practice in the rural areas of Armenia and be able to operate with evidence-based data when designing youth policies and programmes;
Become aware of diverse forms of youth participation and be able to analyse critically the forms existing in rural areas of Armenia;
Feel safe and confident to share best/worst practices with the colleagues in the group;
Become familiar with the European Revised Charter on the participation of young people in local and regional life and Recommendation on Young People’s Access to Rights, and to know how to apply them to the local context;
Learn how to use “Have Your Say manual” in youth work context;
Become aware of the possible intervention strategies in the decision-making cycle;
Recognise the importance of cross-sectorial dialogue and cooperation and develop networking skills;
Feel motivated to cooperate and be able to develop concrete follow-ups activities (ideas, projects, etc.);
Understand the concept of inclusion and be able to mainstream “participation for all” in the follow-up activities
Become aware of the scope of work, available resources and support measures of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe and Ministry on Sports and Youth affairs.

Your tasks and responsibilities within the team

Developing and delivering training course, preparing narrative report

I worked on this training for 8 days as a full time trainer.