As a result of Russia’s invasion, there are now more than 5.1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ukraine. Many of them are young people who have had to leave their homes and friends behind and now face the challenges of integrating into a new community.  

The goal of the United Voices in Action (VIA) program is to strengthen social cohesion between IDPs and receiving community members, and highlight the important role that teenagers can play in this process. In pursuit of this goal, VIA is starting a new initiative supporting youth to develop and implement ideas for enhancing social cohesion in their communities by engaging them in joint projects involving both IDPs and locals. Specifically, VIA has recruited and trained 14 Teen Leads who will mentor Teen Teams through the project development and implementation process to both enhance social cohesion and develop teenagers’ capacity for project management. 

VIA Recruits and Trains Teen Leads 

As a first step in its initiative to support IDP teenagers, VIA has recruited and begun collaborating with 14 ambitious and dedicated Teen Leads in 14 hromadas (Cherkasy, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kamianets-Podilskyi, Khmelnytskyi, Kremenchuk, Kryvyi Rih, Kyiv, Lutsk, Lviv, Mukachevo, Poltava, Ternopil, Uman, and Zhytomyr). These Teen Leads will provide comprehensive support to groups of teens in their communities to develop and implement social cohesion projects to bring together IDPs and receiving community members. 

From September 10-13, 2023, VIA engaged the Teen Leads in an introductory training to build their capacity and prepare them for working with the Teen Teams. During the training, the Teen Leads explored methods for building interpersonal connections; learned about design thinking methodologies and community social cohesion; discussed challenges and opportunities on the path to unity and IDP integration in their communities; identified their own priorities for participation in the program; learned how to develop and implement projects in their communities; and acquired empathy, analysis, and teamwork skills. 

On the last day of the training, Matt Johnson, Stabilization Advisor at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, visited the Teen Leads. Training participants had the opportunity to share their impressions of the training, plans for the future, and questions about U.S. support for IDP integration in Ukraine. 

Following his engagement with the Teen Leads, Mr. Johnson emphasized his support for their endeavors, saying

“Thank you all for participating. I was positively surprised by your thoughts on working with teenagers. Working with teenagers is rewarding, even when you occasionally encounter certain challenges.” 

Teen Leads Will Work with Teen Teams to Implement Social Cohesion Projects 

The Teen Leads trained through the VIA program will apply their new skills through work with Teen Teams composed of both IDPs and receiving community members. Working together, these teenagers will generate ideas for enhancing social cohesion and learn how to turn these ideas into actionable projects. Once the Teen Teams have crafted their project ideas, they will have the opportunity to receive funding from the VIA program to implement the projects in their communities. 

Currently, VIA has launched an open call for applications to join the Teen Teams in 14 communities. The application period will run until October 8, 2023.