on the topics of human rights education, fight against racism and xenophobia, and active active role of young people in their communities

Kharkiv, Ukraine, December 2-9, 2007



CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS



Dear friends,

We are glad to invite you to the “Discover, Join and Act” international youth festival, which is organized in the frame of YTNF with the financial support of the European Youth Foundation in the frame of its own “All Different – All Equal” campaign

YTNF is an exciting large-scale project aimed to promote innovative activities of young volunteers at grass-root level in three main fields:
• human rights education
• the struggle against racism and xenophobia
• social inclusion of minorities and youth from disadvantaged backgrounds

The project, which is mainly supported financially by the Youth Program of the European Union, lasts for three years, starting in January 2006. It takes place in four countries - Russia, Moldova, Ukraine & Belarus - and managed at local level by SCI groups and partners.

The festival is hosted by SVIT-Ukraine, and will take place in Kharkiv, Ukraine, from December 2 to December 9, 2007.

The aim of the event is to bring together activists from different parts of Europe, with different level of experience, in order to discuss, exchange experience and look for ways to improve the substantial quality of local and international work on the topics of human rights education, fight against racism and xenophobia, social inclusion and active role of young people in their communities.

The objectives of the festival are:
- to support and motivate young people to initiate and organize innovative local and international activities in the spheres of human rights education, social inclusion and fight against racism
- to develop capacities of participants to take leadership role in public and community life through new knowledge, information and experiences
- to provide framework for young NGO activists to develop joint ideas for activities in the sphere of human rights, social inclusion and fight against racism and xenophobia
- to improve communication and networking between participating organizations from EU and CIS countries
- to exchange information and practical experience of organizing activities in order to develop quality standards and discuss best practice examples of each participating organization

Special feedback session in the beginning of the festival program will be dedicated to evaluation of YTNF project at international and local levels.

Working languages will be English and Russian (translation will be organized by volunteers).

The program will include the following topics:
1. Presentation of situation and work-related realities of each organization regarding the meeting themes, discussion and comparison of experience to develop best practice and improve quality standards of activities in the sphere of human rights education, social inclusion and active community role, and fight against racism.
2. Street action day and debates with involvement of university students to celebrate International Volunteer Day (December 5th)
3. Theoretical presentations and discussions to get deeper knowledge on the topics of human rights education, racism and xenophobia and active citizen's role of young people
4. Market of knowledge and ideas to come up with proposals for join follow-up activities and elaborate them, including information on "All different - all equal campaign"
5. YTNF feedback – evaluation of international trainings and events, and local PMT activities in each county, cooperation and communication among partners, regional managers and senior manager, work of the Steering Group of the project
6. Special session on management of organization, functioning of the board in the organization and its responsibilities
7. Evaluation of the seminar, follow-up and conclusions

Participants:
Members of Project Management Teams (PMTs) of YTNF project from Russia, Moldova, Belarus and Ukraine, experienced activists of other SCI branches interested in the festival subjects and YTNF project and possibilities to start cooperation with the YTNF organizations. It is expected that all regional managers take part to the event.

Participants are expected to actively contribute to the festival program and be committed to participate to the whole program of the event.

Financial conditions
All costs concerning meals and accommodation as well as the program and materials will be fully covered for the whole duration of the training. The participation fee for CIS participants is 20 Euros (YTNF volunteers will get back 10 Euros back if they stay active in the project for another year), for EU participants 80 Euros. Travel costs will be reimbursed 100% for YTNF volunteers and regional managers, 70% for representatives of CIS organizations and 50% for representatives of SCI branches & groups up to a maximum of:
- 50 Euro for Belarus/NG and Moldova/AVI
- 25 Euro for Ukraine/SVIT
- 400 Euro for Russia/SCG
- 200 Euro for EU

If you have any other suggestions for the program of the event, you are invited to contribute to enriching the agenda!

Still not asleep after reading this looong description – than go ahead and fill in the application form, which should be sent to SVIT-Ukraine at info@svit-ukraine.org before November 20th, 2007 - there are just 5 places left! You will be informed about the definite acceptance (or refusal) of the applications as soon as possible after this deadline.

For more information and with possible questions please contact SVIT-Ukraine at info@svit-ukraine.org

Looking forward to welcome you in Ukraine!

SVIT-Ukraine team