“When everything is properly organised, young people work for the benefit of the hromada. And everyone thanks you for that ...”

Oleksandr Korinnyi, head of the Novoukrayinska AH in the Kirovohrad Oblast, together with the team managed to make children and young people the driving force of the hromada. Mr. Korinnyi presented the case “Nothing for Youth Without Youth” during the DESPRO’s Fair of Ideas from.

By Dmytro Synyak

Main photo by DOBRE

“Nothing for Youth Without Youth” – stand of the Novoukrayinska AH at the DESPRO’s Fair of Ideas. Photo made by Anastasia Syrotkina

Tell me, please, briefly, what is your know-how about?

- It’s just hard to answer briefly, because it’s very easy to go to banality. Our idea is to involve young people in the active hromada life. The idea is simple, it’s quite difficult to implement it. To do this we have created a separate youth project management system. “Nothing for Youth without Youth” is about sport, science, and smart sorting of waste... This is a set of projects for millions of hryvnias run by the children themselves. Why did we focus on children? Because they are the real drivers of change! They are ready to get things, unchanged for years, moving. And for this they do not need additional motivation. It is only necessary to rally them and to convince them that they will really be able to participate in the life of the city, having received real money for their projects.

Young people need not just a game of democracy, but a real participation in hromada management. Photo by DOBRE

Youth is the driving force of the Novoukrayinska hromada. Photo by DOBRE

Youth Initiatives Development Centre. Children with the help of teachers and parents quickly repaired one of the rooms of the old Children and Youth Art Centre. Photo by DOBRE