Established a forum for young people to voice their concerns and needs, and exchange information about ICPDb2014 and Post2015 agenda. Synergies and linkages were made with the ongoing Post2015 national consultations and the development of the national youth action plan led by the Ministry of Social Welfare and Youth. Three national NGOs in 4 districts, through 9 world café consultative workshops, focus groups, and roundtables collected the voices of diverse youth groups: young people without parental care, Roma and Egyptians, drug users, sex workers, LGBT and MSM, youngsters from poor families in remote rural areas, and school aged adolescents. About 200 young people were heard and their voices documented through video footage, human stories, articles and photo messages.

The organizations in Armenia have focused on preparatory activities for the roll-out of the national campaign: materials were translated into the local language and announcement letters and a Facebook page were created. They also hosted a competition among youth from Armenia about the problems they face, with submissions as photos with messages and articles. They also had informative meetings with the main stakeholders about the roll-out of the campaign.

A day-long consultation with young people was organized back-to-back with a four-day-long theater-based training aimed at raising awareness on SRHR, HIV/AIDS, gender-based violence and trafficking. A follow-up activity was held in collaboration with the Ombudsman’s Office in Baku, and brought together more than 60 people, including young students and schoolchildren with a poor socio-economic background, as well as their parents. The peer educators performed theatre scenes which revealed aspects of youth SRH, gender equality, stigma and discrimination. This was followed by a facilitated consultation in which the group shared views on the issues they would like to change, emphasizing the need for improved youth involvement and participation. Following these interrelated series of activities, the draft declaration “Azerbaijani youth in action for better future” was developed and shared with UNFPA Azerbaijan CO and the Ministry of Youth and Sports for review.

Y-PEER Network has implemented several focus group discussions with youth from different backgrounds to identify the main problems and issues of young people in BiH. After the identification of common problems and obstacles of youth from all parts of BiH, they organized a street action and round table discussions in order to present the findings. Despite the differences, young people have quite similar or same problems when talking about their perspective in BiH. All the problems are related to education, employment, security and health which are main factors for stabile life.

The highlights of the first phase was the youth event (Forum Klyuche) conducted with participation of over 70 young people, NGO, decision makers, business representatives. The event was focusing on the link between the CSE and youth employment. Among the speakers we mention the deputy-minister of youth and sport, Y-PEER educators, young entrepreneurs, sexuality education activists; event’s messages reached over 6000 people through social networks and over 100 people via live-stream of the event.

Face-to-face meetings with youth in urban and rural areas directly engaged more than 180 young people, who were able to voice their opinions on youth SRH&RR, HIV/AIDS prevention, Gender Equality, and youth participation and employment. As a result, their opinions will be reflected as set of recommendations in the Advocacy Paper to be prepared by the Youth Advisory Panel and presented to stakeholders in the next phase.

A workshop-tour took place in five municipalities, engaging young people from elementary and high schools in facilitated discussions that revealed what they think can be changed for the better in their community, city, school or country and how they can be part of that change. Other activities carried out include gathering photos with messages, expanding the partnerships and engaging more civil society organizations and other stakeholders.

The youth networks used the momentum created by the “Jashtar camp” and set up a stand where young people were informed about the Youth Voice campaign, photographed with messages and informed about a petition in support of an SRHR bill. They also organized meetings with university students, held a flash mob advocating for parliamentarians’ support for the reproductive rights bill and produced a video for advocacy purposes.

Along with organizing meetings with local youth activists and students, the main activity in Ukraine focused on producing a video that incorporates inputs received from young people – what they need, and what the state and society can do to create favorable conditions for their development and well-being.

Youth voices were collected through postcards on which young people wrote their answers to the question “Why should the government invest in young people?” Nearly 7,500 young people were informed, motivated, and given the opportunity to express their opinion during the campaign and almost 3,000 postcard responses were received. The answers were analyzed and backed-up by statistical data on the main problems facing youth as well as solutions to these problems. A youth statement was developed and will be used to advocate for the inclusion of young people into government priorities.

A consultation workshop brought together participants from different NGOs and with different backgrounds. The workshop included a capacity-building component on general advocacy principles in which participants analyzed strategic documents, statistics and laws, and voted on their six main priorities. Following the development of a joint Position Paper, participants conducted a validation process using the open space method, which involved more than 300 young people.

The activities implemented included a debate tournament and an art event where young artists expressed their thoughts and visions for the future through painting, graffiti and anime. A youth conference then brought together representatives of governmental and nongovernmental organizations to discuss the youth priorities and their integration in the future development agenda. In addition, a Public Forum for women and girl leaders was held, where issues related to capacity-building and methods of preventing violence against girls from rural areas were addressed.

All activities were carried out as part of the Annual Work Plan of the “Community Volunteers Foundation”, an organization that is one of UNFPA’s implementing partners in Turkey. This Annual Work Plan included: the UNFPA SWOP Report launch event where young people presented their statements to representatives of government, non-governmental organizations and media; over 156 outreach events in 37 different cities in Turkey to mark World AIDS Day; and the convening of a Youth Advisory Panel in order to ensure more youth-friendly programming and gather young people’s recommendations for UNFPA Turkey programmes.

The voices and opinions of young people were collected by conducting focus group discussions, debates, competitions and interviews, as well as by analyzing some of the available reports and previously conducted consultations with young people.

Along with organizing meetings with local youth activists and students, the main activity in Ukraine focused on producing a video that incorporates inputs received from young people – what they need, and what the state and society can do to create favorable conditions for their development and well-being.