Empowering tomorrow’s leaders: EU and BMZ support youth engagement in Armenia

The young people across all ten regions of Armenia are benefiting from the grant project awarded to the Youth Organizations Union of Armenia, enhancing their opportunities for growth and development. This initiative is carried out within the framework of the EU4Youth: Youth Engagement and Empowerment Project co-funded by the European Union and German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by GIZ as part of the BMZ project Strengthening Civil Society in the Eastern Partnership.

The grant project strengthens participatory youth dialogues at national and sub-national levels and builds the capacities of youth organizations throughout Armenia. It also contributes to increasing youth participation in policy making and the development of policy recommendations. This project has a nationwide scope, covering all areas of Armenia, both urban and rural. It places particular emphasis on reaching youth in remote and less advantaged regions, ensuring the inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities.

The Youth Organizations Union of Armenia (YOU) is an independent national youth platform that unites youth organizations from different regions of Armenia – about 300,000 young people in total. The goal of the YOU is to engage young people and youth organizations in decision-making processes, shape and improve national youth policies and legislation and promote active civic, economic, social and cultural participation of young people through conducting inclusive and evidence-based advocacy and lobbying. YOU consolidates democratically oriented youth groups, provides spaces for youth CSOs to engage in policy-making processes and represents the interests of young people at local, national, regional and international levels. The organization facilitates partnerships among non-governmental youth organizations, local and national authorities, international organisations and other relevant stakeholders to address challenges in the field of youth in Armenia.

According to the Grigor Yeritsyan, the President of the Youth Organisations Union of Armenia this initiative helps to elevate and institutionalize the Armenian youth sector, enabling it to become a trusted partner in legislative development and civic affairs.

Among the activities being implemented under the initiative are running Youth Policy Labs across Armenia, developing a comprehensive capacity-building program for youth organisations, establishing the official National Youth Forum, advocating for legislative development in favour of youth and organizing consultations and information sessions with the young people on Youth Policy Law of Armenia.

The expected impact of the initiative is a stronger youth sector that benefit from an evidence-based approach by building a more trusted relationship with policymakers, showcasing effective results from its interventions and building a cross-sectorial community among organisations and institutions that can collaborate through joint platforms.