The Young European Ambassadors (YEAs) initiative is a non-political, voluntary, vibrant communication network connecting and building bridges of friendship among young people from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and the EU Member States and the United Kingdom. The aim of the network is to raise awareness about the EU’s cooperation with its Eastern partner countries, showcase the tangible results of this cooperation, contribute to policy dialogue on various topics, help increase civic activism and work together for a better future.
The YEAs initiative was established in June 2016 as part of the ‘EU NEIGHBOURS east’ project and has involved more than 1,700 young people from over 30 different countries to date.
We organise YEA-led social media campaigns and public diplomacy activities, workshops, ideathons, pub quizzes, meetings, school visits, fairs, Europe Days or Instagram live debates, online bingos, vlogs, takeovers and much more. The YEAs have the chance to represent their countries at meetings with high-level EU officials, contribute to policy discussions by participating in a variety of EU events, including European youth forums and Eastern Partnership conferences. The YEAs initiative offers volunteering, career building and young leadership opportunities to its network members.
We are a vibrant and diverse community who keep engaged and share our knowledge, views and experiences. Read our stories here.
You can apply to become a Young European Ambassador once a year during the call for applications, which will normally happen in autumn. Information about the call for applications and the application form will be published here and promoted on the EU NEIGHBOURS east communication channels.
After the call for applications is closed, there are few more steps to follow, which require further input from the candidates. Selected candidates will be invited to an interview, afterwards, candidates who successfully pass the interview will be invited to provide additional information (e.g. provide a profile photo, sign consent form, develop a description for the website profile etc) and as a final step, their profiles will be sent for further approval (to the official stakeholders). The process from the date when the call for applications is closed until the final results takes approximately eight weeks.
The YEAs initiative is a proactive one. As many interested candidates will be selected as are judged to be active, show interest and pass all the necessary stages.
If you will be 16 within one month of expressing your interest in becoming a Young European Ambassador, then you are able to apply. Please note that selected candidates aged 16-17 will be exclusively eligible for online engagement and local activities in their respective countries, not for international travel.
Yes, you can still apply as long as you have not turned 27 by the application deadline of 1 October 2024.
One of the determining factors of this initiative is its youth-focused approach through a network of YEAs in a similar age range. The YEAs initiative has from its inception been designed for young people aged between 16 and 26, and the majority of our civic engagement activities target youth within this age range. After an individual Young European Ambassador turns 27, they will no longer be a YEA and therefore will be unable to participate in/launch any civic engagement activity or participate in international events with the programme. They will also be removed from the official communication and respective chats. However, everyone, whatever their age has the opportunity to continue supporting the initiative in a new role by becoming a mentor, a trainer or an EU4Youth Alumni. The EU NEIGHBOURS east team and Young European Ambassadors in-Country Coordinators will discuss these options with the prospective candidates on an individual basis. We do this to maintain the overall character of this initiative and offer the YEA experience to as many young people as possible across the EaP region, in the EU and UK. The programme and its YEAs initiative will continue to keep in touch with the former YEAs in their future endeavours as young professionals and leaders of their communities.
Because of many restrictions in place in the EU and EaP countries during the pandemic, most of the YEAs’ activities have been carried out online. Where and whenever possible, YEAs have now started to organise offline civic engagement activities, following all the measures foreseen by local authorities. The initiative has always kept its fast pace though, as there are a lot of events, webinars, workshops, networking and awareness-raising activities happening all the time.
For Young European Ambassadors (YEAs) related information:
General information: [email protected]
YEAs in Armenia: [email protected]
YEAs in Azerbaijan: [email protected]
YEAs in Belarus: [email protected]
YEAs in Georgia: [email protected]
YEAs in Moldova: [email protected]
YEAs in Ukraine: [email protected]
YEAs in the EU Member States: [email protected]
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This website is managed by the EU-funded Regional Communication Programme for the Eastern Neighbourhood ('EU NEIGHBOURS east’), which complements and supports the communication of the Delegations of the European Union in the Eastern partner countries, and works under the guidance of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, and the European External Action Service. EU NEIGHBOURS east is implemented by a GOPA PACE-led consortium. It is part of the larger Neighbourhood Communication Programme (2020-2024) for the EU's Eastern and Southern Neighbourhood, which also includes 'EU NEIGHBOURS south’ project that runs the EU Neighbours portal.
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