The VECTOR HUB youth space was opened at the Starovyshnivtsi Lyceum. The event was attended by USAID DOBRE Chief of Party Mr. Brian Kemple, local economic development expert Mr. Vitaliy Yurkiv, community engagement specialist Ms. Halyna Skalska, and other USAID DOBRE specialists, as well as Vyshnivets Mayor Mr. Volodymyr Kravets and local youth organizations.
Until now, the community did not have an equipped space where young people could hold their events, communicate, and spend time usefully. According to Ms. Inna Dovhaliuk, head of the local youth NGO Tsvit, their association has been operating for six years, and recently, the Plast movement (Ukrainian Scouts) has been actively developing in the Vyshnivetska community. However, the lack of their own space forced the youth to constantly adjust their activities and did not allow them to hold all the events they wanted to.
The USAID DOBRE Program assisted the community with furniture and multimedia equipment for the VECTOR HUB, worth more than UAH 517 thousand.
“I hope the local youth will enjoy spending time in this beautiful and modern youth space,” said Mr. Brian Kemple at the opening. “This project is the next stage of our fruitful cooperation with the Vyshnivetska community, which has been going on for over six years. Today, we also had the opportunity to see how previously implemented projects are working, and I was very pleased with what I saw.”
The community has recently formed a Youth Council headed by Ms. Anastasia Ivanchuk.
“From now on, we will have a powerful voice in the Vyshnivetska community, as well as the opportunity to organize various events for young people, workshops, schools, etc.,” says Ms. Anastasia Ivanchuk. “Previously, we used to travel around the community’s settlements ourselves and organize various events according to a schedule, but now we can invite the community youth to our space at any moment. At the same time, we are also improving and learning from other organizations how to involve all the youth of our community in the activities.”
The Vyshnivets region expects the VECTOR HUB to contribute to an increase in the number of youth activities in the community, as well as to greater cohesion and activation of local youth.
“We have to look to the future, in which today’s youth will manage all the processes in our community,” says Mr. Volodymyr Kravets, “And if they are active today, Vyshnivets will continue to be a modern community that will develop and move forward.”
This year, many educational and communication events are planned for the new youth space. These include art exhibitions,concerts, seminars,workshops, open training sessions, festivals and competitions. They will promote self-organization and unity among local youth and the development of the entire Vyshnevetska community.
The USAID Program, “Decentralization Offering Better Results and Efficiency” (DOBRE), is a nine-year program, implemented by Global Communities and funded by the United States Agency for International Development. DOBRE has worked closely with 100 consolidated communities (CCs) in ten Oblasts of Ukraine to help them realize the benefits and meet the challenges brought by decentralization. DOBRE provides technical and material assistance to CCs to help them govern openly and accountably and meet the needs of their citizens; and supports citizens’ active engagement in decision-making and policy making. DOBRE’s support encompasses strategic planning; spatial planning; financial management; public service delivery; local economic development; capacity building; good governance practices; and gender- and youth-responsive policies.
In the period 2022 – 2025, DOBRE will be working directly with at least 60 CCs of Ukraine to help them cope with the consequences of the war, recover and rebuild, and resume their trajectory of positive, sustainable development. Partners with Global Communities in the DOBRE Program Consortium include the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center; the Foundation in Support of Local Democracy, and the Malopolska School of Public Administration at the Krakow University of Economics, Poland.