New U-Points become local hubs for young people

U-Report, the digital platform from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) that empowers young people around the world to engage with issues that matter to them, is further expanding its reach by opening local offices in Ukraine.

On 27 December 2022, the first U-Point office was opened in north-western city of Zhytomyr, aimed at creating new opportunities and furthering cooperation with local youth. The launch event was organized by the U-Report team, with the support of UNICEF, Youth UP NGO and Kreativ Space Youth Center. There, local authority representatives and young people from the Zhytomyr region discussed the U-Report project and potential opportunities.

“The opening of U-Point is an important development in youth centre work,” says U-Point Coordinator Viktoria Bezsmertna. “After all, taking into account the opinion of young people is critical for our work. U-Point is not just about researching the opinion of young people, but also a space for creating opportunities and holding networking events.”

Why were the U-Points created?

The U-Point offices aim to engage even more young people with the U-Report project in Ukrainian regions, utilising interesting surveys and projects to collect opinions on important issues and convey them to stakeholders. The U-Points will also generate relevant projects and opportunities for young people in the different regions.

Future offices are planned in the Lviv and Kyiv regions.

“U-Points are our agents of change in communities,” says Anastasia Voloshyna, Coordinator of UNICEF Youth Projects. “Thanks to their connections, they have the opportunity to involve young people in the U-Report project, taking into account the nature of each region. U-Points are created on the basis of youth centres or regional NGOs working with young people.”

“One of the goals of the U-Points is to develop local communities or networks of U-Reporters – helping young people to communicate and exchange ideas and opinions. Youth centres or local NGOs will also have the opportunity to adapt the U-Report project to their own regions, based on their knowledge of the regional context,” Anastasia explained.

What are the benefits of U-Points for young people?

Maksym Lutsenko, Chair of the Board of Youth UP NGO, sees U-Point as an opportunity for young people to participate in major changes in society and influence youth policy.

“First, the U-Point teams study the needs of the youth of their region, creating a community of active youth around them,” says Lutsenko. “Second, U-Points make the U-Report tool more accessible to organisations and institutions working with youth at the regional and local levels. In addition, U-Points are working on expanding the community of U-Reporters, which will make it possible to engage even more young people into youth policy development.”

“Third, U-Points are a place for networking and collaboration,” he continues. “Because U-Points collect requests from completely different institutions that work with young people, they can become platforms for interesting collaborations and partnerships in the community.”