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UNICEF Ukraine Young People Advisory Board

2023—2025

UNICEF

Українська
English

Children and young people have the right to be heard and be involved in decisions that affect them and their rights.

UNICEF Ukraine established its Young People Advisory Board to help ensure that young people in Ukraine are heard by UNICEF and partners, and that their views, ideas and opinions are taken into consideration in the planning and implementation of programmes.

The UNICEF Ukraine Young People Advisory Board aims to:

Increase UNICEF’s accountability to young people
Support young people’s leadership and build their skills to improve their understanding and opportunities of influence and participation in the Humanitarian Response and Early Recovery
Increase programmatic relevance and credibility of UNICEF’s work with and for young people across all aspects of UNICEF’s mandate
Create opportunities for vulnerable young people with lived experiences to co-design programmatic response and policies benefitting themselves and their peers

UNICEF Ukraine Young People Advisory Board 2023-2025

YPAB members are leaders in their own communities. They use their knowledge, skills, and voices to advocate for the rights of children and young people. They inspire their peers to take action and contribute to meaningful changes in society, helping build a better future for every child in Ukraine.

Oleksandra Kamienieva, 21

From Zaporizhzhia.
Psychologist.
Volunteer in the Charity organization "Kateryna Osadcha Foundation"
Volunteer as a peer-to-peer counselor, providing free psychological support to teenagers and coordinates peer-to-peer counselors work at Teenergizer.
Oleksandra loves reading, listening and recording podcasts and working with the topic of mental health development in Ukraine.

Valeria Baisak, 18

From Oleksandriya, Kropyvnytskyi region.
Studying international law at the Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University
Member of the Oleksandriya Youth Parliament and Organization “Oleksandriya Youth”, communication manager of the youth space.
Taking part in UPSHIFT program.
Interested in environmental initiatives.

Polina Shylo, 22

From Dnipro.
Studying Law in Dnipro National University named after Oles Honchar.
Polina loves reading, drawing pictures by numbers and going to the gym.
Lawyer at the Charitable Fund “Right to Protection”.
Acting Secretary of the Oles Honchar Dnipro National University Student Council.

Viktoriia Barylovska, 17

From a small village in Ternopil oblast.
Student at the United World College Maastricht, Netherlands.
Active volunteer and youth activist.
Young European Ambassador in Ukraine.
The participant of the UPSHIFT programme.
Ambassador at DIYMO.
Viktoriia has a knack for studying foreign languages and writing literary works, and she is also a vocalist and a true traveler.

Diana Dmytriuk, 18

From Petropavlivka, Dnipropetrovsk region.
Studying physics and astronomy at the National University Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Was head of the Center for Children's Initiatives of her lyceum.
Founder of the projects "Plekayou" (it's about social tutoring), and "UkraineSpaceTechnology“.
Diana is fascinated by space, specifically astrophysics.

Sofia Nuzhna, 18

From Kharkiv, now in Kyiv.
Studying political science at the Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University.
Sofia was a trainee paralegal at the law firm Robinson Patman, where she was focused on helping cultural heritage affected by the russian invasion. Such as National Literary and Memorial Museum of H.S. Skovoroda, the Chernihiv Regional Organisation of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, the Okhtyrka City Museum of Local Lore, and others.
Takes part in volunteer programmes of Uanimals.
Ambassador at DIYMO

Artem Serebriakov, 17

From Dnipro.
Student of the Institute of International Relations, involved in the activities of the Institute's Student Council (Educational Department); member of the European Youth Parliament; graduate of the YouLEAD24 programme.
Member of the National Scout Organization of Ukraine, where he where is involved in cultural exchange between Ukraine and Western countries.
Artem assists students of schools who are forced to stay abroad.
Artem likes playing piano, learning foreign languages and traveling.

Anna Kryzhanivska, 20

From Vinnytsia, lives in Kyiv.
Studying international law at Educational and Scientific Institute of International Relations KNU.
Anna loves learning foreign languages, creating videos and writing articles
Secretary of the UNICEF Ukraine Young People Advisory Board
Member of the UNICEF Regional Co-Creators Group for Europe and Central Asia
Works for a human rights organisation

Svitlana Kulyk, 23

From Lysychansk, lives in Rivne.
Studying medicine at Luhansk State Medical University.
Working part time as laboratory assistant at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Founded project "On female matters", where women learn about breast and cervical cancer and acquire the skills of self-examination of MH on a simulator.
Co-founder of the project “Students Guardians: HPV free Ukraine

Maria Chileі, 20

From a small village in Odesa oblast, currently lives in Odesa.
Maria`s team is engaged in spreading Ukrainian culture and showing Ukrainians the cultures of national minorities.
Youth worker and mentor of the UPSHIFT programme.
Ambassador at DIYMO

Tetiana Kravchuk, 21

Сonstantly in between Ivano-Frankivsk and Kyiv.
Studying marketing in Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
Product marketing manager
Participant of the UPSHIFT programme.
Youth advocate for sustainable development, restoration of Ukraine and just peace; youth delegate to YAML, UNGA79, Summit of the Future Action Days.
Organizer of LCOY 2024 and 2025.
Youth advisor to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine.

Yelyzaveta Vovk, 21

From tiny town in Kyiv oblast, lives in Kyiv.
Studying psychology in Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University.
Peer consultant in Teenergizer, where she provides psychological support for young people.
Graduated from Lunds University.
Member of research team in the faculty.
Started her neuropsychological blog, where she describes difficult things by simple words.
Participant of the UPSHIFT programme.

Vlad Levchuk, 19

From Kyiv.
Studying law at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.
Legal researcher at the NGO “Global Rights Compliance”, which assists in the investigation of war crimes in Ukraine.
Member of the Youth Council under the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, member of the Kyiv City Youth Council (2023-2024).
Student volunteer, buddy, member of ELSA Kyiv and the European Youth Parliament.
Co-organizer of the first Local Youth Conference in Ukraine (LCOY Ukraine 2024).
Delegate to the UNWTO GYTS 2022 and the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28 and COP29).

Kateryna Gorbacheva, 22

From Kryvyi Rih, living in Khmelnytskyi region.
Studying Public Administration and Management at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
Studying Political Science at Ivan Ohienko National University of Kamianets-Podilskyi.
Headed the Youth Council of the city and the committee for the development of the youth environment.

Serhii Shcherban, 24

From Inhulets, lives in Chernivtsi.
Obtained a master's degree in Political Science from Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University.
Member of the All-Ukrainian Youth Public Organization “Foundation of Regional Initiatives”.
Project Manager at the NGO Chernivtsi Association "Zakhist".
Trainer in fundraising, accessibility and inclusion.

Anna Vietrova, 19

From little town Babai, Kharkiv region.
Studied in Missouri, USA as an exchange student as a FLEX finalist.
Studying Ethics-Politics-Economics at the Ukrainian Catholic University.
Member of the leadership team of the European Youth Ambassadors initiative in Ukraine.
Spent a year in Missouri, USA, as a finalist of the Future Leaders Exchange Programme.

Young People Advisory Board in action

Summer induction and bootcamp
International Day of the Girl campaign
Participation in the event “How are you? Stories of resilience” hosted by the First Lady of Ukraine
Launch of the DIyMO office
Mental Health Forum
Participation in UNICEF Ukraine’s Country Programme Development process
Participation in the evaluation of UNICEF’s emergency response in Ukraine
Events and takeovers for World Children’s Day
Event with the first lady to the World Children’s Day “Childhood 365: right to be yourself”
Youth representation for Ukraine at the Children’s Forum in Turkey
Youth representation for Ukraine at COP 28 in Dubai
Participation in The Youth Advocates Mobilization Lab during the 79th United Nations General Assembly and the Summit of the Future in New York, September 2024.
Local Conference of Youth (LCOY) in Kyiv, October 26-27, 2024
Youth representation for Ukraine at COP 29 in Baku.
Final meeting of 2024 year in Kyiv.