Over 300 active young people, youth workers, and representatives of the government and international organizations gathered on International Youth Day at the Free to Dream Ukrainian youth forum to discuss the vision for the future of youth policy in Ukraine.

For three days, the forum participants exchanged experiences and discussed the concept of the Youth of Ukraine State Targeted Social Programme for 2026-2030 – the main vision document for the development of youth policy in Ukraine.

Throughout the event, young people had the chance to learn more about programmes and opportunities for implementing their ideas and projects. During the opportunities fair, participants discovered best practices in youth work, including those supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine:

• The VidNOVA:UA youth exchange programme to involve young people in Ukraine’s recovery;
• The Victory Dialogues initiative – facilitation sessions of youth councils on engaging young people in country recovery, community development, and local policy-making;
• The Youth Worker professional development programme, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year;
• The aGAIN 2.0 student self-governance development workshop for student self-governance teams in higher and vocational pre-higher educational institutions in Ukraine;
• The InEvolve summer camp for youth leaders in community recovery and development;
• Young Recovery Ambassadors workshops – an opportunity for young people to participate in planning their communities’ recoveries;
• The CREATE youth incubator for creating step-by-step plans to implement youth volunteer initiatives;
• The ENTRY POINTS youth intensive programme for learning about local government work using a target region as an example;
• #SOLVE_IT: a youth ideathon offering space for collaborative learning, experience sharing, and idea refinement under the mentorship of experienced experts.