YEU International is opening a Call for the Mykola Pekh Award for the YEU Youth Worker of the Year 2023.
Youth work and youth worker
Youth workers are dedicated experts who support and guide young individuals in their personal, social, and educational development.
Youth work plays a crucial role in society by creating a safe and inclusive environment and providing opportunities for active youth participation. Youth work provides learning spaces through programmes that are needs–centred and have a social‐constructivist approach. It guides young individuals through their developmental journey, fostering resilience, identity, and community engagement, thereby shaping responsible and active citizens in society.
As youth workers play a key role in empowering young people to face life’s challenges and become active contributors to society; through this award YEU would like to honour your work and the story that each one of you tries to transmit.
The story of the name of this award: Mykola Pekh Award
YEU decided to name this award after a YEU friend and leader of our Member Organization Institute of Ukrainian Studies (IUS) Mykola Pekh who passed away in 2014. Mykola, who was an active social activist, gave great contributions to YEU work. Youth work and constant fight for improvement of youth rights in Ukraine and Europe in general were his life and passion. Being a president of our Member Organization Institute of Ukrainian Studies (IUS), he made an enormous contribution changing the everyday life of youth with disabilities, or as we call it difabilities, by giving his personal example that everything is possible. Sharing his enthusiasm in making this world a better place for young people, we want that his legacy will live on through our continued work.
Between 2014 and 2019, member organisations of YEU nominated a lot of young people who, with their engagements and potentials, inspired youth from their communities. However, the COVID-19 pandemic introduced unprecedented challenges, disrupting regular activities and limiting in-person interactions, making it difficult to continue these initiatives between 2020 and 2022. Despite this setback, given our commitment, we are eager to restart and resume presenting this award, reaffirming our dedication to recognizing and honouring the inspiring contributions of young individuals in the coming period.
Application Process of Mykola Pekh Award 2023
This year, in 2023, we are encouraging you again to think about the people who are changing the local realities, working with the young people in the communities and making your places a better place for living.
In order to nominate a youth worker from your organisation, you need to fill in the application form in which you are explaining why this person should receive the award.
Deadline for applying is November 23rd 23:59 CET.
The results will be announced in the YEU General Assembly winter edition which will be held on December 1st 2023 in Brussels, Belgium.
