09/16/08
Events in Ukraine
Young Ukrainians Practice Governmental Skills with Help from the World Bank
From the World Bank and edited by Nova Mova.
In a packed room in Crimea, the Ukrainian government was fully present. Debating and voting on the country’s development priorities, 40 cabinet ministers engaged in a lively discussion with the newly appointed World Bank Country Director for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. After a bit more than two hours, the new World Bank Strategy was adopted: waste management, health and social insurance, and alternative sources of energy were the selected three priorities.
This was not the actual Ukrainian government, but some of the representatives in the room could very well be part of Ukraine’s government of the future. The event was organized by the Students Republic, an annual gathering of youth leaders, to which the World Bank was invited.
The Students Republic is an exercise aimed at developing skills for active civil participation among young leaders by modeling the political processes based on a real country. The participants could form political parties, compete to be elected president, prime minister and ministers. They could also play the roles of journalists, judges, police, the national bank, etc. The goal of the exercise is to strengthen the civil society movement by helping young people develop a culture of civil engagement and the values of democracy. A slogan of the exercise states that Students Republic is a place for “those who want to win.”
The first Students Republic project was organized during the Youth Day celebration in 1998. Since then, Students Republic has become an all-Ukrainian project supported by the Ministry of Youth, Family and Sport, as well as by the Ministry of Education. For the last 10 years most of the young leaders of Ukraine took part in the Students Republic. The graduates of the Students Republic have become city mayors, active players in different political parties, government officials, and advisors to ministers. Students Republic is the only all-Ukrainian project-exercise for young leaders from all regions of Ukraine.
Each year the game takes place in a different location in order to highlight new parts of Ukraine. This year’s Students Republic was organized on the Tarkhankut Cape – the western part of the Crimea peninsula – and accommodated around 750 participants and up to 1,000 guests.
The World Bank session of the exercise was called “Modeling Cooperation Between the World Bank and Authorities. Participants were asked initially to name their top priorities for Ukraine’s future development. Topics relevant to youth, such as development of a network of hostels, bank credits for young people, green tourism, development of sport, and support for young families, were among the most important priorities raised.
But challenges facing the entire Ukrainian society, from local to global levels, were also featured: energy and economic security, global warming, ecology, agriculture, EURO 2012, employment, fighting corruption, connection of villages to gas supplies, inexpensive credits for large enterprises, social advertisement, social programs for disabilities, and others. A vote took place to identify the top ten priorities, and then a second vote was taken to narrow down to five key issues.
“We should move our focus from general issues to local problems,” said Kostyantin Bilyk, a participant in the exercise. “There is no reason to ask for assistance in general, as it is impossible to do everything. Let us concentrate and choose one actual problem that has to be solved here and now.”
It is interesting to analyze which topics were suggested and why. Pavel Krasnobryzhny, former president of the republic, suggested a project on development of a high-speed railway as he is a transport university student. Another participant proposed an initiative to develop a credit scheme for young people, as she had personal difficulties accessing finance. Other participants suggested student loans as a priority, reflecting their own experiences with financing higher education.
“I am quite disappointed with my people and the issues they have chosen to present to the World Bank for its support, said Oleksiy Chornyi, prime minister of the Students Republic and former president in the exercise (in 2005). “They concentrated on the local and concrete projects, so they cannot improve the lives of all citizens of the country. But in this respect, I see a role for the bank in showing the high level of professionalism and for educating future leaders about how to think in a more strategic way.
Following a debate on the shortlisted issues, the three issues considered most critical were chosen and discussed further in subgroups: waste management, medical insurance, and alternative sources of energy. In all, three projects ministries were established to ask for the World Bank’s expertise, global knowledge and, in the case of the waste management project, financial support.
“We had a chance to participate in a real exercise with professionals from a real organization, said Mykyta Poltayko, a candidate for the post of Student Republic president in 2008. “Now we have a clear picture about what we have to improve in order to become professional decision makers in the future.”
“It is very exciting to see how the World Bank cooperates with young leaders and helps our voices to be heard,” said Artem Kikhaylyuk, an active member of the organizational committee and moderator of the exercise. “These young leaders playing the roles of president, prime minister and ministers will take over the country in the near future, and their views and ideas should already be taken into account by the decision makers today. There is a great future for such fruitful cooperation, and we hope that the World Bank will work with us and support youth initiative in the future.”
The World Bank has organized a number of events for youth in the recent years, such as youth open houses; essay competitions; summer forums for young leaders of Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova; and the Development Marketplace. Theses initiatives are designed to inspire young Ukrainians to actively participate and share their views on the most urgent topics for society and to suggest new initiatives that will help to improve their lives. In September 2008, the World Bank in Ukraine launched a national essay competition for youth on corruption in higher education and looks forward to learning the opinions of the young people on this topic and their ideas to fight it.
In a packed room in Crimea, the Ukrainian government was fully present. Debating and voting on the country’s development priorities, 40 cabinet ministers engaged in a lively discussion with the newly appointed World Bank Country Director for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. After a bit more than two hours, the new World Bank Strategy was adopted: waste management, health and social insurance, and alternative sources of energy were the selected three priorities.
This was not the actual Ukrainian government, but some of the representatives in the room could very well be part of Ukraine’s government of the future. The event was organized by the Students Republic, an annual gathering of youth leaders, to which the World Bank was invited.
The Students Republic is an exercise aimed at developing skills for active civil participation among young leaders by modeling the political processes based on a real country. The participants could form political parties, compete to be elected president, prime minister and ministers. They could also play the roles of journalists, judges, police, the national bank, etc. The goal of the exercise is to strengthen the civil society movement by helping young people develop a culture of civil engagement and the values of democracy. A slogan of the exercise states that Students Republic is a place for “those who want to win.”
The first Students Republic project was organized during the Youth Day celebration in 1998. Since then, Students Republic has become an all-Ukrainian project supported by the Ministry of Youth, Family and Sport, as well as by the Ministry of Education. For the last 10 years most of the young leaders of Ukraine took part in the Students Republic. The graduates of the Students Republic have become city mayors, active players in different political parties, government officials, and advisors to ministers. Students Republic is the only all-Ukrainian project-exercise for young leaders from all regions of Ukraine.
Each year the game takes place in a different location in order to highlight new parts of Ukraine. This year’s Students Republic was organized on the Tarkhankut Cape – the western part of the Crimea peninsula – and accommodated around 750 participants and up to 1,000 guests.
The World Bank session of the exercise was called “Modeling Cooperation Between the World Bank and Authorities. Participants were asked initially to name their top priorities for Ukraine’s future development. Topics relevant to youth, such as development of a network of hostels, bank credits for young people, green tourism, development of sport, and support for young families, were among the most important priorities raised.
But challenges facing the entire Ukrainian society, from local to global levels, were also featured: energy and economic security, global warming, ecology, agriculture, EURO 2012, employment, fighting corruption, connection of villages to gas supplies, inexpensive credits for large enterprises, social advertisement, social programs for disabilities, and others. A vote took place to identify the top ten priorities, and then a second vote was taken to narrow down to five key issues.
“We should move our focus from general issues to local problems,” said Kostyantin Bilyk, a participant in the exercise. “There is no reason to ask for assistance in general, as it is impossible to do everything. Let us concentrate and choose one actual problem that has to be solved here and now.”
It is interesting to analyze which topics were suggested and why. Pavel Krasnobryzhny, former president of the republic, suggested a project on development of a high-speed railway as he is a transport university student. Another participant proposed an initiative to develop a credit scheme for young people, as she had personal difficulties accessing finance. Other participants suggested student loans as a priority, reflecting their own experiences with financing higher education.
“I am quite disappointed with my people and the issues they have chosen to present to the World Bank for its support, said Oleksiy Chornyi, prime minister of the Students Republic and former president in the exercise (in 2005). “They concentrated on the local and concrete projects, so they cannot improve the lives of all citizens of the country. But in this respect, I see a role for the bank in showing the high level of professionalism and for educating future leaders about how to think in a more strategic way.
Following a debate on the shortlisted issues, the three issues considered most critical were chosen and discussed further in subgroups: waste management, medical insurance, and alternative sources of energy. In all, three projects ministries were established to ask for the World Bank’s expertise, global knowledge and, in the case of the waste management project, financial support.
“We had a chance to participate in a real exercise with professionals from a real organization, said Mykyta Poltayko, a candidate for the post of Student Republic president in 2008. “Now we have a clear picture about what we have to improve in order to become professional decision makers in the future.”
“It is very exciting to see how the World Bank cooperates with young leaders and helps our voices to be heard,” said Artem Kikhaylyuk, an active member of the organizational committee and moderator of the exercise. “These young leaders playing the roles of president, prime minister and ministers will take over the country in the near future, and their views and ideas should already be taken into account by the decision makers today. There is a great future for such fruitful cooperation, and we hope that the World Bank will work with us and support youth initiative in the future.”
The World Bank has organized a number of events for youth in the recent years, such as youth open houses; essay competitions; summer forums for young leaders of Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova; and the Development Marketplace. Theses initiatives are designed to inspire young Ukrainians to actively participate and share their views on the most urgent topics for society and to suggest new initiatives that will help to improve their lives. In September 2008, the World Bank in Ukraine launched a national essay competition for youth on corruption in higher education and looks forward to learning the opinions of the young people on this topic and their ideas to fight it.
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