February 28, 2019

Building a Strong European Society (BASES) in countries of the Eastern Partnership

2018 was the third year of the BASES project run by the European Youth Parliament in cooperation with the German Federal Foreign Office. Numerous parliamentary events and training initiatives have been successfully organised by the EYP National Committees in countries of the Eastern Partnership. Let’s take a closer look at their major accomplishments. 

2018 was the year with the most impact in the history of the BASES project. More than 1200 young people from more than 10 countries participated in 15 diverse events supporting youth political empowerment. The events took place on international, national and regional level in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Ukraine, Russia and Germany. EYP National Committees successfully developed a variety of formats focused on regional needs and trends and involved young people from diverse educational and social backgrounds. 

This year also marked quite a few special celebrations: EYP Georgia’s 10th anniversary and EYP Belarus’s 20th anniversary. Furthermore, the national session in Minsk in November 2018 was one of the first EYP sessions of this scale organised in Belarus in the last 10 years. 

In total, 8 training events took place in the region, allowing young volunteers to enhance their skills and take up various responsibilities within the EYP network. Capacity building events focused on outreach and inclusion (Diversity Lab in Russia), fundraising and event management in Georgia and Belarus, and the Training for EYP Trainers in Ukraine. They fostered knowledge exchange and best practices sharing as well as cooperation among young multipliers in the region. 

The project continued removing accessibility barriers by distributing more than 180 travel grants to young people who face financial challenges due to the economic situations in their countries. On top of allowing them to participate in EYP activities, they also benefited from the experience of intercultural exchanges abroad. 

Congratulations to all volunteers who worked on making this project possible! We are happy to see that the BASES project continued to help the EYP National Committees in the countries of the Eastern Partnership!