From the 25th to the 28th of April, we had the great pleasure of delivering the Final Evaluation session of the “Refugee Skilling and Support II” project, supported by Accenture, and hosted by the team at YMCA Slovakia in sunny Bratislava.
The eDU And Mobile Hub implementation teams from YMCA Romania, Moldova, local and national hubs in Slovakia, as well as the local hubs in Ukraine – Lutsk, Zdolbuniv, Boyarka, Kremenchuk and Zaporizhja came together to assess the continuation of the programs, work on delivering the final evaluation of the project and network towards the further continuation of the services established at the hubs – to expand the partnerships and grow as movements.
The first day of the program kicked off with a short introduction and setting of the objectives of the Evaluation session. During the day, we had the pleasure of having a workshop on cooperation between the corporate sector and the non-profit one.
During the session, Alena Kanabova, Corporate Citizenship Lead for Accenture Slovakia delivered an invaluable workshop encouraging the representatives of the hub to expand their horizons, and networks to be more sustainable – as well as presenting the opportunities of the programs Accenture is delivering in Slovakia.
The session also strengthened our connection and paved the way for a stronger partnership, future project development, and delivery of invaluable tools such as our Mindful Bytes App, which we created together with Accenture Slovakia.
The day continued with the status of implementation of the eDU and Mobile hub programs- showcasing the success stories of the hubs in Ukraine, Slovakia, Moldova and Romania – coupled with insights and videos showcasing their incredible work at the very grassroots.
The program enabled the implementation teams of the eDU Hubs to also analyse the trends observed across the past year of delivering the project – which led to a better understanding of the narrative report, the processes, and key aspects they need to consider during the final stages of the program.
On the second day of the workshop, the teams had a session on success stories, and digital and online communication with a focus on social media, as a main tool to expand networks, increase visibility, and enable further engagement and outreach of the hub sessions in the online.
The session could not have been possible without focusing on key aspects such as impact assessment and resourcing – both highlighting the importance of utilising all the available funding tools, strategic planning opportunities and a critical analysis of the outputs & inputs of the project.
During the external dimension of the project – session, we had an honourable quest, the CEO of Junior Achievement Ukraine – Yuriy Tokarski, delivered an insightful as well as eye-opening workshop on working with the private sector, expanding the network, and focusing on utilising novel tools to facilitate our joint work.
The workshop concluded with the evaluation of the workshop, focused on organisational capacity, data/insights driven – with a view on how the YMCAs and the hubs could continue their growth and sustainable development.
Powered by Accenture, this project addresses an immediate and clear need enabling tens of thousands of beneficiaries from the communities affected by the war in Ukraine, leveraging YMCA’s existing and significant pan-Europe presence by establishing community hubs that assist in skills development and connecting to employment opportunities – and other wrap-around services – for Ukraine refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in a holistic way.
YMCA Hubs will help people connect with local communities and resources, including access to safe and secure skills development and support services, e.g. as promoted by Accenture and other quality-assured partners.
Photo album available below.
