Future leaders solve current problems

Thirteen youth organizations from Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova received 232,000 USD in grants as part of a World Bank-run initiative that supports innovatory development projects, Info-Prim Neo reports. The given organizations are winners of the Development Marketplace 2008, a competitive grant program of the World Bank that finances innovative, durable, small-scale, youth-oriented development projects that can extend or be replicated in other parts. Among the Moldovan winning projects are: “New Opportunities for Youth” – the public association for children and youth “Faclia” from Ungheni; “Formation and Employment of the Youth Affected by Drugs, Crime and HIV” – organization “Viata Noua” from Chisinau; “Creation of two Centers for Developing Life Skills and Employment” – the Youth Association for Right to Life from Chisinau, etc. According to organizers, this year the contest had as topic “Choose Your Future Today: Improving Work Opportunities and Developing Healthy Lifestyles for Young People”. Participants’ projects refer to a number of complex problems in the context of the year of the youth, from better employment opportunities to increased alertness to HIV/AIDS. Forty of the 476 projects presented were selected for participation in the Kiev final, the chief economist for Ukraine of the World Bank, Martin Raiser said. The grant awarding event was accompanied by a seminar where representatives of different youth organizations could discuss problems related to unemployment and health and could share ideas and solutions to common problems. The World Bank contributed 200,000 USD to the event, while the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the mobile phone operator MTS by 20,000 USD and 12,500 USD respectively.