First All-Ukrainian Children and Youth Gathering “Grow Healthy” carried out a closing ceremony at the Youth Center “Moloda Gvardiya”. The program was organized by the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Social policy of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Public Center for Extracurricular Education under the auspices of United Nations Population Fund in Ukraine.

The closing ceremony was opened with the welcoming remarks by Deputy Director of the Ukrainian Public Center for Extracurricular Education Mr. Pavlo Gorinov, Director General of the Youth Center “Moloda Gvardiya” Mr. Eduard Lebedynskyi and UNFPA Ukraine Program Advisor Mr. Andriy Poshtaruk

186 children from all the regions of Ukraine took part in the “Grow Healthy” program activities. They participated in the training sessions aimed at improving their communication skills, enhance dialogue and exchange opinions, define their values and life priorities. The children discussed circumstances that influence one’s health and had a chance to increase their knowledge of the responsible behavior towards their own health and lives. The participants were divided into separate groups each of that by the end of the program turned into a creative team of friends with common interests and shared plans for the healthy and happy future.

Teachers and curators of the Youth Center “Moloda Gvardiya” could also perform in the new capacities: to conduct training workshops in the framework of the “Grow Healthy” curriculum together with experienced trainers.

The program participants not only undertook trainings, but also took part in a number of contests. These were the children picture contest “Health is a value of life”, the photos contest “Teenage world is a world of relationships” and the social ads contest “We support healthy life style!”. The authors of the best works received certificates and prizes from the UNFPA Ukraine.

The “Grow Healthy” program will be held on a regular basis from now on. Therefore, there was another contest organized in the framework of the program and that was to develop the best design of the “Grow Healthy” logo. The winner of this contest was Olga Shulyk from Khmelnytsky region.