On March 19, 2019, in Ukrinform, the outcomes of the initiative “Pact For Youth-2020” were presented, active signatories - awarded and plans for 2019 - discussed.

“Pact For Youth - 2020” is an initiative implemented by the CSR Ukraine, Center for CSR Development, the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and United Nations Population Fund. During the last three years, 123 companies signed the “Pact For Youth - 2020” and created jointly 32,127 jobs for the young people, 596 partnerships with educational institutions, and provided mentorship support for the first job for 1,700 young people.

The conference was opened by Oleksandr Yarema, Deputy of the Minister of Youth and Sports: “The initiative “Pact For Youth - 2020” is a great example of an interaction between the state, the public sector and business in addressing such an important issue as employment. In particular, that fact that such initiatives as the National Action Plan on Youth Employment originate in the course of interaction, is a further confirmation that trust, understanding and vision are in place, and that only by taking integral joint efforts we can achieve meaningful results”.

In her turn, Yuliia Novak, Coordinator of the youth initiatives of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, said: “The United Nations Population Fund is glad to be a part of the significant initiative “Pact For Youth - 2020”. In Ukraine, we implement the initiatives for young people in order to help them to become active citizens, to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for healthy and happy life and effective society development. It is important that every young person can unlock their potential”.

Maryna Saprykina, Director of CSR Ukraine, Center for CSR Development, noted: “Three years ago, CSR Ukraine as an expert organization that promotes the principles of sustainable development and social responsibility in business, joined the European initative “Pact For Youth”, and together with its partners launched the Ukrainian edition. By signing the Pact, the companies commit to the following: 1) to create new jobs for young people; 2) to develop new partnership programs with universities, and 3) to involve staff in career mentorship programs. It is important that companies fulfill their obligations and each year report on progress”.

As a part of the activity, the awarding of the most active signatories was held, among them there were the following: Syngenta, Watsons Ukraine, UKRSIBBANK BNP Paribas Group, Coca Cola Beverages Ukraine Limited, Raiffeisen Bank Aval. The companies explained why they support the Pact and address the issue of young people employment.

Pierre Cohadon, CEO of Syngenta Ukraine:“ Syngenta believes that development of young talented specialists is a top priority of the responsible business. More than 40 trainees are involved in our company's projects each year to contribute to unlocking of the potential of plants and agriculture overall. It is very important for us to cooperate within the framework of the “Pact For Youth”, which enables the involvement of talented young people and dissemination of information about the prospects of work in our company throughout Ukraine”.

Nataliia Zhukova, HR Business Partner, Watsons Ukraine, noted: “On October 06, 2018, Watsons Ukraine signed the “Pact For Youth - 2020”. This is a worthy step towards creating a professional future for Ukraine and we are pleased become a part of it, supporting and developing this initiative. We have been cooperating with many professional and higher education institutions for a long time, providing internship for students in our company. It is important and pleasant, that the start of young people career is happening right here! By becoming the signatory of the Pact, we hope for productive cooperation with educational institutions, increasing the popularity and respect for technical and professional fields of study. We have many years of experience we are ready to share, to help students and schoolchildren to choose their profession, sign up young specialists in our team”.

In her turn, Natalia Halunko, Head of HR Management Department, UKRSIBBANK BNP Paribas Group, said: “We invite not only experts but also recent university graduates. Moreover, we look to the future and today we are encouraging schoolchildren - the generation that values technology, mobility and continuous development the most, to choose a career in the world of finance. That is why we support projects under the initiative “Pact for Youth”: WOW and Skills Lab, as well as separate projects "Open for TEENS”, “Career from school: choosing and planning" and the mentoring initiative "STEM Girls".

Olha Kudina, CSR Specialist, Coca Cola Beverages Ukraine Limited, noted: “Coca Cola Beverages Ukraine consistently implements the strategy of youth development, our goal is to help 25 thousand young Ukrainians to have a better future by 2020. Cooperation within the “Pact for Youth” is an opportunity to draw attention of the society and business community to the problem of the development of the most vulnerable young people who need support. As on today, the initiative #YouthEmpowered for the development of vulnerable young people is covering 15 boarding schools in 9 Ukrainian regions. In addition to that, in the end of the last year, we launched the innovative educational online platform #YouthEmpowered Digital Hub, which contains many interesting training sessions for the development of business and life skills, access to which is free. Since signing the Pact, the company has provided the opportunity for more than 8,000 young Ukrainians to get better education and find decent work”.

"JSC Raiffeisen Bank Aval as a socially responsible employer, is proposing a lot of possibilities for talented young people. Last year we joined TOP-20 Employers of Ukraine according to HeadHunter. We have trainee programs in different areas, we provide students with the possibility to undertake their internship, and we employ young specialists having no experience for the jobs of the initial level. In 2018, more than 60 trainees and 330 students got their first experience in our bank. Moreover, the representatives of our company took part in more than 100 events for young people in various regions (job fairs, bank tours, workshops for students etc.). Raiffeisen Bank Aval joined the initiative “Pact for Youth - 2020’ last year. The mission of the Pact is matching with the goals of our company with respect to employment and education of young people”, Veronika Bodashko,  Head of Key Account Support Department for HR Management, JSC Raiffeisen Bank Aval, said.

During the press conference, the Pact was signed by new companies, among them there are such companies as Decathlon Ukraine, NEK Ukrenergo State Owned Enterprise and educational partners Startup Ukraine, Ukrainian Leadership Academy.

Taras Derkach, Coordinator of Career Hub, CSR Ukraine, told about the plans of the initiative for 2019: “This year our cooperation with the partners will be focused on events in Cherkasy, Mykolaiiv and Kryvyi Rih, where “Business Youth: Cooperation WOW Effect” Forums will be held, and the initiative “Skills Lab: own business and successful career” will be launched. In addition to that, we will continue active meetings with signatories and implementation of the National Action Plan”.