Cherkasy, April 25 - CSR Ukraine, CSR Development Center expert organization, UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund, and the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine held the Regional Forum "BUSINESS AND YOUTH: WOW-EFFECT FROM COOPERATION" within the framework of the Ukrainian Pact for Youth-2020". The event was held with the support of the Cherkasy Oblast Employment Center, the Office for Family, Youth and Sports of Cherkasy Oblast State Administration and the Cherkasy Youth Resource Center.

The purpose of the Forum is to strengthen the dialogue between the youth and employers for the better employment of young people and the country development. According to the results of the "Youth of Ukraine-2018" sociological survey, 36.6% of young people recognized the "career building" as the most desirable achievement in life. At the same time, one third of the interviewed graduates of the HEIs believes that they do not possess sufficient knowledge and skills for employment.

Taras Derkach, Career Hub Coordinator of the CSR Development Center, opened the event and briefed the participants on the Center activities and partners on career development for youth, in particular, with the results and achievements of the Pact over the past 3 years: "The Forum expands the opportunities for young people's career promotion. This is a platform where companies and young people are introduced. For this event, we even created special business cards for young people to provide to HR-companies that inspired them with their offers".

Yuliya Novak, HIV/AIDS and Youth Advisor to the UNFPA, United Nations Population Fund, addressed local partners and companies with appreciation and emphasized, "If you are here, this means that you are caring about the development of your city and see the potential of youth and understand the investments that you can make today for the sake of a better future".

As part of the event, the Pact for Youth-2020 was solemnly signed by the Reikartz Hotel Group and the Cherkasy Oblast Department of Oschadbank. A seminar was organized for local companies on how to effectively engage the Z generation, how to maintain employees' psychological health, and to implement a family-friendly approach to the organization. Moreover, Alfa-Bank Ukraine, UKRSIBBANK BNP Paribas Group, Ukrposhta, Reikartz Hotel Group, Oschadbank, Cherkasy City Employment Center and Youth Resource Center have presented their career development programs for young people.

For the first time at the Forum, an innovative B2Y Challenge business case format was organized. Young participants and team members worked on solving HR-managers' tasks from companies, generating non-standard ideas and presenting their own solutions. The best-performing participants from the teams received gifts from the organizers. At the end of the forum, the young people took part in the "CV writing and preparing for interview" workshop.

The forum became the starting point for the launch of the Pact for Youth in Cherkasy Oblast. The next steps will be the opening of training programs for young people "Skills Lab: successful career" and "Skills Lab: own business", as well as inviting new companies to collaborate.

More information about the Pact initiative is available on the website - careerhub.in.ua/pact-for-youth-2020