Grassroots youth in the Eastern Partnership

Project Summary

Project period: October 2023 – May 2025
Partners: Armenian Progressive Youth NGO, Youth Organization “STAN”
Funded by: Swedish Institute

GY-EAP is a partnership between Fryshuset (Sweden), STAN (Ukraine), and Armenian Progressive Youth (Armenia) aimed at developing a platform for youth workers and young activists supporting youth affected by war, displacement, violence, and crisis.

Focusing on war and hard life circumstances, youth resilience and sustainability, and mental health in peacebuilding, the project actively involved youth workers and activists as co-creators and beneficiaries. A comprehensive needs analysis conducted across Ukraine, Armenia, and Sweden provided critical insights into the challenges they face, shaping the project’s design and ensuring its direct relevance to end users.

Context and Challenges

In recent years, both Ukraine and Sweden have faced significant societal challenges:

• Ukraine — war and mass displacement
• Sweden — complex social, environmental, and economic issues

In response, Fryshuset (Sweden) and STAN (Ukraine) partnered to exchange expertise and build community resilience. Later, Armenian Progressive Youth (APY) joined, bringing in perspectives from Armenia — another country heavily affected by conflict, where young people face instability, fear, and uncertainty. Youth workers and activists in these regions often operate under high stress with minimal resources, especially when supporting internally displaced or marginalized youth. The project addresses these challenges by creating a collaborative space for sharing strategies, building resilience, and supporting mental well-being.

Activities

This project established a networking platform for organizations working with youth in the Eastern Partnership focusing on sustainability in times of crises. The organizations that were a part of the platform regularly met under structured forms both virtually and physically. The meetings of the participants had different themes (such as crisis/conflict, resilience and sustainability, EU-identity and marginalized groups, mental health) each time while still always following the main purpose of the platform which is to support and strengthen. The activities included:

• In-person exchange meetings hosted by Fryshuset (Sweden) and APY (Armenia)
• Needs assessment on youth resilience, with results shared with stakeholders
• Advocacy efforts through participation in conferences such as the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum

Exposure to each other’s contexts led to deeper knowledge of the project countries, with Swedish participants gaining nuanced perspectives on the complex political and humanitarian challenges in Armenia and Ukraine. Conversely, Eastern partners learned more about Sweden’s approach to civil society engagement, youth inclusion, and the role of government support.

Impact

In 2024, partners in Sweden, Ukraine, and Armenia created Brave Space — a platform for CSOs and youth workers focused on peer support, trauma-informed capacity building, and cross-sector collaboration. The platform reached over 25 national and international stakeholders and was presented at events including the Ukraine Recovery Conference, the Eastern Partnership Forum, and the Stockholm Forum on Peace and Development.

The project strengthened participants’ skills in peacebuilding, resilience, and mental health, with 91% reporting improvement. Several methods were integrated into wider programs by STAN and APY, and new collaborations emerged, such as STAN’s partnership with the Swedish Agency for Psychological Defense, expanding youth access to resilience and psychological support.

Updates & Reports

Tap the image to learn more.

Peace begins within – The power of brave space

📄 Brave Space – Needs Analysis Report (PDF)

Contact

📧 For more information or to get involved, contact us at: development@fryshuset.se
📲 Follow our journey on Instagram — click the names to visit the profiles: @fryshusetglobal & @fryshusetyouthmobility