OSCE/ODIHR supports young policy advisors efforts to improve their policy-making skills at a training event in Budapest

The Policy Advisers Course for Eastern Partners, co-organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the School of Public Policy (SPP) at Central European University, and the Folke Bernadotte Academy (FBA) in Budapest, Hungary, from 11 to 13 November 2015, provided 20 participants an opportunity to discuss promoting youth political participation in the OSCE region.

Building upon the experience of a similar event organized by ODIHR in Sweden in October 2014, the training course aimed at supporting young political advisors to play a stronger role in shaping democratic institutions and defining the future trajectory of their nations. Participants discussed topics such as the role of political advisers, shaping complex political environments, engaging internal and external stakeholders, and mastering communication and advocacy skills. Competitively selected, the participants represented government ministries, presidential administrations and parliaments from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

“Besides offering participants an opportunity for professional development this training course also provided a unique opportunity for expanding and building professional networks between state institutions, as well as with ODIHR,” said Jean-Pierre Froehly, Senior Political Adviser and Head of the ODIHR Director's Office.

“Increasing the capacities of young policy advisers plays a crucial role in developing democratic institutions,” said Nighina Azizov, Deputy Minister of Labour, Social Protection and Family in Moldova.

“The training course surprised me in the way it gave me a better understanding of the skills and competencies necessary to be successful young policy advisers,” observed Tamara Boronnikova, Deputy Head of the Department for Public and Corporate Governance Improvement at the Ministry of Economy in Belarus.

The event was organized within the ODIHR’s democratic governance programme that promotes youth political participation across the OSCE region. This work aims to support OSCE participating States and their efforts to strengthen accountability and pluralism within their democratic institutions.