Ukraine completed the formation of regional youth congresses in every region of the country, with leaders and delegates now elected in each one.
The Deputy Head of the President’s Office, Viktor Mykyta, said the congresses were established under a decree signed by President Volodymyr Zelensky, creating the Chamber of Regional Youth Congresses within the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities.
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Mykyta said Zelensky’s decision to “establish the Chamber of Regional Youth Congresses marks a new stage in shaping regional policy in our country,” adding that the move adds 1,469 new representatives and 300 delegates to the National Congress.
A new layer of regional representation
The formation of the chamber is expected to give young Ukrainians formal representation within the country’s regional governance structure for the first time under this framework, according to the statement.
The structure is intended to work as follows: each region forms its own youth congress made up of delegates nominated by local communities and approved by regional executive committees. Members of these regional bodies then elect their own leadership and choose delegates to represent their region in the national Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the president, according to Novyny Live.
The initiative followed a decree Zelensky signed in late May that established the new chamber as a direct response to requests from Ukrainian youth seeking a formal role in shaping state and local policy.
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Regional congresses were rolled out over the following weeks, with founding sessions held in areas including Mykolaiv, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi, Dnipropetrovsk, Chernihiv, Ternopil, and Sumy regions between June and mid-July.
Reactions from the regions
Local authorities described the congresses as a new channel of communication between communities and the central government.
On June 23, Mykolaiv region officially launched its own regional youth congress, bringing together 52 community representatives. Mykolaiv’s deputy head of the regional administration, Heorhiy Reshetilov, said the regional congresses are meant to become a platform “where proposals from communities are born” before reaching the national level.
At the beginning of July, more than 70 delegates joined the newly formed youth congress in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha reported that the congress elected a chairperson, a deputy chairperson, and a secretary.
“For our young people, this is an opportunity to advance their initiatives at the national level – to propose ideas and projects, and to influence change,” he said, expressing gratitude to Zelensky for this new mechanism.
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