On 19 June, the EaP CSF Oleg Shatberashvili, from the Georgian Federation for Information and Documentation, and Mariia Symonova from MITLA Agency of Changes (Clean Universities anticorruption campaign), Ukraine represented the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum at the EaP Platform 4 on Mobility and People-to-People Contacts. They presented the civil society view on mobility and migration, research and innovation, youth employment and transition from education to work.

Mariia Symonova highlighted the need to reach out to the marginalised youth to ensure that more young people learn about Erasmus and other opportunities.

“The decision-making in the field should be based on the targeted research and adequate understanding whether the EU communication and outreach to youth has been effective.”

Mr Shatberashvili pointed out that none of the EaP Multilateral Platforms is as future-oriented as Platform 4. He stressed that the Platform should be further utilised for strengthening the mobility and migration aspects, especially in light of the clear nexus between migration and development. For instance, projects on research mobility should be supported under the Horizon 2020.

“Conducting an in-depth research on youth employment is crucial: why does the US become the final destination of the majority post-graduates and researchers from the EaP countries who often received their bachelor’s or master’s degrees in the EU?”

DOWNLOAD – EaP CSF Position Paper on Mobility and People-to-People Contacts

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