INTERNATIONAL TIMELINE
. June 2000: Study visit of first YouthBank Committee in Northern Ireland to council of Michigan Foundations Youth Advisory Committee conference.
. June 2001: Youthstock, First YouthBank Northern Ireland International Conference, Corrymeela, Northern Ireland.
• January 2002: First international partnership agreement with PRONI in Bosnia – Brcko, Doboj and Travnik; Croatia – Osijek and Vukovar supported by The Community Foundation for Northern Ireland..
April 2002: First 5 YouthBanks established by the Irish Youth Foundation in Ballymun, Ballybough, Limerick, Longford and Waterford.
• June 2002: PRONI YouthBank development in Serbia – Novi Sad and Subotica and Macedonia – Skopje and Tetovo supported by The Community Foundation for Northern Ireland.
February 2004: First YouthBank workshops with Community Foundations from the Community Philanthropy Inititative of the European Foundation Centre (EFC) Belfast.
• June 2004: PRONI YouthBank development in Montenegro – Podgorica, supported by The Community Foundation for Northern Ireland.
• September 2005: New partnership formed with the Eurasia Foundation in the South Caucasus to set up and deliver YouthBank training and support in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
September 2005: First Youth Empowerment participation programme promoted YouthBank inititatve established with Community Foundation Simin Han, Bosnia
• December 2005: Northern Ireland YouthBank Board members travel to Jericho, to help set up first YouthBank in Jenin, West Bank, Palestine.
• October 2006: First YouthBank set up in Cluj Napoca, Romania with support and training from YouthBank Ireland
July 2006: Announcement of YouthBank Ireland and development of 24 YouthBanks across the island of Ireland.
• April 2007: Visit of Azerbaijan YouthBank to Belfast, Derry and Longford.
• June 2007: YouthBank workshops held in Russia and Bulgaria with country-wide associations of Community Foundations.
• July and October 2007: Establishment of YouthBank in Armenia and Georgia with the Eurasia Partnership Foundation.
April 2008: Establishment of YouthBank network Bosnia Herzegovina with the Mozaik Community Development Foundation.
June 2008: Development Seminar with the Association of Community Relations (ACR) to develop a Romanian YouthBank network.
January 2009: YouthBank review conference with Slovakian Community Foundation Network.
July 2009: Establishment of YouthBank in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan with Eurasia Foundation Central Asia.
August 2009: First YEPP YouthBank training event, Warsaw.
November 2010: Tajikstan/ Kyrgyzstan border YouthBank inititative developed with EFCA.
February 2011: Expansion of Georgian YouthBank Network to 25 sites.
March 2011: Development of YouthBank in Turkey with the Eurasia Partnership Foundation (Armenia) and NGO Toplum Gunulluleri, Turkey.
October 2011: New YouthBanks developed in Azerbaijan.
March 2012: First YouthBank Webinar as part of Global Fund for Community Foundations inititative on youth engagement practices.
April 2012: New development of YouthBank in Abkhasia with Eurasia Partnership Foundation and ALERT.
May 2012: Expansion of BosnianYouthBank network to 32 sites by the Mozaik Foundation.
May 2012: Confederation of YouthBank France established in Paris.
July 2012: Bulgarian Community Foundation Network develop YouthBank strategy.
The benefits arising from youth-led grant-making as developed by YouthBank has attracted the interest of organisations operating in a wide range of countries.
Keen to instigate similar initiatives in their own jurisdictions, these agencies have approached us to assist them, which where possible, we have been delighted to do.
A recent review of our international work to date has led us to begin to explore the potential of establishing a formalised multinational youth-led grant-making network. We are eager to engage in dialogue on this topic with others who share our belief that great benefit could arise from such a network and encourage any interested parties to contact us.
Whilst our ideas concerning the nature of an international network of those interested in youth-led grant-making are not as yet in a fixed form, we see merit in it creating opportunities for training, development and exchange of relevant information, experience and good practise through activities such as:-
- running regular programmes of accredited training;
- organisaing multilateral exchange visits;
- convening conferences and seminars;
- brokering joint grant-making ventures;hosting an increasingly content rich interactive web site; and,
- encouraging and nurturing aspirational developments as identified by young grant-makers.
