Center for Dialogue and Reconciliation "Iskra"

Center for Dialogue and Reconciliation “Iskra” is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 2008 in Mykolaiv, southern Ukraine. It serves as a platform for young people interested in the building of a multicultural, tolerant, and diverse society. As of this moment it is one of the biggest organisations working with Erasmus+ Programme and reaching over 15,000 active Ukrainian youth through main social networks. It has 7 staff members plus volunteers in specific projects. Iskra’s aim is to involve young people into volunteering on local, national and international levels, to promote youth mobility and non-formal education. Iskra has been a Supporting Organisation for over 300 EVS/ESC volunteers and a partner in dozens of youth exchanges and training courses. Iskra’s principal goal is to improve the competences of young people and widen their personal and professional horizons. We aim to reach that goal by increasing mobility of young people through involving them in training courses, youth exchanges and voluntary service abroad, thus offering an invaluable experience of living and working in a multicultural environment. Iskra is active in the field of conflict resolution and reconciliation. It has co-organised several academic summer schools on conflict analysis and resolution together with the University of Marburg (sponsored by DAAD and German Foreign Ministry), a row of Ukrainian-Russian-German youth exchanges (funded by the Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility, and Future”), and a row of workshops on conflict resolution with the Berlin-based NGO Crisis Simulation for Peace e.V. (CRISP). Center for Dialogue and Reconciliation “Iskra” is a member organisation of UNITED for Intercultural Action (a European network against nationalism, racism, fascism and in support of migrants and refugees) and the IDA Network (International Development Alliance).