YouDecide
YouDecide (Supporting Informed Decision Making by Ukrainian Youth) is an EU-funded initiative led by Missing Children Europe and beside OPU also involving Terre des Hommes Hungary, Fundacja ITAKA Poland and the Heartwarmingly research team.
This project is designed to support young people from Ukraine who have been displaced by the war. In particular, it focuses on the unique challenges young people face in transitioning to adulthood while navigating life in a new country.
Although various support services exist in host countries, a major gap remains: displaced young people often struggle to access information and assistance that is appropriate, coordinated and tailored to their needs. Many are left without guidance in key decisions related to education, legal status, mental health and independence.
The YoUDecide project aims to address this gap by offering access to youth-centred support in partner countries.
Project timeline: May 2025 – October 2026
Sub-objectives of the project Needs assessment: to conduct research through surveys and focus groups with displaced youth aged 15-24 in Warsaw, Prague and Budapest.
Co-creating solutions with youth: Involving the Youth Advisory Board in all phases – from research to application content and stakeholder engagement.
Accessible information: Expand the Miniila app to provide up-to-date and localised resources on legal rights, education, healthcare, work and safe travel in a youth-friendly format.
Stakeholder Dialogue: Establish local youth integration centres to bring together local authorities, NGOs and service providers to develop coordinated responses and initiate dialogue with youth.
Sustainable impact: Document and share best practices, advocate for policy changes and ensure scalability across Europe.
Youth participation is at the heart of YoUDecide!
We don’t just create solutions FOR young people – we create them WITH young people. Their ideas, their stories and their voice shape this project. Together we want to improve the situation of displaced young people transitioning to adulthood and ensure that decision makers really hear what they need. We have set up a Youth Advisory Board made up of eight participants aged 16 to 20 who are actively shaping the project.
Kick-off meeting in Budapest
June 26, 2025: Budapest hosted the first meeting of the YoU Decide consortium On June 26, 2025, Budapest hosted the inaugural meeting of the international YoU Decide consortium, which aims to protect displaced Ukrainian youth from the risks of disappearance, human trafficking, and exploitation. The project, coordinated by Missing Children Europe, is being implemented in Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic with the participation of partners Terre des Hommes Hungary, ITAKA (Poland), the Organization for Aid to Refugees (Czech Republic), and MCE (Belgium). The uniqueness of the project lies in the active involvement of the Youth Council, composed of young people with their own experience of displacement. It is their stories—from fleeing bombing to struggling with loneliness and prejudice—that have shown why this initiative is so urgent. The meeting opened with a discussion on research methodology and the role of young people, who will not only be consultants but partners determining the direction of the project. "Children and young people are the customers of what we do," emphasized Balázs Lehel of Terre des Hommes Hungary. YoU Decide aims to map the needs of young people, identify gaps in support, and make recommendations based on their voices. As one participant summed it up: "Listening to young people is not an option, but an obligation."