Project "Stalker"
is supported by "Counterpart Alliance for Partnership".

The project "Stalker" is targeted to unite the resources of the governmental establishments as well as NGOs to solve to the problems of the youth living in the towns within the territory of Misk region (Vileika, Molodechno, Borisov, Zhodino). The project is designed for six month period within the territory of Minsk region starting April 2004.

The aim of the project is:

• To recruit the youth leaders (roughly 60, aged 14 to 18) in the following towns of Minsk region - Vileika, Molodechno, Borisov, Zhodino - in the process of finding solutions to the youth' problems by means of developing and holding a set of actions within the limits of the unified campaign. Furthermore, it is planned to involve the youth' leaders in the work of the local non-governmental associations.

Project's tasks:

• 1. to involve 200 young people (aged 14 to18) living in Vileika, Molodechno, Borisov, Zhodino, in the process of investigating the activities and the programs of the local organizations and establishments that deal with the youth.
• 2. help the target group to acquire the necessary amount of skills and experience in the field of developing and implementing micro-projects directed towards working out the solutions to the problems of the youth within the framework of social campaign;
• 3. to promote the positive image of non-governmental youth organizations of Vileika, Molodechno, Borisov, and Zhodino;

The partners of the project "Stalker" are the following organizations: Charity Female non-governmental association "Province", the association " Time of the Youth" (Borisov), Child non-governmental organization "Harmony" (Molodechno), Assembly named after Yakub Yasinskiy (Vileika), national non-governmental organization "Association of Byelorussian Scouts"(Vileika), non-governmental organization of social managers and parents "Eola" (Zhodino), as well as the representatives of the off-school establishments of the towns above mentioned.

The youth leaders from Vileika, Molodechno, Borisov, Zhodino (the approximate number is 60) are the main participants of the project. Moreover, 140 active adolescents and young people are to take part in the game "Stalker". The outcome of the project is certain to be useful for the specialists of NGOs and educational establishments, involved in the work with children and the youth.

The first phase of the project implies the conduct of the interactive game "Stalker" for 200 socially active teenagers and adolescents to explore the activities of the local organizations and establishments, which are instituted to work with the youth, and their resources to resolve the problems of the youth.

The second phase of the project is planned to deal with education and workshop issues. The leaders of the youth initiative groups, which showed their worth during the game, are supposed to participate in a set of seminars. The group consisting of 15 people is to be composed to represent each town above mentioned. The workshop includes three one-day seminars to work up micro-projects to find constructive solutions to the local problems concerning young people.

The third phase of the project completes with the public campaign. The youth leaders supported by the local NGOs and non-governmental association "Focus Group" should implement a range of the micro-projects in their towns. Apart from the youth leaders, teenagers and those young people who took part in the conduct of the game "Stalker" will be invited to join in.

The outcome of the project is published as a brochure for the specialists working in the sphere of youth policy and civil rights education in the towns above mentioned. The theme of the brochure is the youth involvement in the process of resolving social problems of local importance. The brochure is designed to provide the readers with the description of the implemented project as well as thematic issues relating to theory and methods. The authors suggest that the brochure should be demanded by the specialists (primarily in the towns-participants in the project), who are occupied in the sphere of off-institutional education of young generation, in order to draw young people in the activities to solve socially related problems of local importance. Moreover, the brochure demonstrates the competence of NGOs and local initiative groups of the youth.