EESC Civil Society Prize 2022

Six organisations are awarded the 2022 EESC Civil Society Prize

The EESC is pleased to announce the six winners of the 13th edition of the Civil Society Prize, which rewards initiatives which aim to

  • create a better future for European youth and with European youth by tackling the specific needs of young people and contributing to their empowerment and participation in all spheres of economic and social life (category 1)
  • help civilians suffering as a result of the war in Ukraine (category 2).

An evaluation panel composed of ten experts chose the winners from over one hundred outstanding projects from 21 Member States.

The prize awards ceremony took place on 15 December 2022 during the EESC plenary session.

Category 1 – Empowering Young People

The first prize, of a value of 14.000 EUR, went to FundaciĂłn Secretariado Gitano (Spain) for the project Learning by Doing, which addresses the issue of unemployment among young Roma people aged 16 to 30. Through a public-private partnership, it combines theoretical and practical training with the aim of breaking down stereotypes and prejudices.

The other prizes, of a value of 8.000 EUR each, went to:

Second prize: Movimento Transformers (Portugal) for its programme Superpower School in which mentors give weekly classes to apprentices, mainly children and young people at risk of social exclusion, and empower them to become agents of change and give back what they have learned to positively transform their community.

Third prize: Associazione Agevolando (Italy) for its initiative Care Leavers Network Italia, an informal nation-wide network of young people aged 16 to 26 with experience of the care system. Its main goals are to encourage opportunities for exchange and learning.

Category 2 – European civil society for Ukraine

The first prize, of a value of 14.000 EUR, went to Asociația SUS INIMA (Romania) for pivoting from its usual work and developing many initiatives to help the Ukrainians (ranging from school activities and finding a job to getting therapy and psychological support) and enable them to smoothly integrate into Romanian society.

The other prizes, of a value of 8.000 EUR each, went to:

Second prize: Villavecchia Foundation (Spain) for the You are in a Safe Place emergency fund, which brought seriously ill Ukrainian children to safety to resume their treatment and offered the young Ukrainian patients and their families the best possible quality of life by making sure they get comprehensive care at all levels.

Third prize: Polish Scouting and Guiding Association - ZHP (Poland), which mobilised to help Ukrainians as soon as the war began and was present at border crossings, guiding people to safety, providing information and psychological support, collecting and transporting donations, organising "border patrols" experienced in first aid and including children into scouting activities.

The EESC thanks all candidates for their application and warmly congratulates the winners.

Downloads

EESC Civil Society Prize 2022 - Contest rules
EESC Civil Society Prize - Privacy statement
EESC Civil Society Prize - Non-exclusion document