September 2025
Maribor, Slovenia

The Association EPEKA, Soc. Ent., will begin implementing the Youth Against Corruption: Tools for Transparency (Y-ACT) project. The project will run in Slovenia until July 2026.

This pilot project addresses the pressing issue of corruption and lack of transparency, focusing on young people, especially from rural areas and socially marginalized groups.

The target group of Y-ACT is young people aged 18-35, especially those belonging to vulnerable groups such as members of the Roma community, LGBTQ+ youth, migrants and young people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The project provides them with the knowledge, tools and opportunities to identify and respond to corruption in their local communities and strengthen their role as active citizens.

Main project activities:

  • Four workshops on transparency and ethics in the public sector, which will enable participants to understand the mechanisms of corruption and how to effectively resist it.
  • Co-creation of a youth handbook on combating corruption, which will adapt the collected knowledge to the specific needs of young people and vulnerable groups.
  • Three awareness-raising events in local communities, aimed at promoting dialogue and mobilizing young people for transparency.
  • A national forum against corruption, which will bring together young people, decision-makers and experts to jointly design sustainable solutions and strategies.

Special emphasis will be placed on the inclusion of vulnerable groups, so that their voices are heard and included in the change process. The project results will be included in the long-term programs of EPEKA, presented on the website, youth portals and disseminated through a handbook, which will be available in schools, youth centers and NGOs.

The Y-ACT project is funded under the PROTEUS programme, which is part of the European Civil Society Empowerment Programme (CERV) (2023–2026). The involved funders are the European Union, the Municipality of Maribor and the Youth Office of the Republic of Slovenia.

                                 

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