Interreg Volunteer Youth (IVY) is a pilot action that offers the possibility to young Europeans aged 18-30 to serve as volunteers in cross-border, transnational or interregional programmes and related projects. IVY is the very first initative to be kicked-off in the framework of the European Solidarity Corps, announced by the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Junker, during his annual State of the European Union speech in September 2016, and officially launched in December 2016. The initiative is aimed at involving young volunteers to support, promote and report the concrete achievements of Interreg programmes and projects, as well as generally promote cooperation across European borders and related values such as solidarity. 

Less than 3 weeks after IVY´s official launch, the first ever IVY´s volunteer has been deployed, and we are proud to announce that she has started her IVY journey as Interreg Reporter here, at the Joint Secretariat of the Danube Transnational Programme (DTP).

Manon, a 22-year-old French student, started her IVY experience on Monday 20th March and will support the DTP Joint Secretariat for 5 months as Interreg Reporter. Her mission is to “spread the word” on the benefits of European territorial integration on the ground, through reporting on successful Interreg projects belonging to the DTP and that have a strong solidarity dimension.

More than 25 000 young europeans have joined the European Solidarity Corps since last December, and more than 2 200 volunteers have already been contacted by 36 hosting organisations in the framework of the European Solidarity Corps. This is just the beginning of a marvellous adventure, but the DTP is very proud to be the first hosting institution to receive an Interreg Reporter!

On Tuesday, 2^nd May, Inés España, from the Audiovisual Service of the European Commission, came in Budapest to make a video about our first Interreg Volunteer Youth / European Solidarity Corps volunteer on the ground. The video will be released soon -so stay tuned!- and promotes her adventure as well as highlights the benefits of European solidarity for all european citizens. 

More information about IVY, please click here. And read the article about the news on IVY website here. 

More information about the European Solidarity Corps, please click here.

Check also the news on Social Media :

• Live European Commission Midday press briefing of 23/03/2017 (Danube Transnational Programme mentioned at 2:30 minute !)
• Regional Policy news section (FR) 
• Twitter accounts of the EU Regional Policy, the European Commission and IVY
• Facebook accounts of IVY and Europe In My Region