Advocacy Campaign - Youth for Better Education
Cooperation between schools and society is a new challenge in Georgia. In 2016, Georgia signed an association agreement with the EU.
To be closer to EU, Georgia approved Georgia-EU Country Roadmap for Engagement with Civil Society. One of the key indicators to improve civic activism in Georgia is to increase the percentage of schools collaborating with the local CSOs. Currently, national surveys indicate the low levels of youth engagement in civic activities.
According to the National Study on the Situation of Adolescents and Young People in Georgia, as of 2014, 22.5% of the total population of Georgia is between 15-29 years old, most of whom reside in urban areas (2014). The overwhelming majority of this age segment (90.4 %) believes that they have the right to participate in the resolution of youth-related issues. However, based on a 2013 data, only 10.9% participated in problem-solving activities, and most of them were only partially involved in the decision-making process.
To overcome this problem, the Civic Development Institute initiated the advocacy grant program for youth. The advocacy campaigns will be implemented in Kakheti, Shida Kartli, Kvemo Kartli, Samtskhe-Javakheti, Imereti and Samegrelo. Youth of Georgia will advocate for best education in communities and municipalities for all children of Georgia. The advocacy actions are focused on different educational needs in regions such as social enterprises in rural areas, digital literacy for children, advocacy for clean environment etc.
On September 22, 2017 in Rooms Hotel Tbilisi, universities, schools, NGOs and representatives of youth groups presented various advocacy actions. The meeting was welcomed by Ms. Eka Zhvania (the Director of World Vision Georgia), Ms. Tamar Mosiashvili (Education Program Manager at Civic Development Institute) and Mr. Davit Daiauri (World Vision Georgia).
Further discussions on the main goals and objectives of the “Advocacy Campaign - Youth for Better Education” were led by educational researcher, Mr. Simon Janashia.
Thereafter, short advocacy initiatives were submitted by the representatives of 6 different regions of Georgia. From October, 2017 these regions will start 25 advocacy campaigns. The aim of the actions is to strengthen youth participation in education.
World Vision Georgia and Civic Development Institute are implementing the project “School Youth Networks of Collaboration for Sustainable Solutions (SYNCS)”. The objective of the project is to contribute to sustainable community-based solutions to targeted community needs through increased civic activism of public school students, universities, local governments and CSOs.
The project is funded by the European Union.
Author of the article - Teona Magalashvili