As part of the EU-funded project “EU4Youth – Enhancing
Youth Education, Employment, and Participation in Conflict-affected Areas in
Georgia and Ukraine,” the Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC) hosted
an advocacy forum in Tbilisi at the Georgian National University SEU.
The purpose of the forum was to discuss youth
employment and self-employment prospects, and to incorporate jointly developed recommendations
in the current state programs in order to provide needs-oriented services for
young people.
Lika Kiladze, Chairperson of the board of the Education
Development and Employment Center (EDEC) officially opened the event with her welcome
speech: “A forum is an effective tool for promoting open dialogue between
stakeholders. Policy changes in the state and private sectors, as well as the in-service development field, have a direct impact on youth prosperity. Taking
part of the Advocacy Forum, young people are able to get directly involved in
the preparation of recommendations and thereby facilitate the policy-creating
process based on their needs.”
Furthermore, Vincent Dontot, Country Director of
the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) in the South Caucasus, Revaz Charkviani, Head
of the Youth Agency, and representatives of the Georgian National University
SEU gave speeches.
The event was attended by 160 participants including
representatives of local and international civil society organizations working
on youth issues, government agencies, businesses, and media, as well as young
people from Tbilisi and various regions of Georgia.
They worked in small groups in order to
identify problems, define solutions, and develop suggestions about several
issues. The drafted recommendations were presented at the end of the event and
were submitted to the respective government agencies for consideration.
The EU-funded project “EU4Youth – Enhancing
Youth Education, Employment, and Participation in Conflict-affected Areas in
Georgia and Ukraine” is implemented by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and the
Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC) in Georgia. The Advocacy The forum was realized with the great support from the Georgian National University SEU.
