Mzekala Romanadze won the prize of the Author of the Best Essay in the contest “History of Volunteering in Georgia”.
She is 21 years old sophomore student at Tbilisi Free UniversityLaw School. She has participated in several volunteering campaigns.

Mzekala thinks that the flood disaster of June 13 when numerous young people came out to restore the damage and help the injured people was the turning point in Georgian legislation regulating volunteering activities. After the disaster, the same year, the law about volunteering was enacted, which was a significant step forward.

According to Mzekala, it is crucial for the development of a volunteering culture to abolish negative and incorrect perceptions of volunteering, to raise public awareness about the issue, and encourage volunteering activities.

Essay Contest “History of Volunteering in Georgia” was held within the “Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative” project. The contest aims to support the promotion of volunteering.

“Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative” is implemented by the consortium lead by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in cooperation with four Georgian Civil Society Organizations: Civil Society Institute (CSI), Center for Training and Consultancy (CTC), Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG) and Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC). The project is funded by the European Union and co-funded by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.