Mariam Todua “Strong personality creates a strong country.”
Chairperson of the Youth Council of Zugdidi Municipality
Based on the fact that there was already a youth council in Zugdidi, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti regional hub association “Atinati” planned a meeting where they introduced us to one of the projects of EDEC, which aimed to create and strengthen youth councils in the regions.
Our council is always ready to make friends with such an organization that supports, strengthens, and increases the involvement of young people, that is where our cooperation with EDEC started, which continues actively today. I think it is important, first of all, to strengthen the young members of the council, so that the activities of the council can be carried out effectively and actively. In this part, EDEC played an important role, when in the summer of 2022, in Tskaltubo, it conducted training to strengthen the competencies of the members of the Youth Council. The aim of this training, I think, was to support better communication with council members of other municipalities.
After the training, we made friends and deepened our business ties, we visited Akhaltsikhe Municipality with the Youth Council, and the Youth Council of Baghdadi visited Zugdidi. In the future, we are planning visits to other municipality council members.
The Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC), often organizes thematic workshops, where members of the Youth Council meet with specialists. Such activities help young people gain new information, experience, and knowledge, which positively affects their future.
The role of the Youth Council is important at the local level. Zugdidi Youth Council is actively involved in decision-making, budgeting, project implementation, and planning, and cooperates with the local public sector (city hall, city council), private sector (business), and local and international non-governmental organizations, which helps us to provide a voice for youth needs, To have more opportunities to conduct activities, implement projects tailored to the interests of young people, and most importantly,
Let’s develop recommendations.
It is worth noting that the Youth Council is an independent body, and no sector interferes in its activities, showing the strength, independence, and motivation of young people. Therefore, the role of young people in this process is beneficial, because only young people know what they need, what interests, problems, and desires they have. It is often said that the youth are the future of the country, but I think that we are present. Zugdidi Youth Council/Council slogan is “For your changes” because if we want to change the region, the country, and the world, we must become stronger and make changes within ourselves because a strong personality creates a strong country.
