Engaging Youth in Local Development: Youth Bank Georgia Program
EPF’s Youth Bank project increases the capacity and provides the opportunity to local youth aged 16 to 21 to engage as active citizens in the development of their communities in Georgia. Through comprehensive training, EPF teaches participants how to manage small pools of grant money (approximately 300-500 USD) that are distributed to support small-scale youth-led development projects in their communities.
In 2009, EPF’s Youth Bank program has expanded to a total of 12 communities in Georgia. EPF established two Youth Banks in the regions of Kvemo Kartli (Bolnisi) and Samtskhe-Javkaheti (Aspindza) to engage youth from ethnic minority groups and support practical steps towards their social integration. We established Youth Banks in areas where new IDPs reside, including in Gori and Tserovani. We also targeted Georgia’s underserved regions, opening Youth Banks in Latali in Upper Svaneti, Akhmeta and Dedoplistsqaro in Kakheti, and Ozugeti in Guria.
Youth Bank committees have continued to demonstrate increased engagement in the development of their communities without EPF funding or oversight: In July 2009, Marneuli Youth Bank members organized an event to educate the community about the risks of smoking. Fifty young people distributed brochures about the risks of smoking and provided a space for local youth to draw their own pictures against smoking. The event was even covered by Marneuli TV.
Local government and local business have been successfully involved in the Youth Bank project: In Batumi, the municipal government made a financial contribution to some of the youth-led micro grant initiatives and Elit Electronics donated to one of the micro projects. In Marneuli, the local council (Sakrebulo) independently agreed to contribute to some of the youth-led initiatives as well.
EPF has produced a short film explaining the Youth Bank and demonstrating one of the successful projects in Batumi, Georgia. To view the film, click the link below:
Youth Bank Georgia - the movie
2010 Small Grants Competition to Empower Citizens through Participatory Civic Monitoring and Advocacy
The winners of the 2010 competition for small grants
Grant Competition: Open Door
The winners of the grant 2010 Grant Competition
