To promote transformational young leaders in Georgia, enhancing their participation and representation in public life, the Georgian Institute of Politics (GIP), with the financial support of USAID, is launching a new project. In the framework of this project, the GIP, in partnership with the CRRC Georgia, plans to engage young Georgian leaders in discussion and encourage them towards political and civic participation. The project also sets out to strengthen the role of young women and minorities in public life in Georgia and find ways to better understand the forms and motivations of youth participation in public life.
The GIP’s new project – “Promoting Youth Transformational Leaders in Georgia” – will include the following activities:
- Emerging leaders school (ELS) will train 240 young activists, politicians, journalists, community and civil society leaders from six Georgia’s regions and Tbilisi, during 2020 and 2021.
- Thematic working groups will include ELS alumni, who will work on thematic policy areas following the ELS training. With support of coordinators and mentors, eight thematic working groups will be created, consisting of up to 15 members in each. In total, the activity will engage 120 young people.
- Space for Debate will involve 300 young people in the open discussions on the policy relevant issues, giving them an opportunity to exchange opinions in an informal setting. The Space for Debate meetings will be conducted regularly, to develop a regular audience and reach for continuity beyond the project limits. In total, 18 Space for Debate discussions will be organized in Tbilisi and Georgia’s regions.
- Youth Democracy Forum will be an annual event, bringing together active youth from civil society, political parties, academia and media. 300 young people will be invited to exchange ideas with policy makers, experts and inspiring international leaders, who have led transformation in their own countries. Three compendiums of policy memos will be published annually, one for each Forum, highlighting the policy issues discussed at the event.
On 18 October 2019 the project was officially presented by USAID/Georgia Mission Director – Peter Wiebler – at the “Countdown to 2020: Empowered Citizens for Responsive Politics” as part of the USAID’s new four-year program, $14 million initiative, that will support more responsive and citizen-centered political processes. It aims to help Georgian society develop a strong culture of citizen-centered, responsive political representation.
USAID’s new program will be implemented by nine partner CSOs. These include three international organizations – International Republican Institute (IRI); the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI) – as well as six Georgian CSOs: the Georgian Institute of Politics (GIP); the Eastern European Centre for Multiparty Democracy (EECMD); the Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA); the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED); the Public Movement Multi-National Georgia (PMMG); and Transparency International Georgia (TI).
