Youth Fund Hits Stride in Azerbaijan
Thirty-four young Azerbaijanis ages 16-30 gathered on February 19-20 in Novkhani, Azerbaijan to participate in the third workshop of Eurasia Foundation-run (EF) Youth Fund program. All the participants are members of Youth Fund committees in Guba, Goychay, Lenkoran, Sheki, and Ganja. The weekend’s agenda focused on improving the committee members’ ability to manage a small grants program. Training in conflict management techniques were aimed at developing the committees’ collective decision-making abilities, while training in media relations built skills the youth will use as they highlight their recent support for youth-led projects in their communities.
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| Committee members discuss expectations for the workshop |
In addition, interviews were conducted to select five participants for an upcoming study tour to Belfast, Northern Ireland. While in Belfast, selected committee members will work with participants from the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland’s (CFNI) YouthBank program to share experiences related to volunteerism, community engagement and youth philanthropy.
Youth Fund is an innovative grant making and leadership program that has established youth-led grant committees in five regions of Azerbaijan. With assistance from EF, these young grant committees are managing the disbursement of small grants and resources that support young people’s initiatives in their own communities. Since the beginning of the program in January 2006, grants from the Youth Fund committees have supported 28 community projects implemented by 79 young people in the Guba, Goychay, Lenkoran, Sheki and Ganja districts of Azerbaijan.
EF’s country office in Azerbaijan has been implementing the Azerbaijan Youth Fund program since January 2006. Youth Fund enjoys strategic support from the Azerbaijan Ministry of Youth and Sports and receives direct funding from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) of the United Kingdom, USAID, and the Lodestar Foundation.
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