Non-Formal Education for Promoting Youth Civic Activism, Unity and Resilience: Lessons from the USAID Unity Through Diversity Program

• In Event: Education Utopias and Social Change

Proposal

Georgia, a nation of 3.7 million people, grapples with ethnic diversity - ethnic Georgians make up most of the population (86.8%), but there are also ethnic minorities, including Azerbaijanis (6.3%), Armenians (4.5%), Russians (0.7%), and other ethnic groups. For years, the Soviet ethno-linguistic approaches and polices have been nurturing a divide and widened gaps among diverse ethnic groups.

At present, Georgia still is a fledgling independent state confronted with a challenging geopolitical landscape and growing malign Kremlin influence; public views and attitudes are often defined by prevalent poverty. Policy decisions are politically or election-driven coupled with impaired democratic institutions and significant policy gaps in addressing diverse issues pertaining to education, economic, and socio-political issues. In this challenging time, the role of international donors and civil society carries significant importance, especially for promoting youth activism to secure democratic processes, country’s unity, and resilience and at the same time, for catalyzing public contestation, when decisive.

The USAID Unity Through Diversity Program fosters youth civic engagement, resilience and critical thinking, positive development and empowerment – all through non-formal education to transform them into future leaders, initiators, civic activists, and catalysts for change. Through the activity, the Program engages Georgia’s ethnic minority youth in national and local policy development and strengthens mutually beneficial social, civic, and linkages between minority and majority populations.

To promote youth empowerment through non-formal education, USAID Unity Through Diversity Program supports 15 Youth Centers as educational and civic spaces, serving as opportunity hubs freely available to young people across Georgia. Youth Centers expand the footprint of youth empowerment and encourage youth participation in civic life on regional and national levels. Youth Centers are spaces where the Program nurtures youth civic activism for a social change and for creating sense of unity among ethnic majority and minorities. Members of the Youth Centers have an opportunity to initiate youth-led projects and advocacy initiatives about access to and quality education for disadvantaged and marginalized groups, gender equality, health services, counteracting disinformation, etc. Youth are also enabled to serve as multipliers of knowledge, to get micro grants, participate in civic activism summer schools, explore the country through the inter-regional exchange programs to bond ties and transcend ethnic boundaries. The program's impact reverberates in various domains, such as access to quality education, gender equality, media literacy, and awareness of Georgia's Euro-Atlantic aspirations. By nurturing and cultivation of key competencies, life skills, tolerance, and democratic values, the Program creates a generation of engaged citizens.

Lessons from this initiative illuminate the potential of non-formal education to shape resilient democracies, empower youth, and bridge societal divides. Sharing the practices, challenges and lessons learned from the Program will contribute to the global discourse on non-formal education’s role in catalyzing civic activism, promoting unity, and safeguarding democratic processes in fragile democracies striving for resilience.

Author

• Rusudan Chanturia, UNA Georgia