Azerbaijan Youth Fund Grows with U.S., UK Support
The Azerbaijan Youth Fund program, implemented by the Eurasia Foundation has recently received additional support from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) of the United Kingdom to expand its activities through 2009. This unique leadership initiative has established five youth-led grantmaking committees responsible for disbursing financial resources to youth projects in the country’s Sheki, Ganja, Goychay, Guba and Lenkoran regions. The Youth Fund receives strategic support from the Ministry of Youth and Sports and ongoing financial support from the FCO, USAID and the Lodestar Foundation.
 |
| The Youth Fund gathered to select its committee members |
During the first stage of the Youth Fund program, 35 young people aged 18-30 personally oversaw the disbursement of over $12,000 to 28 youth-led community projects in their respective regions. Projects supported by these young grant committees varied from drug abuse prevention campaigns in Lenkoran to artistic competitions in Guba, and from vocational training in Ganja and Sheki to the opening of an all-girls café in Goychay.
With increased assistance from the FCO, Eurasia Foundation will expand the Youth Fund program to five new regions of the country over the next two years. The expansion will include a certification program to prepare current program participants to act as future trainers and mentors to new grant committees, and the organization of a formal steering council of committee members to advise the Foundation on future program activities.
Jamal Shahverdiyev, Eurasia Foundation’s Country Director in Azerbaijan credits the program’s unique strengths for its success. “It combines skills and leadership development with hands-on practical experience managing a small grants program. The young people involved in the Youth Fund have unprecedented opportunities to positively impact their own communities.”
Back to Top ^ |
