ARMENIAN AND TURKISH YOUTH BANKS EXCHANGE VIEWS ON MANAGEMENT OF SMALL-SCALE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

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Yerevan, Armenia- On August 18, Eurasia Partnership Foundation (EPF) together with Istanbul-based Toplum Gönülleri Vakfı (TOG) - “Community Volunteers Foundation” - NGO  organized a 4-day exchange visit of Turkish Youth Bank Committee members to meet their Armenian counterparts in the framework of the USAID-funded Support to Armenia-Turkey Rapprochement (SATR) Project. 

 Initiated by EPF in 2007, Youth Bank Committees are small groups of adults who on a voluntary basis manage a pool of small grants for youth-led local community development projects in different regions of Armenia. Thanks to this model, young people develop skills in decision-making, accountability, good governance and civic activism while addressing issues of importance to their communities. As part of the SATR Project, TOG NGO is partnering with EPF to establish and promote this successful community-based model in Turkey.

 To this end, representatives of the newly-established Turkish Youth Bank Committees from Istanbul and Samsun traveled to Armenia to learn best practices from, and exchange experience with, their Armenian colleagues from the Armavir, Kotayk, Yeghegnadzor, Martuni and Yerevan Youth Bank Committees. 

 The visit started with a trip to Armavir Development Center which houses the Armavir Youth Bank Committee, where Armenian Youth Bank members briefed their Turkish colleagues on how they organize their work starting from application solicitation to project selection and support during implementation. Youth Bank activist Arman Azizyan gave a presentation of the Youth Bank-supported community development projects including: park renovation and cleaning, provision of school supplies to children in need, classroom renovation, placement of garbage cans in Armavir Zoo and others.

“We are amazed how organized you are. This is a new experience for us to work with youth outside universities, so this is a really good opportunity for us to learn,” noted TOG Program Manager Can Ercebe accompanying the Turkish Youth Bank Committee representatives.

Other members of the delegation pointed out that as newly-established entities, Turkish Youth Banks are experiencing the challenge of getting the word out to their respective communities and getting people interested in their work. The Armenian participants shared their experiences of how they started their work and what publicity materials and tools they used.  Naira Arakelyan, the President of the Armavir Development Center, encouraged everyone not to be discouraged by initial difficulties: “When we started, we didn’t know where we were headed, but thanks to the efforts of these young people, the Youth Banks are now well-known for the community development work they support.”

The Armavir Youth Bank Committee members invited the participants to the Armavir zoo to show work they had supported and also to engage everyone in joint volunteer work to help clean the area and do some paintwork. Prior to departing for the Zoo, the participants had some cake to mark this excellent opportunity for cross-border learning and experience sharing.

The Support to Armenia-Turkey Rapprochement program is supported by USAID and is implemented by a consortium, including the Eurasia Partnership Foundation, Yerevan Press Club, the International Center of Human Development and the Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen of Armenia. USAID and its partners support Armenia-Turkey rapprochement by facilitating engagement between civil society groups, establishment and development of business partnerships and regional professional networks, and enhanced understanding between the people, for peace and economic integration in the region.