From 22 – 26 September 2024, the founder and board member of the Rönne Foundation Burkhard Saar, and project manager Mareike Steinig visited Georgia for the kick-off event of the new project ‘Empowering Youth Supporting Minority Communities’.
This project, which will run from 1.08.2024-31.07.2025, is once again being organised and implemented on site by our trusted partners, the Georgian NGO DEP. It is taking place in the Georgian regions of Kvemo Kartli, almost half of which is populated by the Azerbaijani minority, and the Samtskhe-Javakheti region, 50.5 % of which is inhabited by ethnic Armenians.
The project is aimed at the peaceful coexistence and integration of the Azerbaijani and Armenian ethnic minorities living in Georgia. The focus is on strengthening and networking young people from the various ethnic backgrounds and increasing their educational opportunities by, among other things, improving their knowledge of Georgian, resulting in improved access to educational programmes and thus enabling them to exercise their rights and opportunities in civil society and to participate in society and exercising their human rights. A grassroots pacifist side effect is the growth of friendships between all three ethnic groups.
We took advantage of our visit to Georgia to visit the projects that have been set up locally thanks to the grants awarded by the Federal Foreign Office within the Eastern Partnership Programme and thanks to the commitment of Tamar Zviadadze and Khatia Mamukashvili, our trusted partners in Georgia, the managing directors of the NGO DEP.
Headmistress of the Azerbaijani school in Amamlo, representatives of DEP and the Rönne Foundation
Visiting the Armenian school in Akhalkalaki, Georgia, on 25.09.2024
All projects mentioned were/are funded by the Federal Foreign Office as part of the Eastern Partnership Programme.