In March, EWMI ACCESS announced the winners of its Citizen Outreach Grants (COG) contest. They are:
1. Center for Civic Activities – the purpose of the project is to empower the population of Kakheti and Mtskheta-Mtianeti regions and defend their interests. The project will strengthen Community-based Organizations (CBOs) in the selected regions (Tusheti, Pankisi, Pshav-Khevsureti, Mtiuleti, Gudamakari and Khevi) through skills-building and informational support. After acquiring necessary skills, the CBOs will actively engage in advocacy campaign to solve their most pressing problems. Project activities will be covered extensively in radio and online media (www.mtisambebi.ge).
2. Winner Women’s Club – the aim of the project is to empower people diagnosed with breast cancer and members of their families in Georgia’s regions, provide them with psychological and informational support, and raise public awareness of the importance of screening for breast and cervical cancers. To this end, the Winner Women’s Club will set up support groups in the regions, provide consultations to patients and former patients, and engage in advocacy for introducing state-funded rehabilitation services for the target group. The project activities will cover Telavi, Zugdidi and Kazbegi and will involve patients, medical personnel and nongovernmental organizations.
3. The coalition Education for All Georgia – the aim of the project is to help teachers and students of regional schools of Georgia develop critical thinking skills and apply these skills in practice. The project will involve finalists of the 2018 National Teacher’s Award and the 2017 winner of this award, Lado Apkhazava. The project envisages the conduct of an intensive media and educational campaign.
4. Kakheti Regional Development Foundation (KRDF) – the project aims at reducing radicalization and estrangement of youth in the Pankisi Gorge by encouraging civic activism. The local youth will engage in informal educational and recreational activities, participate in summer school and implement small social projects.
5. Partnership for Human Rights (PHR) – the project aims at reducing bullying and violence in regional schools of Georgia through awareness raising. Toward this end, educational workshops on bullying, its effects and means of prevention will be organized for teachers, school administrators, students and parents. Textbooks and informational booklets about violence against children will be printed and distributed widely. Teachers and parents will receive individual consultations and other type of support, if needed.
6. Civic Initiative/Knowledge Café – the aim of the project is to mobilize and engage citizens in establishing Knowledge Café, an independent social venue in the village of Tsnori, Sighnaghi municipality. To this end, a large-scale information and civic campaign will be organized with the involvement of social activists, ordinary citizens and celebrities.
To fine-tune the activities and approaches of selected projects, EWMI ACCESS organized one-day working meetings (so called social laboratory discussions) with field experts, project beneficiaries and other stakeholders. Discussion participants analyzed selected problems thoroughly and helped the authors of the projects determine best solutions to the problems.
The implementation of new projects will start in mid-April.
