Empowering Youth in ABL: Soft-Skill Training for Civic Engagement and Resilience

From April 16th to 19th, 2024, a Soft-Skills Training took place, welcoming a total of 50 representatives of young leaders from ABL communities. These participants were carefully selected with the Georgian partner, Information Center on NATO and EU.

Four days in total, separated into Ambrolauri and Gori, were brimming with intense training with Slovak and also Georgian experts.  The activity aimed to build the capacity of young people from ABL communities through the transfer of soft-skills training, enabling them to realize themselves within the community and motivating them to stay in the target districts, as well as participate more actively in public life.

The trainings covered specialized topics: critical thinking, project writing (training on project and financial management), civic participation, and youth engagement in public affairs

From the 16th to the 17th of April,  we commenced training in Ambrolauri, where we opened the training with opening remarks,  led by our President and Founder, Jan Cingel, and Irina Shamiladze from the Information Centre on NATO and EU.

Throughout the day, discussions, led by experts like former diplomat Mr. David Nardaia and EU integration specialist Mr. David Bujiashvili, delved into topics ranging from NATO’s global security role to Georgia’s path towards EU membership. In addition, the topic of Anti-Western propaganda, its main goals and objectives, as well as methods of combating disinformation, were addressed. The lecture on this topic was led by Mr. Giorgi Tskhvitava, Founder of the Association of Military Journalists.

However, it was the second day that they truly put their skills to the test. Mrs. Alexandra Tóthová, our Executive Director, led the team through financial management training, ensuring they were equipped to handle the intricacies of project finances.

Under Jan Cingel’s guidance, they then dove into project management, learning how to navigate the complexities of implementation effectively.

Then, we continued the soft-skills training in Gori, from the 18th to the 19th of April with the same modules.

The activity was part of the project: „Building economic resiliency of communities adjacent to the occupation line along Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia in Georgia (SAMRS/2023/GE/1/1)“.