Youth Express Network study visit – Caucasus: 21 – 30 July 2024
The Youth Express Network (Y-E-N) team, compose of Emilie-Marie HORNUS, Network Coordinator, Laura ERHARDT-HERTGES, Communication Officer, Ekrem SAHIN, Secretary General and Dylan RICHARD, future project officer, had the opportunity to visit their member organisations in the Caucasus region from 21 to 30 July 2024.
This study visit was funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the French National Agency for Youth and Sport as part of the Y-E-N’s accreditation.
It was an opportunity to discover the various member organisations of the Youth Express Network (29) based in this rich region of the Caucasus: Azerbaijan (2), Georgia (3) and Armenia (4).
The idea for the project arose from a desire to strengthen links by getting to know each other and to support the creation of new projects within and for the network.
On the first day, Monday 22 July, was devoted to the visit of Common Sense Youth Organisation in Sumqayıt, Azerbaijan. In 2024, Sumgait is celebrating its 75th anniversary. It is the 3rd largest city in the country after Baku, its capital, and Ganja.
Welcomed by Ramiz ALIYEV (former President of the Y-E-N), Orkhan BAYRAMOV (CSYO employee) and Saadat TAHMAZZADE (current Secretary General and future President of CSYO), we were able to discover the organisation’s premises and meet their CES volunteers, actively involved in the life of the organisation, in the anti-café created by Orkhan.
The following day, the Y-E-N team visited ODLAR Yurdu Youth Public Union in their co-working space in Baku, the Azerbaijani capital. There, we were welcomed by NAYORA, the Azerbaijani National Youth Council.
We met with Nazmin and Ali who invited us to take part in a workshop on the role of women in Azerbaijani society.
On the 24th, after a short flight from Baku to Tbilisi, it was the turn to meet with the Institute for Democratic Changes (IDC).
In the Georgian capital, we had a meeting with Nino TSULAIA, founder of IDC, and then later in the evening with Salo KURDADZE, trainer for Y-E-N. During this passionate discussion we gained a better understanding of the current issues tackling the ‘Russian law’ and what young people and youth organisations in Georgia are going through.
Nino is a former board member of Y-E-N and for a long time represented the National Youth Council of Georgia at the European Youth Forum.
Then, after a fruitful morning on the 25th with Giorgi AGIRBAIA founder of ProActive Group Georgia and Sopio KORTIASHVILI we received a complete presentation of their organisation and where we were able to discuss our upcoming youth exchange in Georgia. In the evening, we shared a generous dinner with the organisation BITISI our 3rd organisation in Georgia. It was refreshing to see all these young people so active. Many thanks to Levan NIPARISHVILI and his teammates Sopiko GOGRITCHIANI and Teona KOBAKHIDZE for this meeting, we wish them a lot of success.
On July 26th, after a 6-hour taxi journey from Tbilisi to Erevan across the stunning Caucasus mountains, we met up with the Federation of Youth Clubs of Armenia (FYCA) in their office located in the heart of Erevan.
Atom MKHITARYAN, founder of FYCA, their President Arman GRIGORYAN, Astghik AVETISYAN, Atom’s wife their daughter Arine MKHITARYAN and later on their son Aren MKHITARYAN welcomed us in their office and share their many years of experience and expertise with youth in Armenia.
Syuzi TADEVOSYAN, a volunteer at FYCA and our actual Treasurer at Y-E-N came later with two magnificent bouquets of roses, one for Emilie and the other one for Laura. A very big thank you to Syuzi for this beautiful gesture.
Then on the 27th and 28th, we travelled across the country to meet with Yeghvard Youth Ecological NGO and Uniting Bridge SNGO. Sirarpi MANYAN, Y-E-N trainer and her sister Ruzanna MANYAN, Vice-President of the Youth Express Network and Razmik MNATSAKANYAN our actual President, welcomed us warmly in Yeghvard.
Together we visited the town of Ochakan, where UB SNGO have their office, the shores of Lake Sevan and the stunning Haghartsin Monastery. We were accompanied and generously guided by the members of these two organisations: Sona and Mariam HOVSEPIAN.
Last but not least, to round off the programme of these 10 intense days, we visited AlteraLab association in Aparan, a rural region of Armenia, where we were hosted by Laura POGHOSYAN (founder) and Gohar SAHAKYAN (staff). It was a great opportunity to find out more about this new and promising young organisation, which also acts as a youth hostel. We look forward to implementing future Y-E-N projects there.
Finally, the study visit of our Caucasian Member Organisations created last-long memories.
Y-E-N is proud to be able to count on “their family” with so many different working-style and cultures, fully committed to empowering young people and promoting social inclusion.
Meeting these incredible people (face-to-face) strengthened ties and ensured better communication, with the promise of high-quality project development for the future of Y-E-N.
Dylan Richard
