Our group was founded in May 2004 to bring fresh ideas and recommendations to the World Bank. We are one of six "Youth Voices Groups" in the ECA region.
Our group is composed of 13 members from different educational, work, ethnic and regional backgrounds. We meet twice a week at the World Bank’s Georgia Country Office in Tbilisi. We conduct youth research and participate in a variety of World Bank workshops and outreach activities.
Here, seven of us share with you the concerns and hopes of young Georgians.
Nino Tavadze, 22, graduated from Georgia Technical University and works at the Urban Institute in Tbilisi.
"We have more opportunities today because scholarships are available and borders are open."
"I think society and government do not pay enough attention to youth with disabilities. For example, in a lot of schools there are no special areas accessible to them. They are not integrated into society. They are kept in special schools."
Kote Nasaridze, 24, born in Abkhasia, the break-away territory, is an Internally Displaced Person (IDP) who came to Tbilisi because of the war. He works for an NGO that conducts negotiations with the Abkhasian side and helps youth in Georgia and Abkhasia come together.
"Young IDPs do not have money to go to university. Those who do manage to study are not able to get jobs. In a lot of cases, young people start to drink. In many cases, they go abroad to find jobs."
"My father was sent to work in Abkhasia after he graduated. When he was a young man, there was peace at least. But when I was 12 or 13 years old, the war began and everything collapsed around me. That’s a huge difference."
Maia Toklikishvili, 22 , studies philosophy and works as a marketing researcher at the same time.
"Young people are depressed because they’re not working and many are drug users. In Tbilisi and in the regions, we call “birja” an informal gathering of drop-outs. It's a site where unemployed people get together, standing in the streets, talking about how to get drugs."
Giorgi Gamkelidze, 23, studies at the Agricultural University of Georgia and is the head of the Young Farmers Association.
"My priority is agriculture because it’s a priority for our economy and employment in the regions. Unfortunately today, agro-business and farming are not popular among youth. People prefer to be involved in services and become lawyers or economists rather than becoming field specialists."
"Because farming is not popular, many young people in the regions move to the cities or even migrate to other countries."
Aleko Silagadze, 23, has a masters degree in economics and works for two youth NGOs.
"Whether it was good or bad, the fact is that we had a youth policy under the Soviet Union. For example there was a Union of Komsomols. Today there is no development strategy for the youth."
"I think it’s like a sink-or-swim situation. There are opportunities in Georgia, but a lot of young people are passive and are not encouraged to seek them out."
"When my father was my age, he was not so independent in his decisions. Other people affected his decisions. Right now, I can choose whatever I want to be and where I want to go."
Mikhael (“Misha”) Avakian, 26, is of Armenian descent. He studied law in university and works for an NGO helping ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities.
"I think that youth in Georgia is tolerant towards minorities, but I think minorities don’t feel they are full citizens of Georgia. They are self-conscious because they don’t speak Georgian very well."
"The three main problems of youth - unemployment, migration and drug abuse - apply across the board, whether a person belongs to a minority or not."
Maka Shioshvili, 20, comes from the Kakheti region, east of Tbilisi. She is a third year law student and works for Philipp Morris in Georgia as an administrative assistant.
"One of the biggest problems in the past was education, because of corruption. After the new education reform, this issue has improved a bit. Young people are no longer afraid, when they take university exams, that other people will pay money and get in instead of them."
"In the past, if a policeman saw a young person in the street doing nothing, he would arrest him and and say: Go to the factory and work there. Now, young people are desperate for jobs and would take even unpaid jobs."
"The problem is that everything happens in Tbilisi. But in small cities, people remain in the dark. If people were informed, they could get more out of life than they are getting now."
RSS