30 May 2011, Tbilisi

 Within the framework of the recently launched project Advocacy for Participation to Protect Children's Rights, funded by the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia, EveryChild Georgia organized training in principles of participatory advocacy for alternative child care service providers and users on 27-29 May in Tbilisi.

Pre-selected training participants came from different regions representing Small Group Homes, Day Care Centers and Foster Families. Most of them were beneficiaries of the project's associated partner organizations Caritas Georgia, Foundation Breath Georgia, SOS Children's Village Georgia, Society Biliki, Child and Environment, and the newly established Georgian Foster Care Organisation.   

The training was held in two parallel groups comprising sixteen adults and fifteen teens aged 14 to 17. Leading the training was an a local advocacy expert supported by the EveryChild team. Among other topics, the training sessions covered child participation, advocacy strategies and techniques, and analysis of the target groups through presentations, group work and role play.

In addition to formal training, the youth group’s agenda also included a trip to Bowling Central Tbilisi and a visit to the movie theatre "Amirani", owing to the in-kind contributions of these two establishments.

At the closing ceremony, the Country Director of EveryChild Georgia, Andro Dadiani addressed participants and presented their Certificates. He stressed the importance of the local and international non-governmental organizations’ involvement in the process of developing national child welfare policy and programmes. He also outlined future plans in terms of training participants’ potential involvement in the ongoing nationwide assessment of the alternative child care services that will serve as the basis for developing the advocacy strategy to be implemented at the later stage of the project.