The action took place in 3 remote, rural locations of Gagauzia (Vulcanesti, Cazaclia, Gaidar).
Implemented Activities:
1. Created Community Action Groups (CAG) in 3 locations formed from representatives of different ethnic groups: Gagauzyan, Bulgarian, Russian, Moldovan, Ucranian, Roma people;
2. Offered a 1-day training Community Action Groups representatives in building community engagement; There was offered a training modules to build the capacity of the youth, which contained introduction to 1) Civic participation; 2) Practical organizational skills on creating action plans; 3) Organizing
community actions;
3. Empowered Community Action Groups to organize by themselves community regular meetings and community actions with slogan “Your Voice counts;
4. Organized the Exhibition “Gagauz Youth Take Action for Change!”
Achieved Results/Outcomes:
Result 1: Enhanced skills of youth to become agents of change in their communities reached by supporting young leaders to establish community action groups, to mobilize peers in their community and hold sustainable dialogue and interaction with local decision makers.
Outcomes: 3 community action groups established, 30 youth leaders trained
Result 2: Active participation of youth in solving the most pressing community issues attained by opening channels of discussion between youth and local authorities through meetings of community groups in order to be able to plan, promote an agenda and implement concrete initiatives.
Outcomes: 6 meetings of Community Action Groups, 3 small community actions took place, 126 community members mobilized (74 women and 52 men)
Result 3: Raised civic awareness about importance of community participation and active citizenship achieved through community-based youth initiatives, experience sharing opportunities
Outcomes: 30 people involved in Exhibition “Gagauz Youth Take Action for Change!”