პანკისის სათემო კავშირები
PANKISI COMMUNITY LINKS
USAID PANKISI COMMUNITY
LINKS ACTIVITY IN GEORGIA
QUARTERLY REPORT NO. 1: Q1, FY 2020
JANUARY 30, 2020
This publication was produced for review by the United States Agency of International Development. It was prepared by Chemonics International Inc.
Pankisi Community Links QUARTERLY REPORT NO. 1: Q1, FY2020 1 USAID PANKISI COMMUNITY LINKS ACTIVITY IN GEORGIA
QUARTERLY REPORT NO. 1: Q1, FY 2020
Cooperative Agreement No. 7201I418CA0000I
Cover photo: New Years’ fair; Pankisi homemade produce in Tbilisi at Orbeliani Square
DISCLAIMER
The authors’ views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States government
Pankisi Community Links QUARTERLY REPORT NO. 1: Q1, FY2020 2 ACRONYMS
B2B Business to Business CIDA Civil Development Agency CPGP Community Projects Grants Program FY Fiscal Year GSCD Georgian Center for Strategy and Development JAG Junior Achievement Georgia KRDF Kakheti Regional Development Center LAG Legal Aid Georgia LoP Life of Project NGO Non-governmental organization MEG Multifarious and Equal Georgia MOU Memorandum of understanding MSPA Municipal Service Providers' Association MSMEs Micro, Small, Medium-sized Enterprises PMCG Policy and Management Consulting Group PYC Pankisi Youth Center RFA Request for Application RFP Request for Proposal RSF Roddy Scott Foundation Georgia SVCGP Small Value Chain Grant Program USAID United State Agency for International Development USG United States Government YCC Youth Center for Civil Development YFD Youth for Pankisi Development YTD Year to date
Pankisi Community Links QUARTERLY REPORT NO. 1: Q1, FY2020 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Executive Summary ...... 5 Pankisi Community Links Purpose-Level Indicators...... 6 Activity Implementation Progress...... 7 Implemented Activities...... 8 Success Stories……………………………………………………………………...Annex A
Pankisi Community Links QUARTERLY REPORT NO. 1: Q1, FY2020 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This quarterly report summarizes the accomplishments of the USAID Pankisi Community Links Activity in Georgia (hereinafter referred to as Pankisi Community Links) during the first quarter of FY 2020 (October 1, 2019 - December 31, 2019). During the quarter, the project carried out the following activities:
Community Projects Grants Program for awareness campaigns, community projects, exchanges, and internships: Two Pankisi non-governmental organizations (NGOs) out of five grantees under the Community Projects Grants Program completed their activities: Pankisi Youth Center and Roddy Scott Foundation. Kakheti Regional Development Foundation and Multifarious and Equal Georgia are still implementing their programs.
Capacity building of Pankisi-based NGOs: Pankisi Community Links identified the Georgian Center for Strategy and Development (GCSD) to provide institutional development assistance to strengthen the capacity of Pankisi-based NGOs. The agreement has been signed and GCSD conducted their first training on “Organizational Management and Project Writing.”
Set up small grants program to link Pankisi enterprises to external value chains: Pankisi Community Links received 76 proposals. Through a competitive sub- award process, the program selected 31 Pankisi-based applicants to implement the Small Value Chain Grant Program (SVCGP) and awarded grants.
Providing business development services to Pankisi Community Links grant recipients: Pankisi Community Links issued an RFP to identify a qualified service provider to provide business development services to Pankisi Community Links business grant recipients. 6 applications were received by the deadline.
Facilitate business linkages and promote economies of scale: Pankisi Community Links identified the Youth Center for Civil Development (YCCD) to implement the program “Select Business to Business (B2B) partner.” The agreement has been signed with YCCD. YCCD organized three roundtables, one info tour, and a New Years' market fair as part of the activities of the program.
Set up grants program to encourage linkages between external value chains and Pankisi enterprises: Pankisi Community Links received 15 applications in
Pankisi Community Links QUARTERLY REPORT NO. 1: Q1, FY2020 5 response to the published RFA and selected 5 of them. Two linkage grants were awarded. Three will be awarded during Q2.
Integration of business skills in education curriculum: Junior Achievement Georgia completed the Basic Business Concepts in Primary Education (BBCPE) program. Pankisi Community Links is preparing to continue the program in 2020.
Progress Against Indicators Pankisi Community Links results against Purpose-Level indicators are summarized in Table 1 below. Please refer to the Performance Management Plan for a complete list of expected results.
Table 1: Pankisi Community Links Purpose-Level Indicators
Pankisi Community Links Activity in Georgia Purpose-Level Indicators
No. INDICATORS LoP FY 2020 FY YTD % of FY Cumulative % of LoP TARGET TARGET 2020 2020 Total TARGET RESULTS TARGET 1 Number of USG supported events, 48 20 10 50% 36 75% trainings, or activities designed to build support for peace or reconciliation among key actors to the conflict; 2 Number of people participating in USG- 750 300 146 49% 422 56% supported events, trainings, or activities designed to build mass support for peace and reconciliation; 3 Percentage of Pankisi residents reached 60% 30% 30% 100% 30% 50% through awareness campaigns; 4 Number of organizations, receiving 55 25 4 16 % 45 82% USG-assistance; 5 # of Pankisi youth interacting with non- 90 30 0 0% 90 100% Pankisi youth; 6 Percentage change in perception of TBD TBD N/A N/A N/A N/A "other", based on pre- and post-activity perception surveys; 7 Number of business plans supported as a 45 20 0 0% 36 80% result of USG assistance; 8 Number of individuals who received 90 40 0 0% 0 0% USG supported short-term agricultural sector productivity training 9 Number of market linkages established 15 5 0 0% 5 33% through USG Assistance; 10 Number of new market referrals 50 20 5 25% 5 10% established through USG assistance; 11 Number of youths enrolled in vocational 450 150 131 87% 301 67% or other training; 12 Number of teacher/educators/teaching 30 10 0 0% 38 127% assistants who received intensive
Pankisi Community Links QUARTERLY REPORT NO. 1: Q1, FY2020 6 coaching or mentoring with USG support 13 Percent of students demonstrating 75% 75% N/A N/A 75 100% increased understanding of basic business concepts after completion of USG supported training/education; 14 # of private sector volunteers engaged in 24 8 0 0% 8 33% delivery of business skills program.
ACTIVITY IMPLEMENTATION PROGRESS
BACKGROUND
In many ways, Pankisi Valley residents occupy a distinct and parallel political, social, economic, and geographic space to that of the rest of Georgia. Surrounded to the north, west, and east by uninhabited mountains and forests, their only physical connection to the rest of Georgia is through the town of Akhmeta.
Most Pankisi residents are Kists, whose Muslim religion separates them from the predominantly Orthodox Christian populations in the rest of Georgia. Other residents, particularly in Sakobiano, are Pshavi — are nominally Orthodox Christian with some pre-Christian traditions — or displaced Ossetians. The valley’s residents are engaged primarily in subsistence agriculture, and many depend on remittances for their livelihoods. Pankisi Kists have upheld a traditional and informal judicial and governance system led by an all-male Council of Elders rather than Georgian local governance structures. The area is known for being culturally closed, and notably few residents leave to pursue economic opportunities beyond their home communities. The nature of Pankisi’s physical isolation and cultural particularities, coupled with lack of economic opportunities, has increased the area’s vulnerability to sources of conflict and the spread of radical ideologies.
Pankisi Community Links Activity is a three-year program designed to diminish the valley’s cultural and economic isolation by bringing people together – both within Pankisi and with other areas of Georgia – around economic and social incentives. Pankisi Community Links’ implementation approach centers on forging linkages across age
Pankisi Community Links QUARTERLY REPORT NO. 1: Q1, FY2020 7 groups and religious affiliations within Pankisi and connecting Pankisi citizens to the rest of Georgia through economic and social opportunities. The resulting interactions will help create a more cohesive society within Pankisi and help to bridge the divide between Pankisi and surrounding areas, making the area more resistant to conflict.
Pankisi Community Links will promote economic and social linkages between Pankisi residents and the rest of Georgia through the following activities: (1) engaging community actors, particularly youth and women’s groups, in inclusive, iterative, and collaborative problem-solving to empower them to drive positive change and participate in decision-making that affects their social and economic well-being; and (2) linking entrepreneurs both within Pankisi and to those based outside the valley; and (3) linking Pankisi youth to non-Pankisi youth while enhancing their civic-mindedness, business skills, and employability. To ensure local ownership, Pankisi Community Links will work with and through local organizations such as the Council of Elders, Women’s Council, and the recently-formed People’s Assembly and Youth Council, while building their organizational and technical capacity to help them better address the needs of the local communities. Pankisi Community Links aims to empower all members of a community through a gender-balanced approach and will integrate gender analysis and considerations throughout its activities.
ACTIVITIES The following sections provide updates on all activities that are under active implementation during the first quarter of FY 2020. The report summarizes activities in detail, describes impact and results of each activity, and indicates the next steps to be implemented during the second quarter of FY 2020.
Component 1: Build Social Cohesion and Address Drivers of Tensions Within Pankisi Communities Task 1.2: Community Projects Grants Program for awareness campaigns, community projects, exchanges, and internships Pankisi Community Links awarded 14 community grants to five Pankisi NGOs: Kakheti Regional Development Foundation, Roddy Scott Foundation Georgia, Youth for Pankisi Development, Pankisi Youth Center, and Multifarious and Equal Georgia. The awarded grants fall under four lots: awareness campaigns, community projects reflecting local priorities, cultural/educational exchanges, and youth internships.
Pankisi Community Links QUARTERLY REPORT NO. 1: Q1, FY2020 8 See the table below for descriptions and activity status of the community projects:
Title and short Activity Status Results/Updates # Name of the organization description Lot 1: Awaireness Campaigns Short term Ongoing. educational Expected to courses for conclude in Q2 Pankisi residents: A) English 1 KRDF language course; B) Georgian language course; C) Computer course. Folk music and Ongoing. traditional Expected to dancing courses conclude in Q2 for Kist and Georgian children and youth in Pankisi 2 KRDF Gorge. The project teaches groups of Kist and Georgian youth folk songs and traditional dancing. Short term Ongoing. educational Expected to courses for conclude in Q2 Pankisi women: 3 KRDF A) Sewing course; B) Embroidery and knitting courses. Strengthening Ongoing. professional skills Expected to 4 KRDF of Pankisi women conclude in Q2 and youth:
Pankisi Community Links QUARTERLY REPORT NO. 1: Q1, FY2020 9 A) Course on working with clay; B) Course on working with felt; Traditional Ongoing. culinary course. Expected to The project conclude in Q2 arranges a culinary room in the village Jokolo, 5 KRDF where Pankisi Georgian and Kist women are learning to cook traditional and nontraditional dishes. The project Completed created a "Young Journalists’ Club" of Kist and Georgian students from Pankisi 6 Roddy Scott Foundation Gorge. The project involves young people in running the RSF’s online newspaper, Pankisi Times Lot 2: Community Priorities Joint engagement Completed of Georgian and Kist youth in environmental 7 Youth for Pankisi Development activities: 1. Training on environmental protection;
Pankisi Community Links QUARTERLY REPORT NO. 1: Q1, FY2020 10 2. Cleaning up the territory of Batsara bridge; 3. Two-day hike to the mountains for the group of young people. Pankisi Eco- Ongoing. School. Expected to The project conclude in Q2 includes young people from Georgian and Kist 8 Multifarious and Equal Georgia villages who receive informal education on civil and environmental activism. Sport Completed Competition for Pankisi Youth. The project included a major 9 Multifarious and Equal Georgia sport competition for Pankisi youth. Students were selected from Georgian and Kist schools. Lot 3: Cultural and educational exchanges Pankisi Youth Completed Camp. KRDF provided groups of Georgian and Kist students with 10 KRDF training in different school projects, such as writing, leadership, children’s rights,
Pankisi Community Links QUARTERLY REPORT NO. 1: Q1, FY2020 11 and gender equality. Lot 4: Internships Internship for Completed Pankisi women in the culinary sector. The project includes training for 11 KRDF Georgian and Kist women in the culinary sector. Trainings were held by LLC "Saba 2005" in Telavi. Internship in Completed Agriculture. In partnership with the Georgian Agrarian Union, 12 KRDF KRDF held trainings in nursery maintenance in Gurjaani. Supporting Completed professional development of Pankisi youth and their participation in community life - Internship System. 13 Pankisi Youth Center The project goal is to strengthen local youth capacity and increase the youth engagement in community activities. The
Pankisi Community Links QUARTERLY REPORT NO. 1: Q1, FY2020 12 activity includes development of the community center concept, internships, and public meetings. Vocational Completed training of Pankisi Youth. Seven young people from the 14 Roddy Scott Foundation Pankisi Gorge attended vocational courses in Tbilisi at the academy UNIKO.
In total 8 projects out of 14 are completed and 6 of them are in progress. They will be completed at the end of January 2020.
Challenges No challenges observed.
Kakheti Regional Development Foundation and Multifarious and Equal Georgia will complete their activities in Q2. Pankisi Community Links plans to start the next round of Community Projects Grants, Lots 1-5, Next Steps during the next reporting period.
Photo description: Cultural Event in Duisi (KRDF)
Pankisi Community Links QUARTERLY REPORT NO. 1: Q1, FY2020 13
Task 1.3: Capacity Building of Pankisi-based NGOs
Activity 1.3.1: Strengthen Pankisi-based NGOs Pankisi Community Links accepted the proposal submitted by “Georgian Center for Strategy and Development” (GCSD) on October 17, 2019 and signed a fixed price contract with them on November 15, 2019. GSCD will provide tailored consulting and mentoring to interested NGOs, including, but not limited to Pankisi Community Links grantees, based on their expressed needs. GSCD will provide assistance in areas such as:
• Financial management, including budgeting, accounting, and financial analysis • Strategic business planning Results/Updates • Communications support (advocacy, public outreach, etc.) • Report, grant, and proposal development/writing
On December 21-22, 2019 GCSD organized the first training for local NGOs. The training’s main topics were Organizational Management and Project Development. The training covered organizational structure optimization, human resources management and communication practices; major techniques for business plan development. Overall, nine professionals from 5 NGOs attended the training. Each theoretical session was followed by practical exercises. Four more training sessions will be held before the end of February 2020.
Photo description: Participants in GCSD’s training in organizational management and project writing
Pankisi Community Links QUARTERLY REPORT NO. 1: Q1, FY2020 14
Challenges No challenges observed
GCSD will continue to implement capacity building activities Next Steps during Q2. Trainings in financial management, budgeting and taxation, and fundraising are planned for January 2020, while advocacy and communications training will be held in late February and early March.
COMPONENT 2: Link Pankisi Entrepreneurs and Youth to Greater Georgia Through Economic and Social Interaction Task 2.2: Set up small grants program to link Pankisi enterprises to external value chains:
Pankisi Community Links has signed grant agreements and awarded grants to 31 Pankisi-based applicants for implementation of the Small Value Chain Grant Program (SVCGP) (out of 76 Results/Updates applicants).
Brief Description of 31 selected projects:
1. Tinatin Chekurishvili - The applicant plans to operate a sewing facility to produce clothing, work with wool, and make different modern traditional clothes from felt. The grant will provide sewing machines and other equipment
2. Tsisana Qurdadze - The applicant owns a guesthouse for ten guests and plans to expand the business by providing additional services. She plans to purchase new equipment like a freezer, tennis table, and bicycles.
3. Zaira Khangoshvili –The applicant plans to open a confectionary shop and needs to equip it with a mixer and refrigerator, as well as tables, chairs and tableware.
Pankisi Community Links QUARTERLY REPORT NO. 1: Q1, FY2020 15 4. Mzia Tsatiashvili – The grant will provide additional equipment and furniture to expand the applicants’ guesthouse business, including chairs, a garden umbrella, rocking chair, wicker chair, washbasin, water heater, mirror, and sofa.
5. Ketino Duishvili -The applicant aims to expand her poultry business by arranging production of chickens in an incubator and producing feed for the poultry. The grant will provide a chicken incubator and mini corn mill.
6. Paata Gumashvili - The grant will provide equipment, such as saddles, so the applicant can expand his equestrian tourism business.
7. Fatima Kavtarashvili – The grant will provide equipment to expand the applicant’s self-service car-wash business.
8. Nata Tsintsalashvili – The applicant will receive equipment to expand guesthouse business, including bedroom furniture, a corner sofa, and an LCD TV set.
9. Zelimkhan Gumashvili - The applicant grows strawberries from May until October. He aims to expand his farming to 2000 square meters and the grant will provide a drip irrigation system.
10. Zaira Tsatieva - The applicants owns a car service center (financed by “ZRDA” project, and “Produce in Georgia”) He plans to improve his service offerings by adding additional equipment, including a digital diagnostic device.
11. Soso Gumashvili - The applicant intends to expand his bicycle renting business by adding new equipment, including new bicycles and safety devices
12. Tamila Kavtarashvili - The applicant plans to open computer service center and offer scanning, copying, and document printing. The grant will be used to purchase five
Pankisi Community Links QUARTERLY REPORT NO. 1: Q1, FY2020 16 computers, a copy machine, a refrigerator, chairs, tables, and an air conditioner.
13. Tamaz Alkhanashvili – The grant will be used to procure gym equipment and protective gear to improve the training environment.
14. Severian Gumashvili - The grant will be used to procure an electric carpentry machine and joiner’s knife kit.
15. Malvina Mutoshvili - The applicant owns a guesthouse in the center of Duisi village. To expand the business, she plans to purchase bedroom furniture, tables, chairs, garden chairs, and a swing.
16. Givi Borchashvili - The applicant plans to expand his bee keeping business by purchasing additional hives, frames, and a centrifuge to generate new bee families.
17. Ketevan Khangoshvili – The applicant will receive additional furniture and equipment to expand the existing guesthouse business, including bedroom furniture, a sofa, a kitchen table, kitchen chairs, a magazine table, and a clothes rack.
18. Zaur Mutoshvili - The applicant plans to expand his existing bicycle rental business by purchasing five more bicycles.
19. Sulkhan Bordzikashvili – The applicant started his beekeeping business last ywar with a bank commission loan and plans to purchase hives, frames, a turbo feeder, and a wax melting device.
20. Manana Tokhosashvili - The applicant owns the only existing sewing business in the gorge and intends to expand her sewing business by replacing old equipment with new sewing machines.
Pankisi Community Links QUARTERLY REPORT NO. 1: Q1, FY2020 17 21. Shengeli Tokhosashvili - The applicant plans to purchase additional equipment for his non-alcoholic beer production line, including stainless containers, an air-conditioner, and stabilizers. He has previously received training and a new boiler from the “ZRDA” project.
22. Eldar Kavtarashvili - The applicant plans to equip his butcher shop in Duisi with a new meat grinder, freezers, meat cutter, and some limited furniture.
23. Moris Mutoshvili – To establish a car washing service, this project will procure a vacuum cleaner and self-washing equipment. The applicant will leverage the grant by installing a sewage system.
24. Guliko Duishvili - The applicant intends to expand her beekeeping business. She plans to purchase additional hives, and a centrifuge and plans to provide branding for her honey and other products.
25. Kakhaber Chekurishvili - The applicant plans to install a mini feed mill for production of granulated chicken feed. The grant will purchase necessary equipment, including a hay thresher, mixer, and a 7.5KW granulator to produce combined feed.
26. Tarkhan Pareulidze - The applicant plans to expand their guesthouse business by purchasing kitchen equipment, soft furniture for the porch and other equipment.
27. Ketevan Gorelashvili - The applicant intends to construct a greenhouse for vegetable production, which will be equipped with a drip irrigation system. The grant will be used to purchase the drip irrigation system.
28. I/E Sinko Kholigashvili. The applicant owns a bakery and plans to increase the variety of his products by purchasing a wood stove, a kneading machine, and some furniture.
Pankisi Community Links QUARTERLY REPORT NO. 1: Q1, FY2020 18 29. Aza Khangoshvili-Gumashvili - The applicant plans to establish a housekeeping and house repair service that will employ family members and provide cleaning, landscaping, fireplace and chimney cleaning, and other repair services. The grant will be used to purchase mobile equipment and tools, including an electric screwdriver, mini grinding machine, tile cutter, trowels, vacuum cleaner, iron and ironing board, linen dryer, gloves, buckets, wallpaper cutter, a gas-powered lawnmower, and shovels.
30. Omar Khangoshvili - The applicant owns a hazelnut orchard. In order to expand and improve its labor efficiency, applicant plans to purchase a mini walking tractor for the orchard maintenance.
31. Lela Khangoshvili - The applicant owns a beauty salon in the center of Duisi. She intends to expand her business by purchasing epilation device and equipment for nail treatment (shellac).
All small value chain grants were awarded and all in kind assistance was delivered to the recipients.
Challenges No challenges observed Next Steps Monitoring the implementation of the projects and providing technical assistance via trainings and follow-up consultation visits.
Task 2.2: Set up small grants program to link Pankisi enterprises to external value chains Activity 2.2.3: Provide advisory business services
On November 20, 2019 Pankisi Community Links issued an RFP for providing business development services to the small and linkage grant recipients. Six applications were received from Results/Updates: the following organizations:
1. Civil Development Agency (CiDA)
Pankisi Community Links QUARTERLY REPORT NO. 1: Q1, FY2020 19 2. Georgian Municipal Service Providers' Association (MSPA) 3. Policy and Management Consulting Group (PMCG) 4. Ltd Legal and Financial Service Company 5. Georgian Center for Strategy and Development (GCSD) 6. Legal Aid Georgia (LAG)
The program includes two major activities: mandatory training and on-site consultations for individual beneficiaries.
Mandatory training sessions will cover the following topics: 1. Registration /dealing with registration, taxation and associated policies and issues; 2.Small business management training; 3.Business plan writing training to improve fundraising skills 4. Health and safety training; 5. Food safety trainings
On site consultations will be provided based on the individual demands from the farmers and entrepreneurs.
Challenges: No challenges observed
Grantee selection and beginning of activity implementation are Next Steps: planned during Q2.
Task 2.3: Facilitate business linkages and promote economies of scale Activity 2.3.1: Select business-to-business (B2B) partner
Pankisi Community Links selected YCCD on October 18, 2019 to implement the program “facilitate business linkages”.
Results/Updates: The business-to-business program includes the following activities:
Pankisi Community Links QUARTERLY REPORT NO. 1: Q1, FY2020 20 • Visit Pankisi monthly to conduct roundtables, build relationships, and resolve newly identified/existing obstacles; • Organize internal buyer trips; • Organize a similar tour for hotel and guesthouse owners; • Arrange a fair of local produce and bring in potential buyers not only from Kakheti, but from other regions of Georgia; • Assist local producers to better understand local and international market demand; • Expose local producers to more productive farming practices and ways to achieve increased sales; • Organize tours to successful cooperatives and associations to promote the idea of cooperatives/associations among Pankisi producers.
During the reporting period, YCCD conducted three roundtables, one informational tour for tourist companies, and a market fair.
On December 12, 2019 YCCD held an information tour in Pankisi Valley for tourist agencies and guides working in Georgia. Photo description: Informational tour for companies Representatives of the travel companies "Visit Georgia," “Ntarvel,” and “Leontravel Georgia” and representatives of the Georgian Guides Association visited Pankisi. The tour participants visited tourist attractions, local hotels, and guesthouses. Both parties exchanged contact information and agreed on future cooperation. According to travel company representatives and guides, they will include the Pankisi Gorge in their spring and summer tours.
Pankisi Community Links QUARTERLY REPORT NO. 1: Q1, FY2020 21 On December 21, 2019 the pre-New Year' fair took place in Tbilisi at the newly renovated Orbeliani Square. Female entrepreneurs from Pankisi Valley participated in the event. Handmade felt items, local produce, non-alcoholic beer, cheese, honey and traditional sweets were for sale and tasting. Visitors, including foreign tourists, had opportunity to taste and buy Pankisi products.
Challenges No challenges observed
Next Steps In Q2, YCCD is planning to arrange an internal buyers’ trip to Pankisi, where potential buyers will visit local manufacturers in Pankisi.
Task 2.4: Set up small grants program to encourage linkages between external value chains and Pankisi enterprises Activity 2.4.2: Award market linkage grants
The program is designed to establish market linkages between Pankisi and non-Pankisi economic agents. Pankisi Community Links received 15 applications in response to the published RFA Results/Updates: and selected 5 of them: 1. Bela Mutoshvili (to purchase a hay baler) 2. Davit Khokhobashvili (On-call master technician) 3. Nodar Chichiashvili (Car service center) 4. Sesili Amirova (Purchase router to produce wooden strips) 5. Lela Seturi (Catering facility)
In October, three out of five grants were approved and agreements were signed with Bela Mutoshvili, Lela Seturi, and Sesili Amirova.
Challenges No challenges observed
Pankisi Community Links QUARTERLY REPORT NO. 1: Q1, FY2020 22 Approval of the remaining two applicants: Nodar Chichiashvili Next Steps and Davit Khokhobashvili and awarding the grants.
Task 2.6: Integration of business skills in education curriculum
In FY2019, JAG successfully implemented a business skills program in seven public schools of Pankisi Gorge. The success of the program encouraged the Pankisi Community Links project to continue supporting the program in 2020 and an invitation letter has been sent to the organization for a proposal to integrate business skills in the education curriculum of the upper classes (grades 9-12) of all seven Pankisi Schools. JAG responded to the email, expressed their willingness to perform the program , and sent technical proposal with all necessary documentations. Results/Updates Challenges No challenges observed
the members of the grants selection committee will review Next Steps: JAG’s application and determine whether to award a follow-on grant.
Pankisi Community Links QUARTERLY REPORT NO. 1: Q1, FY2020 23
Female Entrepreneur Highlights Pankisi Valley Through Tourism
The Pankisi Valley bears a reputation as being a fundamentally different place from the rest of Georgia due to its physical and social isolation. Surrounded on three sides by mountains and forests, the Valley’s natural beauty and distinct Kist culture is an important selling point for the emerging tourism industry, which offers opportunities to connect Pankisi residents to the rest of the world through economic and social interactions. But tourism facilities in the Valley remain underdeveloped.
Entrepreneurs like Ketevan Khangoshvili are stepping in to fill this void. “I have addressed numerous donor organizations to assist in Photo: USAID/Pankisi Community Links the technical renovation of my guesthouse. [The] Pankisi Links Ketevan Knangoshvili. Grant Recipient of USAID/ Pankisi Community Links program is the first one which responded positively,” says Ketevan, 34, a female entrepreneur from Jokolo village. The support she received from USAID’s Pankisi Community Links program allowed her to leave Georgia’s social welfare program in order to engage further in the tourism industry. Pankisi Links supported Ketevan’s guesthouse with a grant to equip her guesthouse with bedroom, dining room and kitchen furniture, and appliances.
Ketevan and her husband Abo had previously tried to provide some limited services to tourists such as horseback riding, hiking tours, and catering but needed to make their offerings more attractive to out-of-town guests. With the newly refurbished Since 2019, USAID Pankisi Community Links has been working to forge linkages across age groups guesthouse, they can now offer a full package of services, including and religious affiliations within Pankisi and overnight accommodations for up to 10 people. The couple is even connecting Pankisi citizens to the rest of Georgia planning to establish a tour company “Caucasus x Trek Discover through economic and social opportunities Pankisi” based out of their guesthouse.
Ketevan has high hopes for tourism’s ability to drive positive social change in Pankisi. Through traditional Kist hospitality, interesting food, and most importantly, the high motivation triggered by the grant she received, she believes that her guesthouse can help “rewrite the history of Pankisi.”
Building Skills and Connections Through Vocational Courses
Pankisi Community Links implements projects of community importance that promote messages of tolerance and respect for cultural differences, provide educational and vocational courses, and support cultural or educational exchanges and internships. These projects are implemented via grants to local organizations.
Supported by one of these community grants from Pankisi Community Links, the Pankisi-based Roddy Scott Foundation provided tuition fees for 15 Pankisi youth to take different vocational courses. The Roddy Scott Foundation seeks to provide educational opportunities for Pankisi youth and these courses were intended to help prepare students for the workforce and to develop desirable skills. Several participants have already secured employment as a result of their participation.
Photo: USAID/Pankisi Community Links Maka Kushashvili at work. Maka Kushashvili of Jokolo is one of them. One of six brothers and sisters raised by a single mother, Maka is a junior at a medical school. However, her medical education did not equip her with enough skills and knowledge to get a job to support her family in the meantime. The skills she gained during the short-term educational course in pharmacology financed by the Roddy Scott Foundation allowed her to pass her exams and acquire a full time job at the national chain drug store, Pharma Depot, in Tbilisi. Maka plans to return to Pankisi and continue her professional career in the valley.
Since 2019, USAID Pankisi Community Links has In addition to the practical skills she gained, Maka notes that the been working to forge linkages across age groups relationships she forged with young people from other regions of and religious affiliations within Pankisi and Georgia were also important to overcoming stereotypes about connecting Pankisi citizens to the rest of Georgia Pankisi. She believes that proper education and close contacts with through economic and social opportunities young people outside Pankisi is a key to successful integrating the valley’s population into mainstream Georgia. “Because of its different dress code, language, and stereotypes about Pankisi, everybody was looking at me with suspicion at the beginning,” she says. “Now my classmates are my best friends, and nothing can interfere with our friendship.”
Empowering Youth to Take an In the Pankisi Valley, opportunity for young people can be scarce. Active Role in Community Youth are often seen as a problem group prone to radicalization Development and not adequately included in discussions about the future of the Valley. USAID’s Pankisi Community Links Activity seeks to change that perception by promoting inclusive youth participation in advocating for effective governance, empowering youth economically, and engaging them to build resilience in their communities.
In order to consistently engage young people about their priorities and ideas for the Pankisi Valley, Pankisi Community Links established a Youth Advisory Board made up of seven young people from different Pankisi villages – Sakobiano, Jokolo, Omalo, Tsinubani, and Duisi. These board members were elected during a broad community meeting where a majority of the Valley’s youth population was represented, providing the Youth Advisory Board with an important source of inclusivity and legitimacy.
Photo: USAID/Pankisi Community Links The Youth Advisory Board provides input on community priorities Youth Advisory Board meets with Community Links to help guide the Activity’s implementation and assesses the leadership. outcomes of its initiatives with a youth-focused lens, meeting regularly with Pankisi Community Links staff. The group helps determining evolving needs that the project can address and helps to deliver project messages to Gorge residents, thereby generating grassroots-level support and buy-in. Using inclusive, iterative, and collaborative problem solving techniques, project staff work with the board members to empower them to drive positive change on their own, rather than face exclusion or marginalization in the decisions that affect their social and economic well-being.
“This initiative is a very important, desirable and at the same time, [a] very special occasion, as we have the opportunity to participate Since 2019, USAID Pankisi Community Links has in the decision-making process which is beneficial for our valley. been working to forge linkages across age groups and religious affiliations within Pankisi and We have the opportunity to share our vision with the connecting Pankisi citizens to the rest of Georgia organization's management team. Our involvement in this project through economic and social opportunities has positive effect on the project itself - Gorge residents’ trust and positive attitude increases toward the program,” says civil activist and member of the Advisory Board Luiza Mutoshvili.
Pankisi Community Links plans to continue to engage youth as changemakers for their own and for their communities’ positive development, altering community perspectives to view youth as assets rather than problems.