Since 2010 the International Foundation for Electoral Systems’ (IFES) civic education programming in Georgia provides youth to better understand the democratic process and each citizen’s role and responsibility through its developed university and vocational educational level civic education curricula. 

Civic education pedagogy utilizes innovative, interactive teaching methods to enhance students’ awareness of human rights, good governance, and democratic processes. In addition to learning theories, students of the higher and vocational educational levels practically develop and implement action projects.

 IFES showcase-contest of its developed civic education courses’  best students’ action projects.

During this process, they actively cooperate with various state and non-governmental institutions, including local self-government units, CSOs, school administrations, and media for resolving problems that local communities are facing.  

Annually, IFES selects the best students’ action projects from its partner academic institutions to showcase with the main goal to further encourage students’ civic engagement, increase their motivation, and promote civically minded youth networking.                                                                                                                                                

The progress of Democracy and its sustainability is unimaginable without knowledgeable, civically conscious, and active youth. IFES empowers the students and academic circles of its partner 70 academic institutions with issue-based discussions on actual political, civic, and human rights issues.

For this reason, IFES closely cooperates with the experts from the Public Defender (Ombudsman) office, public officials and watchdog NGOs’ who are the guest speakers and give the first-hand information and expert views on the actual and problematic political, civic, and human rights issues for the local societies.    

Moreover, IFES regularly trains civic educators to build their capacity to share civic education concepts in an informative and engaging way that can be understood and absorbed effectively by a diverse cohort of Georgian youth.

“Georgian society is experiencing rapid political, social, and cultural changes geared towards building a viable democracy. In this process, the galvanizing force in constructing an effective democratic system is civic education, as democracy cannot exercise its full potential in the absence of informed, active, educated, and responsible youth who are the country’s future decision-makers and cornerstone of its democratic progress.” – Lela Javakhishvili, IFES Georgia Civic Education Specialist.