Training the Trainers: Certifying Youth Fund Grant Committees
Eurasia Partnership Foundation’s (EPF) Azerbaijan Youth Fund program held its third stage certification workshop and final examinations for Training of Trainers (ToT) participants in Baku.
Launched in 2005, the Azerbaijan Youth Fund is a youth-led grant-making program that provides small grants to fund young peoples’ good ideas that benefit their communities. In this unique approach adapted from a concept developed by the Community Foundation of Northern Ireland, young people themselves make the decisions about how their funds are managed, what community needs are targeted and what projects receive support.
The goal of the workshop was to provide new committee members from Sahil Youth Fund a better understanding of the Youth Fund program and reinforce their roles as both Youth Fund committee members and representatives of their communities. The training program aims to broaden the understanding of the ToT concept in contemporary youth work, increase the role of youth in community life, nurture participants as potential trainers and strengthen the Azerbaijani Youth Fund Network. Through interesting tasks, games and movie scene demonstrations, the participants learned how to be effective trainers and how to develop strategic responses to various issues.
The first and second stages of the certification program were held in February and March 2008. Fifteen committee members from Sheki, Ganja, Goychay, Quba and Lenkeran regions took part in the program. Participants who pass the final exams will receive an International Level Trainer Certificate—issued by the British Embassy in Azerbaijan, CFNI, EPF and local trainers—and will then be involved in mentoring nascent funds established in new regions. EPF has expanded the Youth Fund program to six new regions in Azerbaijan, bringing the program total to eleven regions of the country.
