“Red Bridge” – public organization operating in Kvemo Kartli
The organization “Red Bridge” has been operating in Marneuli municipality since 2020. Its representatives tell us that they are aimed at young people’s education, development and integration.
Natalia Jalaghonia, one of the founders, tells us about the idea of establishing “Red Bridge”:
“The idea of founding the organization arose during the university period when representatives of different ethnic groups were gathered and studying in one space. Unfortunately, discrimination, exclusion, etc. were and are quite noticeable then and now. Shortly, ethnical Azerbaijanis and Georgians founded an organization whose goal is to eliminate this problem and participate in the building of a country where people are not disregarded.”
“Red Bridge” has a total of six founders. One of them is Jaihun Muhammad Ali.
Jaihun is actively involved in the work of the organization. In his opinion,
it is important to support ethnic Azerbaijani youth in various directions. they have the opportunity to get to know the broader society through the “Red Bridge”.
For this purpose, video blogs were prepared and active ethnic Azerbaijani youth were introduced to the public.
Speaking about successfully implemented projects, Jaihun Muhammad Ali singles out a film called “Recognized”.
This movie made by Red Bridge has 4 protagonists. They are people with disabilities living in Georgia – the footage reflects how they live, and what their daily life is like.
The organization has founded a civic education school as well. 30 ethnically Azerbaijani youths had the opportunity to receive knowledge in civic education and media from field professionals for 6 months. Jeihun Muhammad Ali says that after the course, 2 students were assigned scholarships, and two of them were employed in the legislative body.
Besides the given activities, the organization, in cooperation with one of the universities, conducted the Georgian language learning online courses. As Jeihun points out, good knowledge of the Georgian language, civil rights and development in terms of civil activism is important for ethnic Azerbaijani youth, “then everything is easy”.
Natalya Jalaghonia also talks about the results of the projects implemented by “Red Bridge”. She says that the life of young people has become diverse:
“As the young people also note, these activities have, first of all, diversified their lives as well as enriched their knowledge on the issues of civil rights, responsibilities, civil activism, and media education. They already have the relevant knowledge and experience in order to change the existing discriminating environment.”
Jaihun Muhammad Ali also considers that the set goal is achieved.
“Our main goal was to raise civic awareness among young people and make changes in their lives for the betterment, and we succeeded.”
Author: Guranda Phutkaraya
Azerbaijani translation: Chichak Guseynova
English translation: Tamar Cherkezishvili
The article was created with the support of the Civil Society Institute, within the framework of the project " Civil Society Initiative: Sustainable, Open and Accountable Civil Society, Organizations for the Development of Georgia" funded by the European Union and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Kvemo Kartli Media is fully responsible for its content and it may not reflect the views of the European Union or the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. The project is implemented by a consortium led by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) together with the following non-governmental organizations – Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG), Civil Society Institute (CSI), Counseling and Training Center (CTC), Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC) and European Institute of Policy (IEP).
QvemoQartli.ge
You can use the material only by referring to the site