Multimedia project “Youth for Social Changes” presents twelve young persons from different regions of Georgia who dedicate their actions and enthusiasm trying to change the society, achieve gender equality and contribute to creation of a healthier environment.
Akbar Makhmutogli, 15, from Marneuli
I am an active student at my school, I participate in various projects to change things for the better in my community, my society. I fight against gender discrimination to achieve genuine equality, because we are all born equal. Gender equality means equality between men and women. I don't like people who see a problem and stay silent and do nothing to solve it. Girls and boys used to be treated differently and it was a common practice at schools, before we conducted some activities and projects. For example, boys were given more difficult mathematical problems to solve and girls were given easier ones, assuming that girls couldn’t solve the harder ones. Gender discrimination is not only a problem in school. I think there are still cases, but there are fewer of them than there used to be. Obviously, this is not solely the result of my activism. I think that my generation is more prone to change the situation in this regard. We should not start changing something after it is already a problem. Instead, we should prevent the problem from happening and be an example of others. I think it will be better for our future if we start thinking about others and not just about ourselves. I often watch the news on TV [to learn] what is happening in our country. I think involvement in such things should start from childhood. After graduating from school, I want to go to university to study law. I want to create new projects myself, because this is how new ways of solving problems can be found. I advise my peers to be active, not to be silent when they face problems, to be constantly involved in all this. When you want to do something, you have to start doing it from childhood. If you really want to do something, you will do it. I dream of our country becoming a member of the European Union and NATO in the future. I love freedom and I want my society and me to be free, we live on Earth only once and we should live freely.
“Youth for Social Change" is an initiative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Georgia Country Office aimed to promote gender equality, and eliminate gender stereotypes and harmful social norms.
It is part of the three EU-funded programmes: “Ending Violence Against Women and Girls in Georgia (EVAWGG)” programme (Kvemo Kartli region), “Addressing Gender-biased Sex Selection and Related Harmful Practices in South Caucasus” (Samtskhe-Javakheti region) as well as “EU4GenderEquality: Together against gender stereotypes and gender-based violence" (Guria and Imereti regions).
About the authors:
Dina Oganova is a Georgian documentary photographer working in Georgia and other countries on different long term projects. She has been a laureate of prestigious awards, including the EU Prize for Journalism and Litera. Ms. Oganova has been named among the best woman photographers under the age of 30. Her photo projects include: “I Am Georgia”; “My Place,” “Frozen Waves.” Ms. Oganova’s works have been exhibited in Italy, France, USA, Spain and other countries. She is an author of the first Georgia handmade limited edition photobook “My Place”, which is a part of collections of several museums, including the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Dina Oganova has cooperated with UNFPA Georgia since 2016 on different projects: “A Girl is Born” (“Silent Garden”), “Girls from the Future”, “Mothers and Daughters”, etc. Women’s and girls’ rights remain in focus of her artistic work.
Tatia Nadareishvili is a freelance Georgian illustrator, co-founder of studio “Illustrator” (2016), who writes and illustrates children’s books. One of her books “Sweet Dreams” was published in 2017 and translated in several languages. Tatia Nadareishvili has cooperated with UNFPA Georgia since 2018. In 2020 she illustrated a bestselling bedtime story “Luna and The Planet of Fireflies”, which will soon turn into a play.
