MISSION STATEMENT:

The Academy for Peace and Development (APD) is an international, non-governmental, non-profit, non-political youth organisation, which aims at empowering youth, promoting peace, tolerance and solidarity in South Caucasus, through assisting young people in acquiring knowledge and developing their skills and competencies.

OBJECTIVES:

To provide high quality programs to the young people with fewer opportunities (from a less-privileged cultural, geographical or socio-economic background, or with disabilities);

To develop leaders who are committed to peace, democracy and solidarity;

To provide practical community-based educational opportunities for youth;

To support the peaceful and nonviolent process of transformation of the conflicts in Caucasus through providing knowledge, skills and competencies to youth, youth leaders and youth workers;

To promote integration of young people into society and the involvement in self initiatives to support solving the community, educational, economical, environmental and social problems;

To promote the better understanding of the diversity of the common cultures, supporting the fight against racism, xenophobia, discrimination and promoting equality at all levels of society.

The Academy for Peace and Development (APD) was established in Tbilisi, Gergia in October 2002, on the basis of the Young Leaders for Peace and Development (YLPD) Programme, which was implemented by the Academy for Educational Development (AED) with the financial support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

APD is based on the 6 years experience of the Young Leaders for Peace and Development (YLPD) Training Program with the mission to build bridges of friendship, understanding and dialogue among teenage war victims of the Georgian - Abkhaz conflict. Program presented a tremendous opportunity to promote youth leadership development and conflict resolution in the South Caucasus. APD is dedicated to improving people’s lives by increasing knowledge and promoting democratic and humanitarian ideas.

The YLPD program began in 1998 with 44 participants who were teenage war victims of the Georgian and Abkhaz conflict, many of whom live in desperate circumstances.

The YLPD program participants were 510 Georgian and Abkhaz Young People in the 15 different youth clubs of Georgia, the clubs offered an after-school curriculum of conflict transformation, English, computers, and NGO and small-business development. Young Leader volunteers at each club worked as trainers of weekend schools that serve over 1,000 children.

YLPD program consisted by the different stages:

1998 Youth Development - I, Building for the Future
Youth festival (Armenia); Summer Camp (USA)

1999 Youth Development - II, Building for the Future
English classes; summer Camps (Likani and Pitsunda); Youth Festival (Armenia); Summer Camp (USA)

2000 Young Leadership Skills Development
English; Computer; Conflict Transformation; NGO and Small Business Development training classes; Community outreach projects; Summer Camps (Likani and Pitsunda); Summer Camp (USA)

2001 Young Leaders for Peace and Development in the Southern Caucasus

English, Computer; Conflict Transformation; NGO and Small Business development training classes; Community outreach projects; TOT on English; NGO and Small Business Development; TOT on Conflict Transformation (USA); Summer Camp (Armenia)

2002 – 2004 In Pursuit of Peace in the South Caucasus Georgian and Abkhaz Young Leaders for Peace and Development
English; Computer; Conflict Transformation; NGO and Small Business development training classes; Community outreach projects; TOT on English, NGO and Small Business Development; Summer Camp (Turkey).

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