As I sat at the board room table of the Ireli Youth NGO in Baku's Old City (Icherisheher) I was reminded of why it is so energising to work with young, passionate, creative people, (don't I sound old, and don't I know it!) and why it can simultaneously be a challenge. A colleague made the comment that it was like trying to herd the stray cats of Baku (of which there are many).
Ireli, a youth led and focused NGO has been in operation since 2006. During that time these 18-29 year olds have racked up an impressive number of donors and projects and they have created a very influential reputation in the country.
So when we were looking for a partner to create, build and deliver a public awareness campaign that would educate the people of Azerbaijan on the importance of the social inclusion of people, especially children, living with disabilities, we chose Ireli to help us.
The Chairman, 26 year old Rauf, sits opposite me telling me about the initiatives - he taps out the facebook pages, the twitter accounts, the web.tv and the NGO's URL on his iPad - as he explains to me how they will upload the public service TV spot onto their YouTube channel and it will automatically populate to all their Internet sites. He shows me the 55,000 "Likes" on one of the facebook pages and tells me that all their web sites combined will attract about 100,000 friends.
He then explains that today they will publicly launch the Disability Coalition's (another of our projects initiatives) web site [www.supportcoalition.az : coming soon in English] and officially release the short video that will feature on TV spots over the next months in an effort to increase the visibility of disability inclusion. Combining with other initiatives to lobby government to enact policy on disability (inclusive education and health), this TV and social media campaign is one of the pillars of the initiative. And, of course as the special guest I will be speaking and launching the video...
These are an excited, and exciting group of people. With over 26,000 members in Azerbaijan they carry some weight, and when they support an initiative, apparently people take note. Within hours of the release the reports began to make the news. News.Az reported on the afternoon.
But the important thing is that the message about the social inclusion of people (especially children) living with disabilities is getting out there, and after the presentation one young woman, a student, approached our project coordinator and asked how she can get involved. That's what we need, people getting involved, and people caring!
Ireli, a youth led and focused NGO has been in operation since 2006. During that time these 18-29 year olds have racked up an impressive number of donors and projects and they have created a very influential reputation in the country.
So when we were looking for a partner to create, build and deliver a public awareness campaign that would educate the people of Azerbaijan on the importance of the social inclusion of people, especially children, living with disabilities, we chose Ireli to help us.
The Chairman, 26 year old Rauf, sits opposite me telling me about the initiatives - he taps out the facebook pages, the twitter accounts, the web.tv and the NGO's URL on his iPad - as he explains to me how they will upload the public service TV spot onto their YouTube channel and it will automatically populate to all their Internet sites. He shows me the 55,000 "Likes" on one of the facebook pages and tells me that all their web sites combined will attract about 100,000 friends.
He then explains that today they will publicly launch the Disability Coalition's (another of our projects initiatives) web site [www.supportcoalition.az : coming soon in English] and officially release the short video that will feature on TV spots over the next months in an effort to increase the visibility of disability inclusion. Combining with other initiatives to lobby government to enact policy on disability (inclusive education and health), this TV and social media campaign is one of the pillars of the initiative. And, of course as the special guest I will be speaking and launching the video...
These are an excited, and exciting group of people. With over 26,000 members in Azerbaijan they carry some weight, and when they support an initiative, apparently people take note. Within hours of the release the reports began to make the news. News.Az reported on the afternoon.
But the important thing is that the message about the social inclusion of people (especially children) living with disabilities is getting out there, and after the presentation one young woman, a student, approached our project coordinator and asked how she can get involved. That's what we need, people getting involved, and people caring!
