Learn more about our Eastern Partnership Civil Society Fellows through these Featured Stories. The Fellowship programme has been running since 2017 and today the Fellowship alumni network has over 200 Fellows from across the six countries of the Eastern Partnership. Details about all Fellows and their Fellowship projects can be found here.
#EaPFellows: Creating Opportunities for Georgian Youth. Story of Saba Khergiani
Saba Khergiani, a Tbilisi-based expert in business and organisation development, knows the challenges of growing up in a remote mountain village in Georgia well. Born and raised in Svaneti in northwest Georgia, Saba says he
EaP Civil Society Fellows Standing Up for Human Rights Today and Every Day
via GIPHY In 2004, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights established that “no ‘qualification’ is required to be a human rights defender” and the only minimum standards for human right defenders
#EaPFellows / Building a Family-Friendly Workplace Culture in Armenia: Astghik Karapetyan’s Story
‘I hope that one day, women in Armenia will not have to choose between family and work, proper childcare or sufficient income.’ This ‘hope’ has been the driving force for Astghik Karapetyan, an EaP Civil
#EaPFellows / Building Bridges for Ukraine through Global Volunteering: Story of Diana Daiub
For Diana Daiub, co-founder and director of Support Ukraine Now, the Russian invasion of Ukraine wasn’t just a national crisis—it was deeply personal. As a long-time advocate for civil society, she knew that Ukraine’s civil
#EaPFellows / Empowering Youth: Ketevan Tvildiani’s Mission for Inclusive Arts in Georgia
Ketevan Tvildiani’s first degree was in English language and literature, but her interest in understanding the concept of social justice and the everyday life of people in her community drove her to take a Masters
#EaPFellows / Oleksii Marushchak: “The time is never right”
To save. To support. To promote. With these three ideas in mind Oleksii Marushchak, a junior researcher at the Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and a co-founder of the
#EaPFellows / Nino Chincharauli’s Project Brings Autism Awareness to Georgian Cities
Nino Chincharauli never really expected to be a Civil Society Fellow. She spent most of her adult life involved in the creative industries and contributing to the cultural fabric of Georgia and other countries. Her
#EaPFellows / Empowering Communities: Rostyslav’s Journey to Civil Society Leadership
As a student, Rostyslav Semka got his first taste of international volunteerism in a summer camp in Istanbul under the ‘Myself My World’ project. The experience was a game-changer: “I was really impressed about the
#EaPFellows / Vitalii Razik: The Power of Networks
“Civic activism is an opportunity to give back to society, something you often cannot fully do in your professional work”, says Vitalii Razik, 2021 EaP Civil Society Fellow from Lviv, Ukraine, who has been combining
#EaPFellows / Gohar Khachatryan’s Journey in Mental Healthcare Advocacy
In parallel with academic studies, with a MA in Social Work and a nearly completed Doctorate in Sociology, Gohar Khachatryan has charted her civic activism through a range of CSOs and Thinktanks in her native
#EaPFellows / Mykola Ostapiak’ Dream of Justice
From the first days of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Ivano-Frankivsk, the hometown of the 27-years-old lawyer and PhD law student Mykola Ostapiak, became a transit hub for thousands of Ukrainians who
#EaPFellows / Building Bridges of Hope: Tinatin’s Endeavor to Empower Ukraine’s Young Refugees
Tinatin Bregvadze is the Chair of the Board of the Georgian Centre for Strategy and Development, a large, highly-regarded non-governmental organisation based in Tbilisi and operating through projects in Georgia, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
#EaPFellows / Enabling the Diaspora to Have a Say in the Next Elections is Crucial for Real Representativeness in Moldova
Imagine having to travel to another city or country, wasting precious time – sometime days, and spending your own money just to be able to vote. Unfortunately, this is the reality of many Moldovans living
#EaPFellows / Combining Creativity and Science to Raise Awareness on Environmental Impact of War
Nataliia Yaroshenko has been active in civil society since 2015. Her early years of activism were mostly focused on supporting cultural events, such as the Sumy Rock Fest, but then she experienced the ‘Active Citizen’
#EaPFellows / Restoring Justice for Juvenile Victims: The Story of Lado
Lado Javakhishvili is a lawyer by training and has spent nearly 10 years in public service working within the Georgian justice system. Up until the end of 2021 Lado served as the Deputy Director at
#EaPFellows / I Feel Like I Was Born to Volunteer! The Story of Nensi
“I feel like I was born to volunteer!”, says Nensi Mkrtchyan as she explains about her first experience with European Volunteer Service (EVS) in Armenia. “It was a wonderful learning experience, meeting with young people
#EaPFellows / We Can Claim Democracy as Truly Ours: The Story of Sandro
Trained in political sciences and international relations, Sandro Megrelishvili’s career oscillated between the academic world, civil service, and civil society involvement. Since 2020 he has been working for the Georgian Centre for Strategy and Development,