USAID Program YES-Georgia Officially Launches
On January 31, the public launch of the USAID program Supporting Youth and Women Entrepreneurship in Georgia (YES-Georgia) took place in Tbilisi, at multifunctional space Fabrika.
The program launch started with the exhibition and sale of products and services produced by YES-Georgia beneficiaries, within the framework of which they were able to present their products in front of a wider audience.
The official part of the ceremony started with an introduction by USAID/Georgia Mission Director Peter Wiebler followed by opening remarks by H.E. Bonnie Glick, USAID Deputy Administrator; Archil Talakvadze, Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia; Natia Turnava, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia; and Archil Bakuradze, Chair of the Board of the Crystal Fund.
While addressing the audience, high-ranking Georgian and foreign officials emphasized the importance of the Program in terms of the country's economic development. As they noted, YES-Georgia will significantly encourage and motivate local young and female entrepreneurs and contribute to their successful activities in the future.
The event was attended by international and local organizations, donors, government and business representatives, project beneficiaries, academia and youth and women entrepreneurs.
The USAID program Supporting Youth and Women Entrepreneurship in Georgia (YES-Georgia) is implemented by the Crystal Fund with the financial support from the American people through USAID and the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative.Additional financial support is provided by JSC MFO Crystal. The program cooperates with the international organization Buzz Women and local consulting company Crystal Consulting LLC.
YES-Georgia supports economic growth and empowers Georgia’s youth and women by encouraging innovation, promoting entrepreneurship, and enhancing youth and women’s employability. The program provides emerging entrepreneurs and professionals with skills development, business training, mentoring, and access to finance. Supporting Youth and Women Entrepreneurship in Georgia is an extension of the previous USAID program Youth Entrepreneurial Skills for Advancing Employability and Income Generation in Georgia. Since 2016, YES-Georgia has supported more than 3,000 young entrepreneurs and professionals, the majority of whom are women.
The White House launched the W-GDP Initiative in February 2019 to advance women’s economic empowerment worldwide. Through the initiative, the U.S. Government aims to reach 50 million women in the developing world by 2025. W-GDP is a whole-of-government effort, with USAID managing the W-GDP Fund, a $27 million program to source and scale the most innovative and impactful programs being implemented by the U.S. Government. The W-GDP Fund will mobilize partnerships to leverage more than $260 million from private sources, bilateral and multilateral donors, NGOs, universities, and foreign governments.