40 master trainers were trained by the Knowledge Hub within the project “ERTAD - Empowerment, Resilience, Transformation, and Development.” Participants of the master training were selected from the Social Services Agency, State Care and Trafficking Victims Assistance Agency, State Employment Promotion Agency, as well as mentors from the Danish Refugee Council and facilitators from World Vision Georgia.

The trainings were held from July 6 to 13 and covered the following topics: introductory operational principles of UPG (Ultra-Poor Graduation), training of trainers methodology and approaches, and a thematic in-depth course on various priority areas, including social protection, social empowerment, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy.

The training course aims to prepare qualified professionals who can conduct high-quality training and provide qualified support in specific fields to those working with vulnerable families. The intensive course was developed specifically for master trainers and included theoretical knowledge, practical approaches to teaching in the relevant field, and tools for improving the competencies and skills needed by trainers. In turn, the master trainers trained within the project will train 39 family-strengthening consultants and 160 civil servants. This will contribute to the sustainability of the project and the introduction of systematic approaches to knowledge dissemination, gradually establishing the UPG approach as a key tool in overcoming poverty in the country. After the successful completion of the training course, all participants received a certificate of Master Trainer. 

Keti Fatsatsia, Project Manager, Danish Refugee Council, stated: “To pilot the newly introduced tools, experiences, and systems, a Knowledge Hub has been created. The Knowledge Hub is a multi-dimensional integrated knowledge platform that coordinates the creation of learning resources by facilitating core and supporting advisory groups. The Knowledge Hub includes master trainers, mentors, facilitators, and people working with families, such as consultants and others. A major responsibility for the Knowledge Hub was to select appropriate master trainers from partner agencies and train them. All expectations were exceeded by the participants' active involvement, motivation, confidence, and willingness to continuously improve their abilities as trainers, so that each one can make their own important contribution to the poverty alleviation process.”

At the end of the meeting, Thea Gvaramadze, Director of the LLEP Social Service Agency, thanked the project partner organisations World Vision Georgia and DRC. She noted that creating and distributing educational resources and training employees of the Social Service Agency, State Care Agency, and Employment Promotion Agency as master trainers in all four directions of the UPG model will increase their competencies and abilities in relevant areas. This will also promote the use of acquired knowledge in project activities.

"The goal of our joint project is to help overcome poverty in the country using a specific methodology. In addition to strengthening the families involved in the programme in four main directions, one of the main tasks is to promote the implementation of the methodology at both local and central levels. It is also important to note that the majority of the training participants represented relevant state agencies, which is crucial for ensuring the sustainability of the process in the future. Since the methodology and approaches are new, we are continuously identifying best practices and improving the process during implementation. This ensures that after the project ends, relevant state agencies can independently implement the methodology, coordinate, and cooperate at different levels according to the needs of vulnerable groups. We received very good feedback during the training process, based on which both the training module and the entire process will be improved. Together with the Social Service Agency, we have planned future activities that will contribute to the introduction and popularisation of the methodology in our country." - said Nino Lomidze, Project Manager, World Vision Georgia.

The project “ERTAD – Empowerment, Resilience, Transformation, and Development” is a joint initiative executed by a consortium comprising international organisations such as World Vision Germany (WV), World Vision Georgia, and the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) in Georgia, in collaboration with the Social Service Agency (SSA) of the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Social Protection of Georgia. Financial support for the project has been provided by the Swedish Development Agency (SIDA).