To study and to have fun – this was one of the main mottos of the summer campers in Kotayk region of Armenia, where young people aged 11-13 were combining their summer holidays and informal workshops on SDGs and finances, thanks to UNDP's and Armenia's Centeral Bank's social campaign.
“Making Finance work for transformative change in Armenia: Unlocking Finance for Armenia 2030” project team, together with the teams of the Central Bank of Armenia and the Office of Financial System Mediator, participated in activities aimed at increasing financial literacy within the framework of the annual #peacecamp project, which took place on July 26-29, 2022.
The main goal of the #peacecamp was to organize children's active recreation, combining it with social and educational programs. In the framework of the project, the team of volunteers visited six different camps in Kotayk region of Armenia and organized financial literacy games and discussions in different formats with about 1,000 children.
“Financial inclusion of all the groups of the population is one of the fundamental enablers of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as economic growth in the country. On the other hand, to increase financial inclusion it’s important to raise awareness on financial literacy among the population, thus helping them make rational decisions and financial transactions,” said Ligia Ghazaryan, project coordinator of “Making Finance Work for Transformative Change in Armenia: Unlocking Finance for Armenia 2030” project.
One of the formats of the #peacecamp was the game developed by the “Making Finance Work for Transformative Change in Armenia: Unlocking Finance for Armenia 2030” project team. The game envisages team engagement and aims at raising public awareness of the SDG finance-related component. Through simulations, participants not only learn about the SDGs but also realize their mission in community development.
“These four days were full of emotions. We not only acquired many friends and had fun, but we also learnt a lot of new things about finances and SDGs. I am sure that we will try to use this knowledge in the future,” said one of the campers.
For the participants of the camp, partner organizations prepared gifts and incentive prizes, particularly school supplies in order to support the families of the campers ahead of the school year.
“Our team and volunteers supported raising financial literacy levels within 11-13 years children during their summer campus stay through games on SDG finance and other educational activities. Similar events will have their fundamental impact on shaping the population stand through increasing their level of understanding on at least basic financial terms to make use of this knowledge in their daily life when executing financial transactions, and more,” said Ligia Ghazaryan.
Taking the success of the initiative, UNDP will try to involve the younger generation in further activities in order to increase their awareness for better decision-making in the future.
