OL! Movement

OL! Movement () is a liberal civic movement based in Baku, Azerbaijan. OL! means BE! in Azerbaijani language.

The movement was founded in 2006 as OL! Azerbaijan Youth Movement. It went through re-organization in 2012 and became OL! Movement. The motto of the movement is “Lead the Change!”

The leading principles of the movement are modernity, non-violence and tolerance.

Vision and mission

OL!'s vision is being part of a modern society where government respects freedom, civil liberties and rights of individuals and where people play active role in development of their communities. And their mission is leading a change through promotion of civic activism and liberal values to establish a free and responsible civil society. They promote democratic values and progressive ideas among youth, as well as educate the society they live in and want to form future leaders who will lead the change in their respective areas.

Activities

At the moment, the Movement has four ongoing projects.

The Free Thought University project – or AFU is a project for alternative education and a community center for active youth, where they can gather and share their experiences and knowledge in a free environment. The project won the first annual US/OSCE Ambassadorial Award for Freedom of Expression over the Internet in November, 2010 and its website got the first place in Milli Net National Internet Award in December, 2011.

Civic Activism Network is a training program for young people who are distinguished with their leadership skills and civic potential in Azerbaijani civil society. Program aims to work with those youth who have desire, motivation but lack skills in order to engage in civic life of their communities and organizations. OL! gives them full training in civic activism course and enables them to become leaders in their respective communities.

Agora round table series is a project aiming to bring young activists and representatives of youth organizations to gather and discuss issues and topics concerning the youth.

SOKRAT – abbreviation from Social Creative Initiative in Azeri, is aimed at producing animated video lectures about important topics.

See also

  • Adnan Hajizade
  • Emin Milli