UNICEF welcomes Government’s efforts to halve child poverty

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has positively assessed the efforts of the Georgian Government to decrease child poverty in the developing nation.

In a special statement UNICEF welcomed the approval of the revised Targeted Social Assistance (TSA) System by the Government of Georgia.

"The new system aims at better reflecting the needs of vulnerable families. The revision of the system took place last year with the support of UNICEF and it becomes effective from 2015,” the statement read.

UNICEF also welcomed the introduction of the 10 GEL benefit for all children who scored below 100,000 in the TSA ranking. These children were deemed to be in immediate need of assistance.

"The principle of introducing child benefits in Georgia is a significant step towards a more comprehensive, sound social protection system, and towards reducing child poverty,” UNICEF said.

"In 2013, the increase of old-age pensions and the doubling of Targeted Social Assistance succeeded in reducing poverty rates among the general population and among pensioners. However, it did less for the 50,000 children still living in extreme poverty (below 2 GEL per day) and for the 225,000 children living below the national poverty line of 4.5 GEL per day,” the organisation said.

UNICEF also noted that though extreme poverty for children had dropped from nine to six percent since 2013, it was still 50 percent higher than for the general population. Furthermore, the figures for national child poverty had increased from 25 to 27 per cent over the same period.

"The last revision of the TSA methodology was undertaken over six years ago and it no longer captures the existing welfare profile of the country. Therefore, the aim of the reform was to take this into account and to identify the poor and vulnerable groups that might have been missing out,” said UNICEF.

"The reform is projected to achieve both aims – to reduce exclusion errors in the system and to improve targeting, thus making sure that families who need support will get it. Such an approach positively affects all vulnerable groups in the country.”

The organisation said the new set of qualification thresholds will introduce gradual benefits and each family member will receive the same amount of money.

UNICEF believed the reform was anticipated to halve extreme poverty among children and reduce poverty rates for the general population.

"UNICEF commends the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs for this achievement and its commitment to improve the lives of children and their families in Georgia.”

"UNICEF stands ready to continue cooperating with the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs and the Social Service Agency in the implementation of the revised social protection system and to support the Government of Georgia in fulfilling other commitments for improving the lives of children in Georgia.”