EU, UNICEF launch joint project to support children’s rights in Georgia
The initiative is financed by the European Union and the total budget is over €2 million. Photo: UPI.com.
Tweet 
Share
The European Union and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) have launched a three-year joint project to support the protection of children’s rights in Georgia.
The project aims to support the government in the implementation of the newly adopted Code on the Rights of the Child.
‘Strengthening Systems and Services for Child Protection in Georgia’ will be implemented by UNICEF in cooperation with the Government of Georgia.
The EU has been supporting children’s rights in Georgia for many years, including our recent work with UNICEF contributing to the development of Georgia’s Child Rights Code.We are happy today to announce our continued cooperation with UNICEF to further support the Georgian institutions to provide better services and care to children and families in vulnerable situations,” said Sigrid Brettel, Head of Cooperation at the EU Delegation to Georgia.
The initiative is financed by the European Union and the total budget is over €2 million.
We are grateful to the European Union for their continued support to strengthening child rights, child protection and justice systems in Georgia”, said Ghassan Khalil, UNICEF Representative in Georgia.
The new Code on the Rights of the Child that came into force earlier this year provides a comprehensive legal framework and brings the child protection system into compliance with international standards. The project that has been launched with the support of the European Union will contribute to the application of the main principles of the Code in practice and will ensure children live in a caring family environment and have access to child-friendly justice”.
The project will do the following:
- strengthen legislation and policies to support closure or restructuring of specialized institutions and move children from these institutions to a family environment
- strengthen social services workforce at central and municipal levels to support and protect children and families
- develop needs-based social programmes and implement them at local municipalities' level
- develop specific communication interventions will promote positive parenting to address violence against children
In the justice sector the project will result in additional specialisation of criminal justice professionals (police, prosecutors, lawyers, judges) to work with child victims/witnesses of crime and those involved in cases of separation of children from their families.
A new code of children’s rights has come into force today on September 1 to protect, develop and improve the life of children in Georgia.
A total of 29,800 children in Georgia do not have proper conditions to even wash their hands with soap and water at home, says UNICEF, which added that children living in families where there is a lack of proper conditions and sanitary facilities are especially vulnerable to the rapid spread of the coronavirus.
The Georgian police have arrested a man accused of sexually harassing adolescents online and violating their right to privacy.
Special clubs will be created at schools and an active information campaign will be launched to raise children’s awareness regarding the threats coming from Internet, including dangerous online games, the Georgian Education Ministry reports.
Assistance for economically disadvantaged children has increased to 100 GEL (about $31/€26) per month starting today, instead of the current rate of 50 GEL (about $15/€13), Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili’s press office announced.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), with support from the European Union, trained over 50 Georgian juvenile justice professionals on children’s rights, the EU Delegation to Georgia said on Friday.
Reforms implemented by the Georgian Prosecutor General’s Office in domestic juvenile justice were discussed on Thursday in a meeting between Irakli Shotadze, the Prosecutor General of Georgia, and Jasper Moller, the newly appointed Representative of the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund in Georgia.
The United Nations Children's Fund in Georgia and the Embassy of France on Wednesday launched a partnership initiative to strengthen children’s rights across the country through expansion of capacity of children’s rights experts, support for professionals in providing quality services for children and strengthening of children’s rights centres.