France to allocate €1 mln to support reform of social protection system in Georgia

France continues to support the development of a new social protection policy in Georgia through the French Development Agency (AFD) and is offering €1 million in a grant. 

French Ambassador to Georgia Diego Colas announced the provision of the new grant on June 17 at a conference where the conclusions of the first technical assistance programme implemented in 2017-2020 were presented. 

Last week Georgia and AFD concluded a comprehensive three-year work programme, and reform of the social protection system is one of the pillars of that programme. In this context, I am announcing today that we have reserved a grant of €1 million for technical assistance to make the link between the work already done and the reforms to come, and this grant will be disbursed over the weeks to come", said Colas.

The main areas of assistance are the following: 

• Results-based contracting in primary healthcare
• Strengthening the mental healthcare services
• Development of the deinstitutionalisation plan for mental healthcare services
• Developing the human rights monitoring mechanisms in mental health facilities and assistance in the process of harmonising the mental health regulatory environment with the EU regulatory framework

Apart from this, in terms of mental health, amendments to the Georgian Law on Mental Health have been prepared with the assistance of AFD experts.