Parliament Speaker highlights role of diaspora during pandemic at award ceremony
Speaking at the event, Papuashvili stressed “special assistance” provided by the communities and credited it for saving “the lives of hundreds of our compatriots living abroad”. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
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Georgian diaspora communities took the “special responsibility” of caring for their compatriots during the Covid-19 pandemic, Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said on Thursday at the ceremony for the Successful Emigrants Award.
Speaking at the event, Papuashvili stressed “special assistance” provided by the communities and credited it for saving “the lives of hundreds of our compatriots living abroad”.
The selfless support during the difficult time of the global pandemic is invaluable, and for that I want to thank everyone”, the head of the legislative body said.
As part of the prize-giving ceremony, members of the Georgian Parliament awarded medical professionals, people from other fields of work as well as individuals who donated for their efforts during the pandemic.
Members of the legislative and executive authorities, representatives of the Patriarchate and the business sector were among guests for the event, which has been hosted by the Diaspora House organisation for the fifth year.
This year's event was dedicated to the people united in the Georgian Crisis Management Centres working abroad during the pandemic and assisting compatriots abroad during the pandemic.
Officials and professionals in Tbilisi discussed the importance of diaspora in promoting Georgian culture abroad in a forum dedicated to cultural diplomacy, digital diaspora and more on Saturday, the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The Government will remove “all artificial barriers” to enable representatives of the Georgian diaspora to easily receive passports, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said on Friday at a forum dedicated to Diaspora Day.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has met with members of the Georgian diaspora in Vienna during her recent visit to Austria, where she stated that culture is one of Georgia’s key resources and it needs to be popularised.
“The Georgian diaspora needs political representation. I call on the entire Georgian society to unite around the idea, so that our [Georgian] diaspora can gain its own voice and right to represent its own interests in parliament”, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili said in a video address at the Diaspora Forum dedicated to Diaspora Day.
Within the framework of the global conference, the Global Conference for Diaspora Networks in Science, a session titled Georgian Diaspora and Science Across Borders, was held on Thursday.