[Georgia] EU, UNICEF launch joint project to support children’s rights in Georgia

The European Union and the United Nations Children’s Fund have launched a joint project with the purpose of protecting children’s rights in Georgia and the project will last for 3 years to support the government to implement the newly adopted Code on the Rights of the Child. The Georgian institutions will also be supported to provide better services to the children and family in vulnerable situations. The project is financed by the EU which totals over 2 million euros. The new Code on the Rights of the Child provides a comprehensive legal framework and enhances the child protection system to comply with international standards. Therefore, the project will contribute to the application of the main principles of the Code in practice and will ensure that the children live in a caring family environment. To project will need further specialized criminal justice professionals in order to support the justice sector by working with cases involving child separation from family, and child victims or witnesses.

The main focuses of the project:

• strengthen legislation and policies to provide a caring family environment to children and restructure other child care institutions
• strengthen the social services workforce at central and municipal levels to support children
• develop needs-based social programs and implement the programs at local municipalities' level
• develop specific communication interventions to promote positive parenting to prevent violence against children