20,000 People to Benefit from a New Community Center in Kachagani
The United Nation Development Program (UNDP) continues to support the expansion of access to different services for people in the rural areas. This time, Kachagani in the Marneuli Municipality of the Kvemo Kartli region, is in focus. On December 13, a new community center opened in the village of Kachagani, expanding access to over 200 public and private services for 20,000 residents.
The community center houses the office of a local self-government representative, aiming to ease citizen engagement in decision-making, and provides access to a modern library. Additionally, the center includes well-equipped conference facilities.
The Minister of Justice, the Ambassador of Austria, the Minister of Justice Thea Tsulukiani and the UNDP Deputy Head, among others, attended the opening ceremony of the new center in Kachagani on Friday.
“We are proud to open the 74th community center in Georgia fully tailored to the needs of people in towns and villages,” said Minister Tsulukiani. “Community centers give people easy access to public services, such as obtaining birth certificates, ID cards and property registration. Additionally, local residents can get services from the banks, access internet and library, meet representatives of local self-government and engage in projects for the benefit of their communities.”
“Access to services and engagement in decision-making are a foundation of local development,” said Ambassador of Austria Arad Benkö. “We support community centers in the remote rural regions to expand opportunities available for citizens and ensure that quality services are available in every village of Georgia.”
“Better access to services means more opportunities, a better social environment and the greater engagement of people in the decisions that define their future,” noted UNDP Deputy Head Anna Chernyshova. “It is especially important in the rural areas where people need more information about the tools they can use to participate in local governance and become the owners of development,” she underlined.
The new community center was established by the Public Service Development Agency (PSDA) of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia with the support from the UNDP, the EU and the governments of Switzerland and Austria.
Kachagani is the first of two villages where community centers were constructed with the support of the UNDP and Swiss and Austrian states. The second community center is to open in 2020, in Chrebalo, a remote village in mountainous Racha. Tailored for the needs of people living in the national minority regions and the remote mountain communities, the centers will provide crucially important services to thousands of local residents.
Aiming to aid reforms in local self-governance and encourage regional development, assistance to community centers is a part of the wider effort of the UNDP’s mission, implemented with funds from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC).
The UNDP is the leading development organization in Georgia. Since 1993, the program has been part of the country’s success in many fields, including its democratic reforms, inclusive growth, conflict transformation, green solutions and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
By Nini Dakhundaridze
Image source: UNDP Georgia