Salve Fund to Support Vulnerable Children
The New Georgian-French Salve Fund was launched last week and has already gathered 10,000 GEL to help eliminate the fundamental problems of children from vulnerable families in Georgia. Georgia’s Justice Minister, Thea Tsulukiani, and President of the Georgia-France Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Antoine Bardon, officially registered the Salve Fund at Tbilisi Public Service Hall on March 7.
The main aim of the Salve Fund is to finance projects which deal with children working and living on the streets and eliminate malnutrition problems among newborn children from vulnerable families.
Minister Tsulukiani noted that one of the programs is to provide parents of vulnerable infants with special support packages. For that, they just need to visit Public Service Halls with their birth certificates. “Along with other basic things, the package will include vitamins, which, in accordance with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) standards, are necessary to eliminate malnutrition,” said the Minister.
“According to the statistics, more than 100,000 children are suffering from malnutrition in Georgia which interferes with their physical and intellectual development. Moreover, the elimination of this deficit is very difficult after two years,” Minister Tsulukiani added.
The first people to donate to the Fund were the former French Ambassador to Georgia, Renaud Salins, and French, Georgian and American businessmen working in Georgia. The Ministry of Justice hosted guests and held an auction, where businesspersons purchased items represented by different organizations, artists and athletes.
The Ministry of Justice announced that they have already gathered about 10,000 GEL meaning that programs in the framework of Salve Fund could start from June 1.
“My only desire was to start this foundation. Mr. Bardon, the head of UNICEF, also supports me and I would like to offer my thanks. Now I’m looking for people and organizations who will take on these particular projects and implement them,” said Minister Tsulukiani.
Eka Karsaulidze