Municipalities Discuss State Policies to Ensure Well-Being of Children Georgia

A two-day working meeting with municipalities on ‘State Policies Combating Violence and Ensuring Well-being of Children and Families’ started today at the Radisson BLU Iveria hotel. The event brings together municipalities from all over Georgia to agree on the roles and responsibilities of central and local governments in addressing family vulnerabilities and violence against children.  

The meeting was organized by the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Healthy, Labor and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure and UNICEF in partnership with the European Union. Participants included representatives of international organisations, governmental agencies, NGOs and the Public Defender’s Office.  

“Municipalities play a crucial role in protecting children from violence, providing support to vulnerable families and children with disabilities”, Laila O. Gad, UNICEF’s Representative in Georgia said. “Municipalities are accountable to provide necessary services and there are also well positioned to monitor how the rights of children and their families are protected. However, it remains a huge challenge for municipalities to offer effective responses based on the needs of children and families. Existing services for children and families are also scarce and insufficient. Strengthening municipalities is critical for protecting children and families from various vulnerabilities and helping them in becoming active citizens. UNICEF has closely been working with municipalities to develop services for children with disabilities, those victims of violence and to support them in fulfilling their duties. We commit to continue such support in close collaboration with the central Government of Georgia and other partners”, she added.  

Participants of the forum discussed steps undertaken by the Government of Georgia to address violence against children and join the Global Partnership to End Violence Against Children, agreeing on the crucial role to be played by municipalities in addressing the needs of vulnerable families.  

“The safety and well-being of children and families concerns everyone. The recently adopted Association Agenda between Georgia and the European Union reiterates the need to broaden and strengthen measures to protect children against all forms of violence. We look forward to continue our cooperation with the Government and municipalities towards this end,” Head of Cooperation of the Delegation of the European Union Vincent Rey said.  

The other issues discussed at the forum were: 

• Steps undertaken by municipalities to introduce internal procedures required by the Child Protection Referral Procedures and to ensure professional capacity to identify, refer and respond to violence against children at the local level
• Different types of inclusive services at the municipal level and existing best practices to protect the rights of children with disabilities and their families
• On-going social protection programmes and services at municipal level and central levels, including Targeted Social Assistance (TSA) program, the ways of improving these services and opportunities for developing social assistance schemes at the municipal level for those vulnerable groups that are out-side the TSA program. 

The meeting aimed to contribute to the implementation of the National Human Rights Strategy 2014-2020 and its action plan and the development of the State De-Centralization Strategy.  

Moreover, within the framework of the “See Every Color” campaign, aimed to reduce stigma against people with disabilities, UNICEF carried out a contest to identify those municipalities that have the best social programs ensuring an inclusive environment for children with disabilities (adapted infrastructure, public transport, special programs and services, innovative approaches and involvement of both young people with disabilities and their parents). The top four municipalities were announced at the forum, awarded special prizes to recognize their contribution in protecting children with disabilities in the hope of encouraging other municipalities to up the ante with creation of their own inclusive environments. 

By Máté Földi