United Nations Population Fund Celebrates 15 Years of Presence in Georgia

It is 15 years that the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has been working in Georgia. To mark its 15th anniversary, UNFPA Georgia Office organized the reception on Monday, 20 October at 18:00, at the Restaurant “Funicular”. The event was attended by Mr. Zahidul Huque, UNFPA Representative in Turkey and Country Director for Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia; Mr. Niels Scott, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Georgia; Ms. Tamar Khomasuridze, SRH Program Advisor, UNFPA Eastern Europe and Central Asia Regional Office; Representatives of the Executive and Legislative branches of the Government, as well as diplomatic missions, international organizations and civil society.

Ms. Lela Bakradze, Assistant Representative of UNFPA Georgia Country Office:

“During the 15 years of partnership, a significant progress has been achieved in implementing the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD); however more effort is needed to reduce maternal mortality, to increase access of young people to youth-friendly reproductive health services and information; to enhance response and implement programmes required for preventing gender-based violence; to integrate population dynamics in the National Development Frameworks. UNFPA continues partnership for supporting development of sustainable future for Georgia.”

The main areas of UNFPA activities and partnership:

Supporting improved reproductive health policies and standards, and increased access to quality family planning and safe motherhood services:

More than 3,000 health professionals have advanced their knowledge and skills for providing quality Reproductive Health services;

During 2001-2012 five Reproductive Health Mobile Teams (RH Mobile Teams) treated, counselled and referred over 80,000 individuals, reaching all municipalities of Georgia and saved more than a hundred women’s lives. Additionally, RH Mobile Teams were vehicles for awareness-raising and capacity development. UNFPA provided increased access to quality RH and Family Planning Services, which reduced the risk of maternal death.

UNFPA Georgia supported launching of the Breast and Cervical Cancers Screening project and its replication throughout the territory of Georgia. Currently UNFPA supports enhancing the quality of the cervical cancer screening programme for increasing the coverage of the target population.

Support to advance the rights and opportunities of young people:

UNFPA Georgia with its partner organizations has supported development of the Youth Policy and the National Action Plan for its implementation;

To support youth healthy and harmonious development over 55,000 young people have been reached through Peer Education sessions on reproductive health and rights, STIs and HIV prevention, gender-based violence, safe behavior and healthy life-style.

National legislative frameworks, mechanisms, action plans and programmes have been elaborated and refined, civil society participation and male involvement supported to enhance gender equality and combat gender based violence.

Support for generating reliable data on population dynamics and for evidence-based policy and programme planning:

UNFPA is the main partner of the Georgian Government in carrying out the Population and Household Census, which is the primary source of information on population dynamics.

The data generated through UNFPA supported researches on reproductive health and population dynamics provide evidence for integrating these issues into the national development strategies.

UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is the lead UN agency for delivering a world, where every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, and every young person's potential is fulfilled.