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The News in Brief

Friday, October 7
Address of H.E. Giorgi Kvirikashvili, Prime Minister of Georgia

I wish to congratulate our citizens with yet another significant success and international recognition.

A final political agreement has been reached among the EU Member States today on granting the visa-free movement to the citizens of Georgia within the EU.

Support of various institutions and Member States of the European Union towards Georgia is an acknowledgement of the explicit European aspirations of our people and reforms implemented by our country.

I wish to express my enormous gratitude to our international partners and friends of our country, who invested all their efforts in the due recognition of the progress achieved by Georgia.

Once again, I congratulate all our citizens with this truly milestone achievement. I also wish to convey my gratitude to the public institutions and civil servants that have been doing their very best in soliciting the visa liberalization with EU in the recent years.

It is worth noting that this positive message has been voiced by the EU a few days before the election date, thus manifesting in the high recognition of our reforms and progress.

It is crystal clear that irrespective of many attempts of destructive actions, nothing and nobody can jeopardize the development and inevitable success of our country in pursuing both foreign and domestic policies. (gov.ge)



Meeting with the participants of the project “Children are Asking for Peace”

On September 3, Gela Dumbadze, the State Minister of Georgia for Diaspora Issues, hosted children from the Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, who are in Georgia within the framework of the “Children are Asking for Peace” project.’

The project aims to attract the attention of the global community to the current situation in Ukraine by diverse activities the children participate in, so that as many people as possible will support the peaceful resolution of the ongoing conflict.

The State Minister addressed the participants of the project with a few opening remarks, and told them about an event held by his office in support of Ukraine and expressed his belief that goodwill will win, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict will end and peace will be established in Ukraine. On behalf of the guests, Hanna Krisiuk, the project coordinator, addressed the State Minister and the participants of the meeting.

The participants of “Children are asking for Peace” have been in Georgia for several days. They visited the Patriarchate of Georgia, accompanied by Zaal Sarajishvili, the Deputy Minister of Georgia for Diaspora Issues. The guests then visited Mtskheta, spending the day viewing the sights of both Mtskheta and Tbilisi. An ensemble, “Shavnabada’’, also hosted their Ukrainian peers, together with the State Minister; Georgian and Ukrainian songs were performed for the audience. At the end of the meeting, the State Minister grifted the Ukrainian children with symbolic presents. (diaspora.gov.ge)



Policy Forum Discusses Rural Development Strategy of Georgia

Over fifty representatives of the Government of Georgia, civil society and international organizations got together in Borjomi on 1-2 October to discuss Rural Development Strategy of Georgia which will be finalized and presented to the Government in the coming weeks. The event was organized with the support of the European Union (EU) under the European Neighbourhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD).

The Policy Forum reviewed a draft Strategy and looked into the ways of coordinating its implementation across the public, private and civil sectors of Georgia.

The Forum participants also discussed the mechanisms of integrating rural development policies into the national, regional and local development strategies, as well as the alignment of the Rural Development Strategy of Georgia with the Association Agreement with the European Union and the European Union Policy on Rural Development.

The Policy Forum was organized by the European Union, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia and Interagency Working Group which brings together representatives of the ministries engaged in rural development matters – Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Education, Office of the State Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, and is being led by the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia.

The Forum was attended by representatives of international organizations that support rural development in Georgia under the EU-funded ENPARD programme. The discussion was facilitated by international consultants brought on board to assist Georgia to introduce and implement rural development policy.

The Policy Forum will be followed by a series of public consultations as well as capacity building initiatives for rural development stakeholders. (ge.undp.org)