UNICEF in Georgia - Newsletter by UNICEF Georgia

UNICEF IN GEORGIA NEWSLETTER, #1 (#18)

JANUARY, 2015

Introduction 2014 was a landmark year for children around the world and here in Georgia, with the 25th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This was a great opportunity to focus the attention of decision-makers and the rest of society on the problems faced by children in Georgia today.

projections, the improved model of Targeted Social Assistance (TSA), which includes the newly introduced child benefit, will halve extreme child poverty in Georgia. UNICEF will continue to work with the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs and the Social Service Agency to implement the new model.

2014 was also declared the Year of the Protection of the Rights of the Child in Georgia â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a year that aimed to generate legislative and policy changes for children. And change is urgently needed: there are still many children in this country who are being left behind by economic and social progress. We have 50,000 children living in extreme poverty on less than half the subsistence minimum, children with disabilities who are deprived of family care, children who are victims of violence and those who live and work on the streets. We have children out of school, children from ethnic minorities who face multiple disadvantages and children living in hardto-reach and conflict-affected areas.

We are delighted that, in December, the Government committed to support measures to help children with disabilities, including increased pensions and special services, such as home care programmes that will start in 2015. This paves the way for real improvements in the lives of some of the most vulnerable children in Georgia.

The proposed laws and legal amendments will have a major impact on the lives of these children and we are very grateful to the Georgian Parliament and to the Government for their partnership. As this Newsletter highlights, some of the proposed laws were adopted or initiated in 2014, while others are in development and we hope that they will be adopted soon.

We are so grateful to our partners in the Government, Parliament, judiciary, civil society, media, and international organizations and to our donors for their continued cooperation and endeavours. We accomplished so much together in 2014. And UNICEF looks forward to more joint efforts in 2015 to uphold the rights of every child to survive, develop and be protected.

Another milestone in 2014 was the revision of the social protection system. According to our

Sascha Graumann UNICEF Representative in Georgia

We can also commend the Governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s National Human Rights Plan, which includes child rights, and we will continue to work with our partners to support its implementation as well as its moniÂ toring.

2014 also saw Georgia submit its fourth periodic report on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and we look forward to further discussion on how child rights are protected and monitored in this country.

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in Georgia As the 25th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), 2014 was a chance to highlight the problems of the most vulnerable children in Georgia.

Panel discussions were organized by writers on education and essays by Georgian writers on child rights were shared on the web and via social media. A group of 25-year-olds – the first generation to grow up under the protection of the CRC, also shared the highlights of their lives through social media.

November saw major events to mark the CRC@25. Children took part in the special session at the Parliament on 19 November, coming from different regions across Georgia to share their views on their concerns with politicians.

On 30 November, Georgia kicked off the UNICEF #IMAGINE campaign at a special event organi zed at the biggest shopping mall in Tbilisi on

NEWSLETTER, #1 (#18), JANUARY 2015

30 November. Famous Georgian singers, including Paata Burchuladze, a UNICEF Ambassador in Georgia, added their voices to John Lennon’s timeless song. Georgian journalists joined the campaign by dedicating special talk-shows and programmes to this initiative or by singing the song live on air.

The Student films festival, “We imagine - We change”, was held in December. Students from different universities prepared films dedicated to the CRC@25 that were distributed through social media, and the films were screened on 20 December at Tbilisi’s main cinema.

Contact: Maya Kurtsikidze, UNICEF Communication Officer, +995 599 53 30 71. Email: mkurtsikidze@unicef.org

November’s concerts by the Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra on the world’s greatest soundtracks were all dedicated to child rights.

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The year of the Protection of the Rights of the Child in Georgia © UNICEF/Geo-2014/Khizanishvili

2014 was declared the Year of the Protection of the Rights of the Child by the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee of Georgia’s Parliament. The aim: to develop specific laws and influence policies during the year to ensure that children’s rights are fully respected, protected and fulfilled. There was widespread advocacy for legislation on child rights throughout the year, with Parliamentary committee hearings and public debates, as well as round-table discussions on vital child rights’ issues with civil society, the media, the Public Defender’s Office and academia. A package of legislation to strengthen the legal protection of children from violence was adopted by Parliament in October 2014 and, as a result, 10 different laws were amended. This legislation prohibits corporal punishment, introduces the concept of child neglect and initiates mandatory reporting of cases of violence against children.

identification for children living and/or working on the street; a revision of the Law on Social Assistance; amendments to the Law on Patients’ Rights; and amendments to the Law on Prevention of Iodine, Other Microelement and Vitamin Deficiencies. Workshops are now underway with the relevant Parliamentary Committees and Government partners to finalize legislative proposals for submission to Parliament.

The Law on Early and Pre-school Education, for example, was introduced in Parliament for further discussion. The Law developed with the support of UNICEF and the Government of Poland will strengthen sector coordination and monitoring, introduce teachers’ professional development measures, sets standards for the quality of service and establish a compulsory school-readiness year for all children aged five.

Public debates on 11 key issues identified during the Year of the Protection of the Rights of the Child were conducted in partnership with the Frontline media club and Liberali magazine, backed up by multimedia products that were developed and shared through social media.

Advocacy and technical assistance continues on other important legislation, including: the Juvenile Justice Code; the Law on Adoption and Foster Care; a legislative package on documentation/

Contact: Pierre Ferry, Chief Child Protection, +995 591 22 52 90. Email: pferry@unicef.org

A new social protection system targets poor families with children The revision of Georgia’s social protection system in 2014, with support from UNICEF, was a major step towards the reduction of child poverty in Georgia. The revised system aims to better reflect the needs of vulnurable families and comes into force from 2015.

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The new social protection methodology that was endorsed by the Government in December 2014 will focus more on the income of families and income generating assets such as property, agricultural land, etc. Their score (the rating required to be eligible for social assistance) will not be affected by basic necessities such as a TV, gas stove, or refrigerator. Nor will it be affected by the subjective views of those who assess well-being of families (this will minimize the possibility of biased assessment).

Poverty is a complex phenomenon and addressing it effectively requires mechanisms that go beyond child benefit. UNICEF, in partnership with the World Bank, will continue to support the Government of Georgia in the establishment of social protection systems that are fiscally sustainable. This could be achieved through a social protection system that safeguards the poor and that ensures that all children in need receive child benefits and services. The aim is to stop vulnerable families with children falling into poverty and to promote their economic independence by helping them to become more resilient.

Improved targeting of families with children and the introduction of a child benefit of GEL 10 per child (roughly $5) per month is projected to halve extreme child poverty.

Contact: Tinatin Baum, UNICEF Social Policy Specialist, +995 599 74 77 33. Email: tbaum@unicef.org

Violence against Children campaign in Georgia:

a strong voice for change Around 60 per cent of Georgians still believe that forceful methods of child punishment are more effective than non-violent discipline, according to the Violence against Children in Georgia â&#x20AC;&#x201C; National Survey on Knowledge, Attitude and Practices conducted with the support of USAID. Society, in general, sees violence against children as a private family matter and is opposed to outside involvement. Georgia had already established normative and institutional mechanisms, but the issue had never been addressed through the lens of the social norms that influence everyday life. The nationwide campaign that started in 2013 and continued in 2014 with the support of USAID aimed to create a powerful voice against violence and to change social norms by diffusing relevant knowledge and sparking debate about the harmful effects of violence and the benefits of positive parenting.

ÂŠ UNICEF/Geo-2014/Khizanishvili

The campaign has included public events, workshops for journalists and bloggers, video discussions, work with the media, round-table discussions, street art installations and social media campaigns that have highlighted positive parenting as a safeguard against violence.

Contact: Maya Kurtsikidze, UNICEF Communication Officer, +995 599 53 30 71. Email: mkurtsikidze@unicef.org

ÂŠ UNICEF/Geo-2014/Khizanishvili

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Support for children living and working on the streets Three mobile teams, and four day-care and overnight centres are now operating in Tbilisi to address the needs of hundreds of children working and living on the streets. The services are part of a two-year project to reach these vulnerable children that is being implemented by the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs in partnership with UNICEF and with funding from the European Union (EU).

ÂŠ UNICEF/Geo-2014/Khizanishvili

The initiative has established services and mechanisms that identify children living and working on the streets, offer them immediate support and protection and work with them and their families. The ultimate goal is to integrate them into existing social and child protection services. Given the complex needs of such children, the initiative also involves the Ministry of Education and Science, Ministries of Justice, Internal Affairs, Finance, and the Tbilisi Municipality. The NGOs World Vision, Caritas Georgia and Child and Environment are providing the children with appropriate, individually tailored services, and the programme has also trained professionals, such as mobile team members, representatives of daycare/crisis intervention and transition centres, and police officers to provide adequate services to children.

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A Health and Social Fund has been established to cover the individual healthcare and social needs of children living and working on the streets and to support their re-unification with their biological families, where feasible.

The initiative is working closely with the Ministry of Education and Science to develop the ‘Second Chance Education Programme’ for children who have never attended school or have dropped out. The programme will allow children living and working on the streets to enrol in schools and catch up with the learning process.

As well as direct frontline support to children living and working on the streets, a working group was formed in spring 2014 to identify the legal gaps that limit their rights and restrict their access to different services, such as education, health and social services. The working group will submit its specific recommendations to the Parliament in 2015.

The project has supported 350 children in Tbilisi to date and has become operational in Kutaisi with the establishment of one mobile team in 2014 and a day care/crises intervention centre in 2015.

Contact: Ketevan Melikadze, UNICEF Social Welfare Officer, +995 593 30 48 09. Email: kmelikadze@unicef.org

Public Defender strengthens monitoring to protect children’s rights and to combat discrimination The new three-year strategy on child rights’ monitoring developed with the support of UNICEF will allow Georgia’s Office of the Public Defender to oversee the implementation of the Action Plan of the Government of Georgia on the Protection of Human Rights and Antidiscrimination Law. The strategy was presented at the advocacy meeting organized by the Office in partnership with UNICEF in December 2014.

poverty; support of children’s right to health; development of the juvenile justice system; and the guarantee of an inclusive and high quality education for every child. According to the Antidiscrimination Law, the Public Defender of Georgia shall monitor issues around the elimination of discrimination and ensuring equality. The Law aims to eliminate every form of discrimination and to ensure equal rights for all, regardless of their ethnic or social origin, profession, marital status, health, disability or other characteristics.

The Action Plan on the Protection of Human Rights sets out key objectives to protect child rights: strengthening the monitoring and coordinating mechanism for child rights; strengthening the system of protection and assistance for children; eradication of child

Contact: Pierre Ferry, Chief Child Protection, +995 591 22 52 90. Email: pferry@unicef.org

The introduction of child development monitoring The Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs launched a comprehensive programme on child development monitoring through home visiting by village doctors and nurses in 2014. This initiative to revise the state programme is supported by UNICEF, working in close collaboration with British experts.

working in villages lack adequate knowledge about children’s growth and development; and legal and administrative systems are not appropriate for the successful functioning of the monitoring system, which is the result, in large part, of flaws in the state programme of village doctors. The programme began in the Imereti and the Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti regions, aiming to train up to 400 nurses during a pilot phase that was initiated in 2014 and that will end in May 2015. This first phase aims to integrate child development monitoring into the state programme and training of village nurses in the pilot regions – a process that is well underway in Imereti.

There is clear evidence that the home monitoring of mothers and infants prevents development retardation and helps to spot any problems at an early stage. This allows early interventions that can tackle those problems and save the financial resources of both the family and the state. According to UNICEF data, however, child development monitoring in Georgian villages has had two main problems: primary healthcare specialists

Training is being carried out through a distance learning method that makes it possible to train on-

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the-job’, at minimal expenses and in a brief period of time. The training is due to be completed by April 2015.

children at their homes in the two pilot regions and the scale up of this new approach across the whole country.

The objective is to ensure that, by May 2015, Georgia will have a revised state programme for village doctors and a new cohort of trained nurses. This will make it possible to monitor mothers and

Contact: Tamar Ugulava, UNICEF Health Specialist, +995 599 92 90 09. Email: tugulava@unicef.org

Monitoring and addressing the needs of out-of-school children In the framework of UNICEF’s global Leave No Child Out initiative, UNICEF Georgia has supported national partners in system analyses and the development of the Action Plan for Monitoring out of school children and children at risk of dropping out. This initiative aims to identify out-of-school children and those at risk of exclusion, analyse the causes of exclusion and support the development of evidence-based policies and strategies to reduce that exclusion.

representing different Georgia’s government and non-government actors developed the Action Plan, setting out the steps that the country needs to take to improve the system of monitoring outof-school children. The Government of Georgia is reviewing both the action plan and the resources that will be required for its implementation, and activities will begin in 2015.

Contact: Maya Kuparadze, UNICEF Education Officer, +995 599 21 30 39. Email: mkuparadze@unicef.org

With UNICEF providing technical expertise, the members of the established interagency group

Helping future teachers to improve their skills to ensure that future teachers are equipped with the right knowledge and skills, and ready to teach when they enter the profession, with several studies confirming that teachers use a great deal of what they have learned during pre-service training in their every-day teaching.

Future teachers will have better teaching skills as a result of training courses conducted in November 2014 by UNICEF in cooperation with Estonian specialists in four leading Georgian universities: Ilia State University, Gori State University, Tbilisi State University and Batumi State University. The initiative has been supported by the Government of Estonia and UNICEF and aims to improve the quality of pre-service teacher education in Georgia.

Contact: Maya Kuparadze, UNICEF Education Officer, +995 599 21 30 39. Email: mkuparadze@unicef.org

The work programme at each university was determined by the university itself, based on its specific needs and challenges. The Estonian specialists began by outlining current teacher preparation in Estonia and shared information about different teacher training programmes and approaches, before an open discussion with Georgian teacher educators on the issues facing Georgian universities in teacher preparation. This gave Georgian teacher educators the chance to learn about other approaches to pre-service teacher training, including the importance of practical training and ensuring good quality teacher induction.

Looking ahead:

getting children ready for school

UNICEF, in partnership with the Government of Poland, supported the Ministry of Education and Science in development of the national curricula and teachers’ standards for the school readiness programme, which will be modelled in targeted educational institutions in 2015. The aim: to ensure that every child is ready for school and gets the maximum benefit from their education from the outset.

There is a growing recognition that the quality of general education in Georgia needs to be improved. The training of teachers has a crucial role to play, enhancing the quality of teaching and learning and the academic and social outcomes achieved by their pupils. Pre-service teacher preparation is vital

Contact: Maya Kuparadze, UNICEF Education Officer, +995 599 21 30 39. Email: mkuparadze@unicef.org

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New strategy on justice for children includes all children in contact with the law

Georgia’s revised strategy on Justice for Children was approved by the Criminal Justice Reform Inter-Agency Council in March 2014. The strategy is based on policy recommendations from UNICEF and the EU that were formulated in consultation with the Government of Georgia. It focuses on the particular needs of child victims and witnesses; children participating in civil proceedings; children in the administrative violations system; children in conflict with the law in the context of the criminal justice system; children under the minimum age of criminal responsibility and children who would benefit from preventive programmes. The main goal is to establish a child-friendly justice system to meet the needs of every child in contact with the law. In particular, the revised strategy will consider revising legislation on children, the establishment of specialized justice professionals for children, the creation of a childfriendly environment in courts and elsewhere, and the building of a comprehensive data collection system on children in contact with the law.

timeframe and regular mandatory revision of pretrial detention; new, child-friendly approach and guarantees for child victims and witnesses of crime, such as protection of a victim from alleged perpetrator, assignment of a support person throughout the criminal proceedings, protection of confidentiality and provision of legal aid.

As part of the ongoing system reform, UNICEF and the European Union also supported the Ministry of Justice in developing the Juvenile Justice Code, which introduces mandatory specialization of criminal justice professionals (police, prosecutors and judges); suggests wide range of alternative sanctions and diversion measures (such as warning, consultation, compensation to a victim, participation in restorative justice programmes, etc.) to enable professionals to use detention as a measure of last resort; limited detention

The reform of the justice for children system carried out by the Government of Georgia has been supported by UNICEF, the EU and the Government of Netherlands.

Contact: Teona Kuchava, UNICEF Juvenile Justice Officer, +995 595 222128. Email: tkuchava@unicef.org

Action plan to prevent juvenile crime focuses on education and family support The Action Plan on Juvenile Crime Prevention has been developed with UNICEF support by Georgia’s Inter-sectorial Coordination Committee to promote the socialization of children at a higher risk of offending. The two-year plan is set for implementation in 2015 and outlines the responsibilities of various state actors for the implementation of the Juvenile Crime Prevention Strategy adopted in 2013 (also with UNICEF support).

The Plan recognises that the prevention of crime is the primary building block of a juvenile justice system. Prevention programmes promote the successful socialization and integration of all children through the family, community, peer groups, school, labour, and provide support, particularly for vulnerable families.

Contact: Teona Kuchava, UNICEF Juvenile Justice Officer, +995 595 222128. Email: tkuchava@unicef.org

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Enhanced support for children in Abkhazia Children in Abkhazia benefited from evergreater assistance from UNICEF in 2014 with generous support from Sida, USAID and the EU, particularly on health, pre-school education, youth participation and child protection. To improve access to quality maternal and child health care, over 150 obstetricians, neonatologists, midwives and nurses were trained on intensive care and the management of chronic diseases. More than 700 children were vaccinated with at least one dose of newly introduced pneumococcal vaccines by key paediatricians and paediatric nurses who had been trained by UNICEF. Across the region, rural nurses reached over 1,000 young women, parents and other community members with guidance on reproductive health, child care and infant nutrition. And nearly 5,000 pupils, teachers and school staff, as well as parents and community members increased their knowledge and skills on water, sanitation, hygiene and immunization through health-promotion activities, including October’s Child Health Days, conducted as part of the ‘Global Hand Washing Day’ initiative. This was also the perfect opportunity for paediatricians to check the health of over 600 children in the region’s remote rural areas. More than 400 children in these areas were given the chance to attend 46 pre-school groups, and more than 100 teachers of pre-school groups and kindergartens were equipped with vital knowledge and skills on early child development and interactive teaching methodologies. Furthermore, more than 3,000 youth from different ethnic communities came together to enjoy education, recreation and the chance to learn how to participate in the decisions that concern them through 25 youth groups established in Social Community Centres and 18 youth clubs in schools throughout Abkhazia.

Finally, more than 200 children living with disabilities in the region, and their parents, continued to benefit from the services of the three Child Development Centres established by UNICEF and World Vision. These services included life-skills development and educational activities, as well as speech therapy, physiotherapy and psychological counselling.

Contact: Gottfried Hanne, Chief of Field Office. Email: ghanne@unicef.org

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Art and music raise awareness of the danger of drug abuse among young people Zugdidi were trained to encourage other youth to adopt healthier lifestyles, particularly in relation to drug use. These young people will now organize information meetings in their schools.

One highlight of the year-long anti-drug information campaign, ‘Be Real’, was the art installation and live music performance at Tbilisi’s exhibition hall in March 2014, with some of Georgia’s most popular bands helping to raise awareness among young people of the importance of a healthy lifestyle and the dangers of drug use.

In June 2014, around 20 artists from seven countries (Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Romania, Spain and Ukraine) joined their Georgian colleagues at the Poemus Festival in Tbilisi to mark the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

The ‘Be Real’ campaign was implemented by UNICEF in partnership with the Public Union Bemoni NGO and supported by the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) of the Embassy of the United States of America in Georgia.

The festival was opened by a ‘BE REAL’ performance that drew on the lives of global stars, such as Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Heath Ledger, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse, Dalida, Edith Piaf and others whose lives were cut short by their dependency on drugs or alcohol. Actors from Georgia and other countries read from the personal diaries of these famous figures and the performance included videos and music.

The campaign included information materials and public service announcements; a quantitative study among adolescents and youth on their behaviour, needs, attitude and knowledge about drug abuse; the establishment of a telephone information/counselling line for youth and a range of public information events. In addition, 65 young people from different universities and 60 peer educators from Rustavi, Telavi, Tbilisi, Batumi and

Contact: Nana Pruidze, Health Education Officer, +995 599 55 57 79. Email: npruidze@unicef.org

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Activate Talks: innovative ideas to protect the rights of children with disabilities

How can we change the environment so that the interests of the most disadvantaged children become the interests for everyone? How must I change myself in an inclusive society? How do we make social responsibility for children with disabilities ‘contagious’, and break stereotypes through work and art? How can children with disabilities learn to live independent lives? What toys are the best for the development of children with severe disabilities? These were the topics of the Activate Talks organized in Georgia in June as part of a UNICEF global initiative. The Activate Talks in Georgia focused specifically on children with disabilities and aimed to mobilize public action on the pressing issues that affect the lives of these vulnerable children. The speakers were: Ana Arganashvili from the Partnership for Human Rights, George Demetrashvili from First Step Georgia, Lali Khandolishvili from the Qedeli community, Maia Shishniashvili from the Hand in Hand organization, Mariam Mikiashvili from the

Mariani organization, Lia Tabatadze from the Our Children union and Tornike Guruli from the Bank of Georgia.

Contact: Maya Kurtsikidze, UNICEF Communication Officer, +995 599 53 30 71. Email: mkurtsikidze@unicef.org

Increased coverage of education and health in the media tions of ethical norms and children’s rights to, for example, privacy.

The Georgian media has been paying more attention to education and health issues over the past year. Reports on charity were also prominent, followed by crime and social issues, according to media monitoring from January to June by the Charter of Journalistic Ethics with the support of UNICEF. This annual media monitoring analyses articles on children in electronic, online and pint media and their compliance with professional and ethical standards on reporting on children.

To encourage in-depth reporting, the Charter of Journalistic Ethics and UNICEF have established an annual prize for the best examples of child-friendly reporting, which was awarded to the journalist of Liberali magazine Sopho Aptsiauri in December 2014. Other activities in partnership with the Charter of Journalistic Ethics included seminars for journalists and discussions with editors and broadcasters.

The results revealed that the media tried to respect child rights and ethical standards in most cases. Journalists and editors were more careful with children’s issues than they had been in previous years, although the monitoring still found viola-

Contact: Maya Kurtsikidze, UNICEF Communication Officer, +995 599 53 30 71. Email: mkurtsikidze@unicef.org

Editorial Note This Newsletter is published in English and Georgian and aims to provide information on UNICEF activities in Georgia. This is the eighteenth issue and your remarks and recommendations about the publication would be appreciated. Please let us know if you would like any additional information on UNICEF and its work. We welcome any feedback, suggestions or contributions. For further information, please, contact Maya Kurtsikidze, Communication Officer, at the UNICEF Office in Georgia. Telephone: (995 32) 2 232388, 2 251130 (ext 229). E-mail: mkurtsikidze@unicef.org