January 10, 2023
News
The year 2022 turned out to be interesting and results-oriented for the Caritas Czech Republic Country Office in Georgia. Last year was the first time during the previous three years when the main part of our activities was not directed only to overcome the crisis caused by the pandemic. In 2022, our team worked on a total of nine projects in the fields of healthcare and social protection, rural development, and environmental protection and achieved some significant results.
So, what are the most remarkable results of Caritas Czech Republic Country Office in Georgia in 2022?
1. Continuing medical education, IT solutions, and provision of medical equipment to the primary healthcare
It is widely recognized that primary healthcare is the "gateway" of the healthcare system – it protects a patient from the risk of further development of disease and prevents the next levels of healthcare from being overloaded. That is why supporting primary healthcare is one of the main priorities for our organization and in this regard, the last year was not an exception.
Training sessions necessary for professional development and capacity-building for medical personnel working in primary healthcare facilities throughout the whole country, educational activities about cancer prevention and early detection with special emphasis on vaccination against the Human Papilloma Virus, capacity-building of up to 1200 family doctors in order to ensure the continuity and quality of maternal and child health services during the COVID-19 pandemic, comprehensive IT solutions for rural ambulatories, support to the development of onco-gynecological services by providing the appropriate equipment to regional hospitals, promotion of the HIV self-testing and sharing the results of a randomized controlled trial with the HIV researchers for their further use, and the introduction of remote services to primary healthcare – this is a modest list of the activities that the team of Caritas Czech Republic Country Office in Georgia worked on in 2022 with the financial support of various donor organizations and in close partnership with local stakeholders.
Cooperation with the health sector and its support remains one of the main priorities of our organization, and we do intend to actively continue working in this direction in the upcoming years.
2. Advocating for the rights of persons with disabilities and providing them with decent living conditions
For the team of Caritas Czech Republic Country Office in Georgia, working on the rights of persons with disabilities, increasing access to social services, and promoting an adapted environment is of the highest importance. Therefore, we tried to work hard in this direction in 2022, too.
Since 2020, Caritas Czech Republic has been working on a large-scale initiative to support the Government of Georgia in the deinstitutionalization process. This implies the development of relevant legislative initiatives and the provision of family-type homes and services for persons with disabilities living under the state care in the villages of Dusheti and Martkopi. To this end, in May 2022, Caritas Czech Republic purchased, renovated, and handed over two family-type homes for the accommodation of adults with disabilities to the State Care Agency. In 2023, it is planned to hand over several more homes to the state.
Last year, our organization also made great efforts in the direction of advocacy for the rights of persons with disabilities and worked together with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Georgia Country Office and the community of persons with disabilities on the project supporting the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) under the Joint Programme “Leave No One Behind — From Policy and Principles to Practice in Disability-Inclusive Development in Georgia”. As a result of the project, access to quality and gender-sensitive healthcare services for persons with disabilities in compliance with international human rights standards should be ensured.
3. Activities aimed at supporting the increase of local farmers' income
Supporting farmers living in the mountainous regions of Georgia was the priority topic in the sector of rural development that Caritas Czech Republic Country Office in Georgia worked on in 2022.
Since 2022, our organization has started carrying out a two-year initiative that aims to increase the income of the farmers living in the Tusheti and Pshav-Khevsureti area, and Khulo municipality by changing their practices, related to livestock breeding and feeding, animal health, and pasture management, towards more sustainable and productive ones.
Within the framework of the project, we have already retrained farmers and veterinarians, and demonstration plots have been identified to introduce the practice of rotational grazing.
Currently, work is underway to change the current practices of cattle breeding and nutrition, animal healthcare, and pasture management by introducing more sustainable and productive practices.
In 2023, it is planned to open the grants competition call to allow the farmers to purchase equipment necessary for animal husbandry.
4. Supporting sustainable wastewater management in Georgia
Caritas Czech Republic has been working on the establishment of sustainable waste management practices in Georgia through capacity building and development of waste management infrastructure, including the provision of consultancy services as well as technical assistance to target municipalities. After gaining valuable experience in field of environmental protection, since September 2022, our organization has focused its efforts on a new initiative in order to support the sustainable management of wastewater in the municipality of Oni.
The project aims to work to eliminate the problem of water pollution in support of water quality and resource management in Georgia, through the provision of wastewater management infrastructure in the mentioned municipality. Notably, one of the main directions of the project is the provision of technical equipment to the One municipality which means procurement and handover of the assanization vehicle for the management of waste from the local wastewater treatment facilities.
Donor organizations make a special contribution to the development of Georgia
Czech Development Agency (CzechAid), United Nations Development Program (UNDP), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD) Multi-Partner Trust Fund, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), European Union (EU), Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic (MEDEVAC), Slovak Development Agency — this is the list of donor organizations that positively evaluated the results of the projects implemented by Caritas Czech Republic Country Office in Georgia in the past years and expressed their trust in us in 2022 as well.
The projects initiated by the public and private sector partnership gave us the opportunity to work at the systemic level, and to participate in the improvement of people's lives in various directions. The above-mentioned projects could not be implemented without the desire and constant support of our local partners among which we would like to express special gratitude to the Ministry of Health of Georgia, Georgian Medical Holding, and State Care Agency. Also, "Onco-prevention Center", with which Caritas Czech Republic has been cooperating for more than 10 years, Consulting and IT Innovations (CITI), Caucasus Research Resource Center (CRRC), and Information Medical-Psychological Center "Tanadgoma".
We would also like to thank the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Tbilisi — Petr Mikyska, the Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Georgia, and Jana Zelingerova, Head of Development Cooperation, for their constant cooperation and support.
“Caritas Czech Republic is not only living up to our expectations, but it is exceeding them. We know that it is huge work, the efforts are wide, and the performance is perfect. If we are going from primary healthcare, humanitarian assistance, and oncological prevention to social care or agriculture – Caritas Czech Republic is everywhere. We are very happy that we can cooperate, and we can have Caritas Czech Republic Country Office in Georgia as one of the two main partners. I do not know how that happened, but Caritas Czech Republic has fantastic human recourses. So, everybody working with, for, or on behalf of Caritas Czech Republic is the best partner for us and we thank both the organization and the team for this cooperation!” — stated Petr Mikyska, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Georgia in 2022.
