On 23 September, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia met with acting US ambassador to Georgia Elisabeth Rood in order to thank the USA for providing assistance in two “large-scale” projects in the country, reported agenda.ge. The two projects in question were a $500,000 investment for the support of entrepreneurs in the villages along the occupation line and $700,000 for the construction of a children’s hematology-oncology centre in Tbilisi.
The presentation of the first project took place on 19 September in the village of Rukhi, Samegrelo municipality, near the Russian-occupied Abkhazia region. The US embassy in Georgia argued that the project was initiated to offer special support to the residents who live along the occupation line in need. The project will be implemented through cooperation between the Partnership Fund and USAID/Georgia's Zrda activity.
As for the second project, the investment sees the construction of the first children’s oncology centre in the country. “It is a historic step. The project is not commercial, it is a non-profit project and that is why the support of the state, donors and business is of high importance,” stated the Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili at the unveiling, promising to push forward the project both inside and outside the country. The project is also financed by USAID.
USAID has three main objectives in Georgia according to the 2013-2020 Country Development and Cooperation Strategy: 1) to enhance democratic checks and balances and accountable governance, 2) to provide inclusive and sustainable economic growth, and 3) to foster an increasingly stable, integrated and healthy society. The USAID agenda in the conflict regions of Georgia is aimed at increasing engagement and confidence building efforts to reduce tensions with the separatist regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) and may help Georgia make progress toward peace and eventual reconciliation. Beside the enterprise project, USAID also started the Horizons Project which is aimed at strengthening community resilience in Abkhazia through dialogue between youth, professional groups, civil society organizations, and associations in the occupied region with the Georgian government. In terms of healthcare, beside the construction of the hospital, USAID also initiated the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme in the Adjara region in Georgia to address the challenges of water supply and sanitation conditions in schools and health clinics in rural areas. It is also engaged in the field of protection of children with disabilities with appropriate health and social care.
