EU project supporting business initiatives of Georgia's IDPs wraps up results
NGOs, state agencies, business companies, donors and project beneficiaries attended the closing event of the EU-funded project ‘From Dependency to Self-Sufficiency – Innovative, Effective and Scalable Livelihood Solutions for Georgia’.
The event was an occasion for livelihood grant beneficiaries to display the products and services that they have developed with the financial and technical support of the project during the past 19 months. With a total of 516 persons receiving grants in support to their livehoods initiatives and businesses, the event gave an opportunity to beneficiaries to exhibit their own products, such as confectionary, felt production, embroidery, goldwork, shoes production.
Through a photo exhibition and a project documentary, the attendees had the opportunity to visualize the activities undertaken in the framework of the project and explore the work of grant recipients located in various cities in the country.
The event has also presented the main results of the project:
- 713 IDPs/host community representatives attended Business Management Trainings;
- 516 IDPs/eco-migrants and host community representatives received grants;
- 39 beneficiaries received individual business mentoring;
- 142 new jobs created by IBG and SME beneficiaries, among them;
- 5 Business Information Centres established in target cities;
- A business support website developed and launched: www.livelihoods.ge;
- 49 Community Based Organizations (CBOs) were established within the project;
- 7 advocacy campaigns were launched and implemented and 7 582 persons participated in the advocacy campaigns;
- Regional Network of NGOs “Pro-Integration” was established to enhance the integration of IDPs and other war-affected communities;
- CBOs received 30 capacity building trainings and conducted 6 field researches and identified 19 problems.
The event was organized within the framework of IDP IV programme aiming at supporting the economic integration of IDPs and war affected communities by providing sustainable livelihood solutions. The project is funded by the European Union and implemented by the Danish Refugee Council and Charity Humanitarian Centre “Abkhazeti”. The total value of the project is 2,222,222 Euro. The project activities have been implemented over 19 months in 5 cities: Kutaisi, Tskaltubo, Poti, Zugdidi and Batumi.