As part of its support during the COVID 19 pandemic, Tbilisi has adopted a number of measures and social projects to support vulnerable groups during the pandemic and has involved businesses, the Red Cross and many volunteers in its implementation.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, access to essential products and services for vulnerable and elderly people was limited due to the pandemic, as prices of food and medicines increased and also became harder to access due to restrictions. Children in Tbilisi were also affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as kindergartens were closed.
The Tbilisi local government decided to allocate funds to support children, vulnerable and elderly people and to involve local businesses in the support campaign. The aim was to give vulnerable groups access to all necessary products and services.
In order to achieve its goal, the Tbilisi Municipality has developed various projects. One of these projects was the "Social Project for Kindergartens". After the announcement of holidays in kindergartens due to the coronavirus pandemic, food for 60,000 children was distributed to parents twice in Tbilisi.
In addition, another project was initiated by the city administration to support socially vulnerable, lonely and elderly people, under which 1.2 million Georgian Lari was allocated from the city budget to support the socially vulnerable citizens of Tbilisi.
The municipality called on businesses to participate in the campaign for vulnerable citizens. In the meantime, more than 25 companies have joined the campaign and actively participated.
Together with the Red Cross, the municipality developed another social project in which packages of products were distributed to vulnerable groups.
These operations were carried out with the help of volunteers, who were trained by the Tbilisi Municipality. It also analysed all the operations and made situation assessments, which was not a matter of course at that time. Currently, there are hundreds of volunteers in Tbilisi who have been trained by the Red Cross for such tasks and are participating in the programme.
With the help of the Tbilisi Municipality, participating companies and many volunteers, access to products/services for children and elderly and vulnerable people was significantly improved during the COVID 19 pandemic in Tbilisi.
The social projects have noticeably mitigated the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for vulnerable groups. The municipality is now closely analysing the results and achievements of these social projects and intends to increase the diversity of such projects in the future.
Published: 08/02/2022
Frau Mariam Pruidze
Chief Specialist at the Municipal Department of Economic Development at the Municipality of Tbilisi