UN team's visit to Adjara

The UN team made up of UN Resident Coordinator Sabine Machl, UNFPA Head of Office Lela Bakradze,  Assistant FAO Representative Mamuka Meskhi, IOM Field Office Coordinator Nana Papiashvili,  UNHCR Communications Officer Nino Kajaia,  UNFPA Communications and Partnerships Analyst Salome Benidze,  FAO Project Officer Gvantsa Gedenidze, and UNDP Projects Coordinator Irakli Goradze toured the Adjara Autonomous Republic between May 31 and June 1, 2023.

The visit encompassed a wide-ranging agenda, including meetings with government officials, civil society representatives, businesses, and youth.

The UN team had an opportunity to visit the Batumi Independent Living Center and meet its employees: Irma Kiladze, Soso Kazaishvili, Ramin Macharashvili, Temur Kakabadze and Dea Eremashvili. The center, funded by USAID, fills a critical service gap by raising awareness about the needs of persons with disabilities and providing consultations, legal advice, information, and other services to persons with disabilities and those around them.

The UN team met with the Chairperson of the Adjara AR Government Tornike Rizhvadze. Tornike Rizhvadze emphasized the active work of the United Nations agencies in Adjara.

The discussions and interactions throughout the meeting  covered the ongoing cooperation in rural development, food safety, agriculture services, reintegration of migrants, youth development, reproductive health services, telemedicine, gender equality, support to IDPs and Ukrainian refugees.

The UN team met with Batumi City Mayor Archil Chiqovani and the director of Ltd. Sandasuptaveba Sulkhan Evgenidze. The discussions at the meeting focused on the UN’s longstanding relationship with the municipality. The sides also discussed the prospects for strengthening cooperation in urban transportation, waste management, tourism,  inclusive education,  youth development, and environment protection.

The UN team also visited the  Machakheli National Park visitor’s centre and the highland village of Upper Chkhutuneti, where UNDP helps protect unique biodiversity, promote green solutions in tourism and farming, and create economic opportunities for the communities living in close vicinity of the park.

The UN team checked on the progress of rural development and ecosystem conservation projects rolled out with invaluable support of the European Union in Georgia, the Global Environment Facility, the Embassy of Japan in Georgia, the German Embassy  and the QATAR Embassy in Tbilisi, and cooperation with  the Government of Adjara and the Batumi City Hall. 

The UN team visited  the Guesthouse "Woodhide" in the Machakhela National Park, supported through ENPARD and UNDP programme; the Gvianidze family, beneficiary of fuelwood alternatives (solar water heater  and biomass fuel) piloted in 2017, and the  Putkaradze family, beneficiary of the human-wildlife conflict mitigation pilot program. 

The UN team had the opportunity to visit local businesses, including the Nuri Sirabidze Wine Cellar in  the village of Gegelidzeebi, Keda Municipality, supported through FAO initiatives. the Nuri Sirabidze Wine Cellar owns a 6 000 square meter vineyard, growing 20 varieties  of vine grapes and producing natural wines.  

Together with Sulkhan Evgenidze, director of Ltd. Sandasuptaveba, the UN team visited the municipal waste sorting facility to get first-hand information about  sustainable waste management practices in Batumi.

During the visit, the UN Resident Coordinator Sabine Machl and the Rector of the Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University Merab Khalvashi inaugurated the SDG Space at the Batumi Shota Rustaveli University. Established with the support of UN Department of Global Communications/UNO Tbilisi, the space aims at engaging young people towards advocating for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

On May 31, an “Equality Corner” opened at the Shota Ananidze Public School in the village of Tskhmorisi, Keda municipality, at the initiative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). More than 200 books on gender equality, empowerment of women and girls, tolerance and human rights have been added to the school library. The “Equality Corner” in the village of Tskhmorisi, which is already the sixteenth in Georgia, has been launched within the UN Joint Programme “For Gender Equality” by UNFPA, with the financial support of Sweden.

As part of the visit, the UN team attended the opening of a “Happy Space facility in Batumi” for refugee youth from Ukraine. Established by the World Vision Georgia, the space aims at supporting and empowering of Ukrainian Children and their parents. The opening of the space was dedicated to the Children’s International Day thus main focus was on children and their families. Activities included games and performance with the group of animators.

On June 1 the UN team together with the Minister of Education of Adjara Maia Khadjishvili visited the Public School #20 in Batumi to meet with the Ukrainian refugee teacher and kids. Refugee children from Ukraine shared their dreams of wanting to become programmers, artists, football players, musicians, and even the ambition of being president with the UN team.