The Annual Development Partnership Forum highlights priorities for development

The government and donors gathered in Tbilisi on 29 January 2020 to discuss government's development plans and increase exchange of information about current reforms and new initiatives.

Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Gakharia opened the Annual Development Partnership Forum. The Forum was co-chaired and moderated by Sabine Machl, UN Resident Coordinator in Georgia.

Gakharia thanked the various international organisations and financial institutions which have provided seven billion USD in financial aid for Georgian reforms over the past several years [including 2018].

"It is a great honor for us to hold this conference today and have a close interaction with our partners in a work-group environment,” Gakharia said. “It is important our partners and colleagues see the country’s progress and results of the reforms and support us on this path”.

During the forum, Gakharia said that Georgia has carried out many reforms and continues to do so and  as of now Georgia has four priority directions, “security, economic development and jobs, education and human capital and open governance - the latter being the most important for us,” Giorgi Gakharia said.

Speaking on behalf of development partners, Sabine Machl noted that all donors remain engaged to support Georgia to achieve its national development priorities.

“In light of the ambitious 2030 Agenda with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which Georgia has embraced immediately - and also was among the first countries to do a voluntary national review in 2016 - we are convinced that the coordination of our work will contribute greatly to the implementation of Georgia’s national priorities. We are looking towards the government’s leadership in shaping these priorities to make the promise of leaving no-one behind a reality. The SDGs delineate the world we want - a world free from poverty and deprivation; a fairer world; a world that respects natural limits. They represent the interlinked “5 Ps” of prosperity, people, planet, partnership and peace and they respond to challenges of the 21th century,” said Sabine Machl.

The discussions at the Forum  focused on the eradication of poverty through inclusive, sustainable and smart economic development; development of  high quality and accessible education and social welfare; the ongoing civil service reform; addressing the persistent gender gap in all spheres of society; regional development and  agriculture and environmental protection; Georgia’s economic policy and key economic reforms as well as increasing human capital, and identifying effective methods of conflict prevention and resolution.

Representatives from international organisations and financial institutions, diplomatic corps and Georgian officials attended the forum.