BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 2
By Maryana Akhmedova – Trend:
Swedish government International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) continues to work in Georgia, as the agency has wrapped up a number of bilateral projects in the country this past year, the agency told Trend.
The agency said the overall budget for the implemented projects amounted to 134 million Swedish krona ($14.4 million).
“The projects implemented during 2021 included support to multilateral organizations and Georgian civil society and non-governmental organizations. Projects were implemented within the areas of market development, democracy and human rights and environment,” the source said.
According to the source, one of the biggest Sida’s projects in 2021 include UN Joint Program for Gender Equality, which aims at enhanced women’s political and economic empowerment, creating an enabling environment to eliminate violence against women.
Another Sida’s initiative in Georgia in 2021 was “Keep Georgia Tidy”, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and pollution of environment by 2023 through environmental sustainable education and promotion of circular economy in Georgia, the source said.
Sida’s Portfolio Guarantee with Georgia’s TBC Bank is another significant project in the country, which is aimed at supporting small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), and, in particular, their access to financing.
Sida also provided support to ISET Policy Institute, the main goal of which to establish ISET-PI as an economic policy institute in the South Caucasus.
The aim of Sida’s reform cooperation with Georgia is to strengthen democracy and respect for human rights, to improve the environmental work and to support Georgia’s efforts to strengthen the ties with the EU.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @mariiiakhm