Fund Backed by UNDP, Soros to Help Reforms in Georgia

In a joint news conference with Georgian president-elect Mikheil Saakashvili at the World Economic Forum on January 22, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Mark Malloch Brown and philanthropist George Soros, founder of the Open Society Institute, announced the creation of a new Capacity Building Fund to support governance reforms in Georgia.

This $2 million seed fund, provided by the Open Society Institute (OSI) and the UNDP, will be used to support key administrative and legal reforms in Georgia.

The Fund will allow the government to call on the services of local, international and expatriate experts who can assist in the planning and implementation of these key reforms.

“Georgia seeks to build an open society and for that, its civil servants need the skills to implement reforms and respond to public demands,” George Soros said.

“This fund will help Georgia harness the enormous political enthusiasm there now and, using appropriate expertise and effective programs, transform that energy into sound and lasting reforms,” said Mark Malloch Brown, UNDP Administrator.

“We welcome this new fund and the support from UNDP and OSI, which should help sustain Georgia in this critical period of structural reforms,” Mikheil Saakashvili said.
 
The Capacity Building Fund for Georgia will provide funding for the design of a thorough reform package. Reform of the public administration is one of the priorities of the country and will support the fight against corruption.
 
According to the UNDP, the fund is open to contributions from other donors and efforts are currently underway to bolster international support for Georgia’s ambitious reform program.

Working in collaboration, OSI and UNDP have been supporting similar programs in Serbia and Montenegro.