On November 4, 2004 at the Children’s Palace on Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi, Save the Children held an official launch event for project titled: “Rebuilding Lives – Street Children” (RLSC). The $2.1 million three year project is funded by USAID’s Displaced Children and Orphans Fund (DCOF). This is the first DCOF-supported initiative in Georgia.
The project will be implemented by Save the Children, together with two local partner organizations – “Child and Environment” and “Biliki”. The initiative addresses the needs of street children. As estimated 5 000 children in Georgia are living and working in the street.
The project will provide street children with basic education, socialization and vocational opportunities to help them become active and aware citizens of Georgia: “The goal of the project is to help street children be integrated into the society, overcome the stereotypes addressing street children which are prevailing in the society as well as to provide them with basic education in different fields,” Gvantsa Asatiani, Save the Children PR/Information Officer says.
Providing training to local NGO partners, expanding access to a diversified set of quality services to street children at centers and through outreach programs, providing family support services, establishing a National Response Team (NRT), organizing social integration activities for street children and implementing the public awareness campaigns represent the main activities of the project. Geographically project covers: Tbilisi, Gori, Chiatura and Zugdidi.