Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili announced today that the Government has increased assistance to socially vulnerable children from the existing GEL 100 (USD 33) per month to GEL 150 (USD 49).
In his remarks marking the International Day for the Protection of Children, the Prime Minister said the assistance program covers more than 215 thousand vulnerable children and costs GEL 341 million (112.9 million) in total.
“To reduce child poverty, and to ensure their development, we will continue and scale up our efforts,” PM Garibashvili vowed.
The Government also raised the aid last year in June, when it was doubled from GEL 50 (USD 16) to GEL 100 (USD 33) per month, with the program costing GEL 145 million (USD 48 million).
The growing rate of child poverty remains one of the key challenges Georgia faces, the Public Defender’s Office said in a statement marking the children’s day.
As things stand, the number of registered socially vulnerable children has increased by 28% from last year, it reported.
The Public Defender’s Office argued that existing assistance programs “fail to provide” long-term support t other families living in poverty, all the while the Government “has no effective strategy or mechanism for reducing child poverty and child labor.”
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