The FINANCIAL — Bank of Georgia Future Foundation has announced its first grants contest with the aim of providing assistance to disabled children.
Within the frames of the first grant cycle, the Foundation will allot GEL 250,000, while the size of each particular grant is limited to GEL 25,000. Non-governmental organizations, groups of individuals and other relevant institutions working on problems affecting disabled children are invited to take part in the competition. Creating an adapted environment for disabled children, helping their integration into society and educational activities are the main focuses of the competition.
There will be more than one winner. The winners will be revealed on 10 March, 2014, by an independent jury, staffed by the relevant experts. Applicants should apply before 28 February and send the required documents at: grants@bog.ge, to ensure their participation. Bank of Georgia Future Foundation will monitor the implementation process of the winning projects.
“For its Corporate Social Responsibility activities Bank of Georgia will allocate more than GEL 2 million in total,” said Irakli Gilauri, Bank of Georgia Chief Executive Officer. “Bank of Georgia’s CSR activities focus on the areas of education, disabled children and the environment. The Bank has already established a University, we have announced this last week. This time we’re starting the first grants cycle to help disabled children. More than 80 non-governmental organizations have expressed their interest in taking part in this project,” he added.
Bank of Georgia is going to transfer over GEL 2 million to Bank of Georgia Future Foundation this year. Out of that, GEL 1 million is envisaged for disabled children, GEL 1 million for educational programmes, and GEL 150,000 for environmental programmes.
“Bank of Georgia is the first commercial organization in Georgia to pioneer such a competition,” said Tornike Guruli, Director of Bank of Georgia Future Foundation. “Furthermore, we are the only commercial organization in Georgia that supports disabled children. Those wishing to participate in the grants contest must submit proposals aimed at infrastructure development, social integration and education. We will not finance scientific researches and conferences, travel abroad, medical treatment, purchase of buildings . The winning projects will receive the symbol of the Tree of Life,” he said.
The Tree of Life is a social project of Bank of Georgia. It aims to promote social issues which are important for society and for creating a better future for the country.
The maximum duration of the projects proposed should be six months, but the terms should be determined depending on the individual projects. “Some projects may take the full six months while others – just one month. Also, one organization is able to apply for a maximum of three projects,” said Guruli.
Within the framework of its CSR activities Bank of Georgia established its Bank of Georgia University recently with investments of around GEL 3 million. The university will be accepting its first 50 students for MBA in Finance s programme in September 2014.
“Around GEL 3 million was invested in establishing Bank of Georgia University. An additional GEL 2 million will be issued annually to cover the costs of providing grants for students, recruiting professors, inviting foreign professors and developing libraries. Education is the number one priority for our citizens’ future success. We want to make education available to more people and enhance its quality,” Irakli Gilauri said.
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