The FINANCIAL — “Even as Georgia builds on its strong progress since the Rose Revolution, the change in government opened the door to re-evaluation of important policy directions,” Stephen Haykin, the Mission Director for USAID programmes in Georgia, told The FINANCIAL.
“There have been significant adjustments in agricultural policies, judicial independence, and access to healthcare. USAID is fortunate that we have been able to maintain effective and collaborative relationships with counterparts from the previous and now with the new government. We see these positive and productive relationships continuing,” he added.
“One of the disappointments of 2013 has been the relatively slow growth in the economy and in foreign direct investment. Predictability and consistency are key considerations for most sophisticated investors and, as viewed from the outside, Georgia has undergone significant changes owing to the democratic parliamentary elections last October and the recent presidential elections. It seems that foreign investors are sizing up the changes in the Georgian Government and political environment. While the practice of good democracy is in itself positive for Georgia, it is somewhat inevitable that potential investors raise questions about what policies a new government will pursue and how it will pursue them,” Haykin said.
“Fortunately, the current government has maintained macroeconomic stability and support for businesses, foreign investment and job creation. There is every reason to expect that the pace of economic activity will pick up over the coming year. With respect to USAID’s assistance to the Government of Georgia, our Economic Prosperity Initiative project continues to work closely with many Georgian ministries and agencies to further improve the business environment. In addition, our financing programmes complement the Government’s efforts to foster development of small and medium enterprises,” he added.
Areas where USAID has seen notable progress include election administration with the assistance of USAID’s elections support project implemented by IFES; support for livelihoods and Internally-Displaced Persons and improving and expanding Georgia’s gas pipeline and electrical transmission line networks in western Georgia.
The budget of USAID is reduced in 2013 compared to 2012. USAID’s budget for fiscal year 2013 is USD 38.964 million while it was USD 52.154 million last year. The 2013 budget is distributed among the different sector as follows:
Conflict Mitigation and Reconciliation – USD 400,000 (1% of the total budget); Democracy and Governance – USD 17,569,000 (45% of the total budget); Health and Education – USD 5,693,000 (15% of the total budget); and Economic Growth and Environment – USD 15,302,000 (39% of the total budget).
The FY2014 budget has not been finalized.
Q. How would you estimate the year 2013? What were the key projects that have been implemented by USAID?
A. Our Good Governance in Georgia programme (G3) helped Georgia move closer toward open government and a stronger democracy. USAID’s Applied Civic Education and Teacher Training Program has been improving the quality of school-based civic education in Georgia and encouraging the participation of youth in civic and democratic processes. USAID is also helping Georgia embrace science, technology and innovation partnerships (STIP) to address the most significant development challenges and opportunities in Georgia.
Georgia’s hazelnut production has increased by 10 percent over the last year, while among EPI-assisted farmers, and the increases have been 40 percent. Over the same period, prices increased from GEL 3.00 to GEL 3.50 per kilogram, reflecting better quality and increased demand. Through our New Economic Opportunities initiative, rural incomes are improving in 85 communities of ten municipalities across Georgia through capacity building, grant programmes, and small-scale infrastructure projects.
20 IDP households were settled into the renovated apartments of the Kutaisi former police building with the hope of a better future. 17 IDP households have been settled into the renovated and recently inaugurated apartments of the Tskaltubo former statistics building. By the project’s end, approximately 15,000 IDPs will directly benefit.
Q. What will be USAID Georgia’s top priorities in the coming years?
A. Our goal remains to foster an “increasingly secure population with sustainable and inclusive growth, and responsive, competitive democratic institutions”. Democracy and Governance, Economic Growth, and Social Inclusion will continue to be priority sectors for USAID over the next five years. Consistent with our country strategy, significant new projects will be necessary to achieve our goals related to agricultural competitiveness, economic governance, democratic governance and civic participation, elections and political processes, and the rule of law. We continue to seek opportunities to provide support directly through Georgian institutions and organizations to achieve shared objectives. We will also explore opportunities to expand capacity for implementation of low emissions development strategies and to promote science, technology, innovation and partnerships.
Q. The court system in Georgia is problematic. Georgia has judges, but getting everyone to operate independently rather than making decisions based on instructions from the political leadership has been a challenge here over the years. The former Prime Minister of the country has been put in jail. Do the processes meet high standards or do they hamper the quality of Georgia’s democracy?
A. The United States Government is closely following the cases against former government officials. While we do not comment on the specifics of any particular case, we have stressed to the Georgian Government the importance of conducting investigations and prosecutions with full respect for due process and outside of any political influence. It is important that the proceedings are fair and transparent.
USAID has been supporting reforms in the rule of law area in Georgia for many years. Currently, our JILEP project trains judges and lawyers, and works with the judiciary to make the institution more transparent and independent. We have provided support to the NGO Coalition for an Independent Judiciary, which advocates for reforms in the rule of law sector. The Coalition played an important role in development of key judiciary reform legislation that was passed in 2013. We also provide financial and technical support to the Georgia Young Lawyers Association (GYLA) and Transparency International – Georgia to conduct monitoring of criminal and administrative court cases.
Georgia has witnessed important changes in the rule of law during the past year. For many years there have been allegations about undue political influence in the judiciary. Issues with the judiciary were the biggest problem identified in a recent Transparency International corruption report for Georgia.
During 2013, the Parliament adopted several legislative changes aimed at empowering individual judges and reducing centralization of the judiciary. Earlier this year, judges elected their representatives to the High Council of Justice via secret ballot; judges are forming new professional associations to openly engage in discussions on judiciary reform; and, meetings of the High Council of Judges are now public and interested parties can go and observe the process of decision-making on crucial issues for judiciary. Perhaps most importantly, cameras now are allowed in courtrooms and the public can get information about proceedings.
Just last month, GYLA released its fourth report of monitoring criminal trials in Tbilisi and Kutaisi courts. The major finding of the report is that courts and judges have become more liberal. There are more acquittal decisions, judges are challenging prosecutorial motions and applying a higher standard to accept evidence submitted by the prosecution than during the previous reporting periods. What is clear from the report is that changes in the courts are a general trend and not a practice only applied in high profile cases.
Despite progress, there is still a lot to be done on legislation level and in practice in order to ensure the independence of judges and the entire judicial system. We hope very much that the judicial reforms continue in a transparent way, allowing all stakeholders to contribute to the process and those individual judges are one of the driving forces of change.
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