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Georgia’s highlands to benefit from a four-year development strategy
moreAn ambitious strategy aims to improve life for 1,700 high-mountain communities and 300,000 people
Georgia is famous for its soaring mountain peaks, which attract thousands of tourists for skiing and hiking holidays. But for the local residents of Georgia’s 1,700 high-mountain communities, life looks a lot less glamorous: a shortage of jobs, public services and modern infrastructure is driving young people to leave the peaks for the cities. Aiming to reverse this trend, the Government has just adopted an ambitious new strategy for mountain development.
Prepared by the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure with assistance from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), through the financial support of the Governments of Switzerland and Austria, the new Strategy on the Development of the High Mountainous Settlements of Georgia (2019-2023) is designed to promote economic development, improve social welfare and expand access to services for the 300,000 people who live in Georgia’s highest mountain regions.
Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze on 16 July 2019 hailed the new strategy as a momentous opportunity for Georgia’s mountain regions. “To fulfil this vision, we need to focus on mountainous tourism, agriculture and entrepreneurship, as well as on the robust projects that will ensure the social protection of highlanders,” he said.
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SDG Festival 2019
Thousands of Georgians gathered in the town of Ambrolauri on 7 June 2019 to take part in the country’s second national Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Festival, initiated and organized by the United Nations in Georgia. The slogan of this year’s edition of the Festival echoed the core theme of sustainable development to “Leave No One Behind.”
The SDG Festival transformed public space in Ambrolauri into a colourful display of activities illustrating the country’s efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The busy agenda included sport activities, interactive seminars and workshops, talks and exhibitions featuring SDG activists and supporters from different walks of life – writers, artists, researchers, students, teachers, school children, farmers, diplomats and politicians.
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