 At
the Boardroom, University of Wales Newport,
14
June 2006
Ladies
and Gentlemen,
I
would like to extend my greetings to all of you on behalf of Kutaisi
and the whole Imereti region.
Let me provide some figures from statistics:
In
1989 the number of children in Imereti region was 117,000.
By
2001 this number reduced to 92,000. Consequently,
the number of children in Kutaisi decreased from 42,000 to 36,000.
This
was caused by poor economic and social conditions, dominating
during these years in the
country. According to the data of recent two years, the number of the first
formers at
school increased by 250 children.
Out of already mentioned 92,000 children, the majority still face difficulties.
Lots of issues regarding children and their families still remain unsolved
and today I can speak about it openly, backed up by the will of our government
and
the president of Georgia, Michael Saakashvili - to carry out fundamental
reforms in child welfare. The works are already being conducted to improve
the lives
of vulnerable children and their families.
In
this respect three spheres have been outlined as priority areas
of Georgian policy: Education, Social
and Health
Care and Military Forces. The country which does not care for the future
of its citizens is doomed to destruction.
Our visit in Newport was an excellent opportunity to see how
much efforts are taken in your country to provide
children with high standards of
care. I’ve
observed how carefully each stage of child development is planned and
operated along with an intensive work carried out to keep children
within the family
environment.
We spent 14 busy days in Newport and were provided with invaluable
information about developments in the social sphere. Here I would like
to note that while
in your country the process of closing down the institutions commenced
from 1984,
Georgia has only recently started working towards this direction. This
means that we have 22 more years ahead with 22 new generations. Therefore,
active
and immediate steps are required for implementation of child care reform.
At the
same time it is important to consider the experience of other countries
rather than inventing a new wheel. The experience of your country will
be particularly
beneficial for our future efforts in providing high quality social
services for children and their families. I hope that our cooperation
will further
continue with your visit in Georgia.
In the end I would like to say “thank you” to all those
who have contributed to organizing our arrival in Newport and made
tremendous
efforts
to make our stay here unforgettable. Many thanks to all services, departments
and the University of Wales, Newport for the extremely interesting
meetings and presentations.
Special thanks to Catherine Philpott, Sonia Fisher, Penny Lloyd-Evans,
Bernard Tyson and all others who were very kind to us.
(Joking) Next time when I meet Catherine, I promise I will speak to
her in English.
In Georgia we don’t say good bye to friends. Instead, we say “See
you soon”
So let me say “see you soon” and “thank you” once
again.
Lado
Pataridze |