UNFPA Turkey and South Caucasus

UNFPA: Supporting Young People in Georgia

What’s the situation ?

Following its independence in 1991, Georgia has suffered from new poverty, economic, social disparities and political difficulties. These have been further compounded by civil war and armed conflicts which also resulted in the displacement of around 300,000 people.

Many young people who are coming of age in Georgia today have grown up in families which have had to deal with the stresses of unemployment and economic insecurity. Social and cultural practices which were norms during Soviet times have been eroded, but new common values and the social mechanisms to support them are not yet firmly established.

The education levels of both men and women in Georgia are very high. But despite a general awareness about family planning, understanding of sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights among young people is still limited, due both to cultural stigmas and to a lack of supportive policies and healthy life education.

The two most acute sexual and reproductive health problems facing young people in Georgia today are sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies. Sexual activity generally begins at an earlier age than in the past, but young people have inadequate information about safe sex and contraception.

Contraceptives are expensive and there are indications that many young people do not trust the quality or the confidentiality of the limited reproductive health services which are available.

Among young women in Georgia aged between 15 and 19, the fertility rate exceeds 50 births per thousand. While the overall abortion rate in Georgia has declined considerably since independence, the rate of abortions among young women aged between 15 and 24 has risen by approximately one third, and about 20 per cent of abortions are followed by medical complications.

Unprecedented numbers of young people are dropping out of school and drug use is steadily becoming a more frequent feature of secondary school life.

Although Georgia in 2004 had only 597 officially registered cases of HIV/AIDS , the risk of prevalence rates increasing is high. This is due to Georgia's proximity to high-prevalence countries, extensive seasonal labor migration, the high prevalence of Inter-Uterine Devices as contraception and low public awareness.

A lack of involvement by men in reproductive health issues and the limited access to reproductive health information and services are areas of concern. Over the last ten years there has also been an increase in the trafficking of girls and women. Domestic violence against women is common throughout Georgia, but receives little attention.

What is UNFPA doing to help ?

UNFPA support to Georgia began in 1993 with a project to supply contraceptives. Since then UNFPA has supported a wide variety of initiatives on population and development in Georgia, including a number which specifically target young people.

In its current programme for Georgia, UNFPA's activities include:

Building capacity and technical assistance for the development of youth-friendly service models
Establishing youth-friendly RH centers at universities
Developing a wider range of male-orientated services at primary and secondary level
Running multi-media campaigns on HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections and other reproductive health issues and rights
Training activities targeted at young people, uniformed services and high risk groups
Out-of-school activities to encourage healthy lifestyles

For more details of UNFPA current projects in Georgia, click here.

In its earlier programmes, UNFPA has supported small-scale activities related to HIV/AIDS awareness creation through an umbrella project. Some of these activities included outreach projects to address trafficking and violence against women.

A fun approach to learning:

With its extensive worldwide experience of helping young people, UNFPA in Georgia has also supported a number of projects which have a fun and innovative approach to getting the message across.

During UN week in Georgia, UNFPA, together with a local NGO supported a puppet show for which the puppets were created and animated by street children with a storyline which helped children and young people better aware of their human rights.

Over 50,000 young people have attended concerts in Tbilisi and Batumi featuring popular entertainers who have delivered safer sex messages.

A Young Singers Campaign, involving 36 artists has been advocating for young peoples' rights and for HIV/AIDS prevention. The launch of their video was attended by senior government officials.

Radio talk shows featuring “sexologists” and guest celebrities educate young Georgian listeners about unsafe behaviors and how to protect themselves against sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies. A new edition of educational playing cards has been produced.

UNFPA has also supported a social marketing project for improved reproductive health among young people. This has been successfully marketing a brand of condoms "Favorite" to young people.

Current UNFPA projects in Georgia:

Advocating for the Implementation of key RH policies in Georgia

Helping the Government to assess Reproductive Health in Georgia

Improving Reproductive Health Information and Services in Georgia

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