Interview with new sponsor Breath Georgia

19-10-2020

Georgia improving on children’s rights, living conditions for handicapped children and street children a big challenge.

Over the last couple of months we have been working hard to reshape the organisation of Breath Georgia. A number of internal problems needed to be solved and local developments and improvements inside the country in respect of our target group, asked for a realignment. To arrange everything according to Georgian law and regulations, we have hired the law firm MG Law in Tblisi.

As chairman Nico de Borst describes them it is a solid, to the point, warm and businesslike firm. MG Law gives solid legal advice, they prepare the board meetings of Breath Georgia, take care of the minutes and deposit all changes with the public register in Georgia. Over the coming months MG Law will be going over the labour contracts of Breath Georgia.

Following an invoice the foundation received from the law firm, founder and partner Archil Giorgadze came on the line with the proposal to sponsor Breath Georgia! This of course is marvelous news because it means we will be getting a strong partner on board!

This is all reason for us to ask Archil a couple of questions to describe the law firm, their views on the living conditions of children in Georgia and what their reasons are to take their corporate responsibility by supporting Breath, amongst others.

(Breath): When looking at your website there is a lot of corporate law mentioned, but it seems your law firm also is involved with sustainability and the improvement of the lives of the Georgian people. Why is that important to you?

(Archil Giorgadze): “Indeed, we have enviable track record of corporate law performance and our lawyers have handled numerous prestigious mandates in this regard. However, we at MG Law Office undertake our social responsibility to give back to the community in which we live and work through our dedication to improve the living standards locally in Georgia. Therefore, as a part of our pro bono initiative we often engage and contribute our top-tier legal services to worthy causes. We are hopeful that our contribution will be beneficial to a larger community.”

When you look at living conditions of people in Georgia, and especially children, where is the country?

“Georgia has a record of a steady recovery and economic reformations, however, living conditions of children, as well as other groups of our society still remain as the matter of pressing predicament. It is of significant relevance that Georgia’s economic capacity does not allow for lavish social security. In this sense, it is vital to revise our social policy and draw up more optimized module for social spending, in order to guarantee a decent living for children, the unemployed, the disabled, and various other groups in need. It goes without saying that achieving such results requires substantial resources and has become even harder to accomplish in light of the present Pandemic and subsequent economic developments.” 

What is the position of children, and especially street children / orphans in Georgia? And how about children with disabilities? 

“There is a lack of availability of reliable statistics on the street children and children with disabilities which significantly hinders the development of appropriate measures to upkeep these groups. According to the latest UNICEF report on children and youth in Georgia, children who live and/or work in the streets are involved in begging and petty trade like selling flowers and religious icons and sometimes are engaged in petty crime. As for the children with disabilities they too are unable to fully emancipate into the society due to the lack of adequate services and the pressing stigma towards them. In this sense, these children remain to be invisible and do not have access to the social support programs, medical assistance, education and other essential services. 

In light of the urgency of the above issues, Georgia has started to revise the social policy for children in need. In 2017 Georgia has committed to advance the conditions of children with disabilities and their basic rights through ratification of UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Additionally, the parliament has recently enacted novel regulatory framework for the protection of minors. Therefore, it is clear that the living conditions of these children have become part of the national policy agenda and we are hopeful that through the dedication to this cause and cooperation with international organizations Georgia will succeed in this quest.”

Do you support other charities? How do you see the general potential in Georgia for Breath to attract more sponsors?

“It has become a solid tradition for our firm to contribute and assist other organizations in worthy causes. Helping the disadvantaged by offering our work at no cost is so important to MG Law that we employ a pro bono coordinator. This allows us to better identify cases to lend our support to, and to coordinate how to effectively give our assistance to those in need. In this sense we cooperate with number of organizations and individuals, including Fair Trees Fund, First Step Georgia and American Friends of Georgia. American Friends of Georgia’s mission is to provide practical humanitarian aid to the people of Georgia, especially in the Caucasus Mountain Region. As for the First Step Georgia, this organization provides day care centers for the children with disabilities, promotes social inclusion of the ethnic minority and internally displaced children. We are assisting them with the development of donations along with required legal services.”

“The potential of organizations like Breath Care for Kids Georgia is largely conditioned on the importance of the work which is tremendous in our case. As Breath has been performing its commitments with much care and diligence and with our joint dedication Breath could attract various sponsors and engage them in these projects. Naturally, we are promoting and raising awareness on Breath Georgia and their work among our clients and we are hopeful to see their involvement in this worthy cause.”

What opportunities are there in Georgia for organizations like Breath Care for Kids?

“We believe that there are ample opportunities for Breath in Georgia as the dedication to the work and enthusiasm is evident. Through an intensive cooperation with partners and promotion to involve others will definitely accumulate sufficient bases to maintain the existing projects and hopefully, to expand. 

We are hopeful that our partnership proves beneficial for the Breath children and will create a solid ground for overall increase of the living standards in Georgia. MG Law continues to be committed to our shared cause and in this sense, we are willing to contribute our legal services as well as our overall support to attract more sponsors and expand in Georgia.” 

What challenges do you see for the foreseeable future regarding street children and disabled children in Georgia?

“Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic the most vulnerable communities of our society will be hit the hardest. The dramatic economic impact of the coronavirus translates into the lost income and more families below the poverty line. Unfortunately, this may increase the number of children living or working on the streets, as well as bar already limited access to the essential services for street children and disabled children.”