25.10.2007 - Source: Council of Europe - European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

Report on prison conditions, labour, health, social affairs and education ("Report to the Georgian Government on the visit to Georgia carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 21 March to 2 April 2007 [CPT/Inf (2007) 42]") [ID 21702]

Document(s): Report

27.04.2007 - Source: Civil Georgia

Hundreds of people protest in front of parliament against "unfair" social policy pursued by authorities; demonstration organised by opposition ("Protesters Rally in Tbilisi") [ID 19827]

Document(s): Open document

03.2007 - Source: US Social Security Administration

Report on social security system (old age, disability and survivors; sickness and maternity; work injury; unemployment; family allowances) ("Social Security Programs Throughout the World") [ID 19334]

Document(s): Open document

01.2006 - Source: Human Rights Center

Current leadership has chosen "laissez-faire" policy; reorganizations in governmental structures lead to mass dismissals of civil servants while no decent unemployment arrangements are available ("Next Stop – Belarus?; Human Rights Report 2005; Georgia") [#43007], [ID 6084]

For documentation of individual cases please refer to the original document

"There can be little doubt that many of society’s illnesses stand in a direct correlation with its stage of socio-economical development. It can also quite well be argued that attempts to solve various human rights problems will never be completely successful as long as people’s standards of living and prospects for the future are not improved. Seemingly, the current leadership has until now generally chosen for a policy of economic non-interference. ‘Laissez faire’ arguments certainly have their merit, but usually also smell of uninvolvement, protection of one’s own business interests, and intellectual inflexibility.
Is it not rather curious that in a country with souring rates of unemployment and where about half of the people live in true poverty, a grand Presidential residence is built inspired by the US White House and that the Department on Labor and Employment at the Ministry of Labor, Health, and Social Security is abolished? Such things and an infinite amount of examples of money spent not on the structural improvement of people’s lives, but on seemingly ‘cosmetic’ projects, give citizens the feeling that they are forgotten, not cared about and disrespected. The on-going mass dismissals of civil servants due to reorganizations in governmental structures without any decent unemployment arrangements only add fuel to the fire."

Document(s): Open document

31.12.2005 - Source: ReliefWeb

New retirement age was introduced - 65 both for men and women ("Georgia: Humanitarian and development update Dec 2005 (UN Country Team in Georgia)") [#42042], [ID 6085]

"Changes to Georgia’s pension system has triggered major political debate [...]. Suggested Amendments introduced a new retirement age -- 65 for both men and women. Currently the retirement age for men is 70 and 60 for women. […] There are up to 950,000 pensioners in Georgia. This number is expected to increase by about 28,000 in 2006."

Document(s): Open document

02.12.2005 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Demonstration against proposed pension law in Tblisi; changes would reduce maximum but increase minimum pension wages ("Georgians Demonstrate Against Proposed Pension Law") [#40075], [ID 6086]

Document(s): Open document

30.11.2005 - Source: ReliefWeb

In the 2006 envisaged reform, minimum old age pension is to increase up to 38 GEL and new retirement age is to be introduced; even increased pensions shall not suffice for pensioners to survive without external support ("Georgia: Humanitarian and development update Nov 2005 (United Nations Country Team in Georgia)") [#40514], [ID 6087]

"Additional promise of the President about the increase of pensions by 10 GEL from 2006 has triggered political debates. The reform envisages increasing the minimum old age pension up to 38 GEL and decreasing of the maximum pension from the current 5,000 to 560 GEL. Amendments will also introduce a new retirement age - 65 for both man and women. Opponents demand the introduction of a pension system based on length of service.
Meanwhile, it is noteworthy that the State acknowledges the fact that even the increased pension is not enough for pensioners to survive without external support and pledges to continue gradual increase of the pensions. [...]"

Document(s): Open document

11.2005 - Source: ReliefWeb

Georgia`s socio-economic situation is characterized by poverty, 52.3% of population lives below poverty line; situation is aggravated by high unemployment and poor social services ("Humanitarian Situation and Transition to Development 2006 (Humanitarian Affairs Team, Office of the UN Resident Coordinatior in Georgia)") [#41665], [ID 6088]

"The overarching characteristic of Georgia’s socio-economic situation is highly visible and widespread human poverty, reflected in basic deprivations, poor health and food insecurity, is aggravated by factors such as high unemployment and inefficient social services. […] Although the proportion of the population living below the official poverty line (calculated according to consumption costs of households) has slightly decreased during 2004 from c. 54.5% to approximately 52.3% (in rural areas from 56.2 % to 53.4%), it is still very high overall. Even more alarming, the extreme poverty rate has increased to 16.9 % (from the 2003 baseline of 16.6%), making Georgia the only CIS country with such a disturbing trend. [...] Still, the most challenging problem today is traditional poverty in stagnated communities and among disadvantaged population groups. Special conditions, such as lack of proper housing (frequent in cases of displaced populations), unemployment, or deteriorated health status in a household, determine a particularly high level of vulnerability. [...] The hardest-hit sectors of the population are the families with many children, single mothers, displaced, lonely pensioners, and the disabled. […] Some of the most poor are the homeless who are totally marginalized and are not covered by either humanitarian programmes or statistics.

EMPLOYMENT
One of the key issues of poverty is that of employment. The unemployed face a much higher risk of poverty, and unemployment remains a leading cause of social vulnerability in households - particularly of extreme poverty. [...]
Economic reform, price and trade liberalisation, and the privatisation of state-owned enterprises have brought about a radical change in the characteristics of the labour market. A broader mix of more flexible employment opportunities and a growing proportion of informal employment have replaced stable fulltime employment in an exclusively formal labour market, in which the state was the primary employer.
In general, the resumption of sustained growth in Georgia has resulted in significant improvement in the position of the employed. As a result of reforms, the income gap between Government officials and state employees in reformed sectors and in as yet unreformed sectors is also growing. However, many people became unemployed due to restructuring. To date, economic growth has failed to create more jobs, though jobless growth has occurred, i.e. employment rates have been stagnant or have fallen despite overall positive economic growth.[…]
The Ministry of Education and Science is vigorously working on the action plan for developing an effective system of professional retraining and vocational and lifelong education, which may appear crucial for development in the long term. At the same time, the State Agency for Social Assistance and Employment (SASAE) at MoLHSA is being activated, and in addition to providing a 6-month unemployment benefit, it assists the unemployed in acquiring new professions, retraining and finding jobs, particularly at public works. Export of the labour force is another important development, as already a fifth of Georgia’s population is currently living and working abroad. […]
Agriculture and agriculture-related businesses are still the main sources of income for the rural population, employing more than half of the physically active population. However, potential growth in the agricultural sector and agriculture-related business [...] is hindered by a number of problems: underdeveloped land market; disrupted rural infrastructures, and in particular, lack of primary processing facilities; lack of inputs; difficult access to credit for farmers; difficult access to small internal markets, and lack of access to external markets; lack of skills in modern agri-technologies and marketing; and little availability of equipment. Small-scale farming, while playing a role in alleviating poverty, is not sufficient as a source of economic well-being.

BASIC SOCIAL SERVICES
Inadequacy of social services and deterioration of human capital is another key problem for society, particularly for the vulnerable and poor. A huge challenge is the ineffective functioning of the social security system, only partly cushioned by extended kinship networks in traditionally helpful communities. While basic social protection benefits have doubled in the past year, and arrears were paid, along with the growth of fiscal revenues, there appears to have been little impact on the reduction of poverty due to the small size in absolute measures. The amount of pensions and other types of social allowances is much less than the absolute subsistence minimum, and produces very little positive effect on poverty headcount reduction. At the same time, the ageing of the population poses significant challenges for public policy. There is an evident effort on the part of the Government to provide better, more targeted social protection both for the working poor and the specific vulnerable groups. It is currently reforming the system of social welfare so as to deal with direct, targeted cash assistance to the most needy, providing the subsistence minimum to every household that requests and qualifies for it. The approach is thus shifting away from social, category-based individual assistance towards needs-based assistance. The Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs (MoLHSA), the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Economy have elaborated the new social assistance programme.[…]
The State Agency for Social Assistance and Employment of the MoLHSA, administering the new programme, has already initiated a process of identifying beneficiary households. […] Full implementation of the programme is currently planned to start in July 2006, and tentatively as many as 150,000 families are estimated to benefit from this programme at the initial stage. […]"

Document(s): Open document

03.2005 - Source: US Social Security Administration

Report on social security system (old age, disability and survivors; sickness and maternity; work injury; unemployment; family allowances) ("Social Security Programs Throughout the World") [#35837], [ID 6089]

Document(s): Open document

02.09.2003 - Source: Civil Georgia

A court in Kaspi, central Georgia ruled positively on the appeal of 300 local pensioners demanding that the government repay their pension backlog from 1998-2000 ("Regional Court Ruled Positively on Pensioners’ Appeal") [#15659], [ID 6090]

Document(s): Open document

23.06.2003 - Source: Prima News

A group of handicapped Georgians launched on June 20 a hunger strike in front of the parliamentary headquarters in Tbilisi. They demand better social conditions and government’s assistance in finding employment ("Georgian invalids go on hunger strike") [#15865], [ID 6091]

Document(s): Open document

31.03.2003 - Source: US Department of State

Many facilities for persons with disabilities remained closed due to lack of funding ("Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2002") [#11848], [ID 6092]

"There is no legislated or otherwise mandated provision requiring access for persons with disabilities; however, the law mandates that the State ensure appropriate conditions for persons with disabilities to use freely the social infrastructure and to ensure proper protection and support. The law includes a provision of special discounts and favorable social policies for persons with disabilities, particularly veterans; however, many facilities for persons with disabilities remained closed due to lack of funding. Most persons with disabilities were supported by family members or by international humanitarian donations. Societal discrimination against persons with disabilities exists."

Document(s): Open document