The Foreign Ministry is supporting the Psycho-social Rehabilitation Centre in the region of Gali in Georgia with 55 860 kroons, donated through the Gali Women’s Association.
One of the priority activities of the Gali Women’s Association is the development of the Psycho-social Rehabilitation Centre. The centre has been functional for five years, and its goal is to provide psychological support and counseling to the women and youth of the Gali region. Estonia’s contribution is the first donation the centre has received in a long time to support the maintenance of the facility. For a while the centre only functioned thanks to the volunteer work of psychologists.
Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said that the Psycho-social Rehabilitation Centre offers free consultations and counseling to patients. “At the moment it is extremely difficult for residents of the Gali region to get psychological counseling,” Paet noted. The foreign minister believes that the opportunity to get professional psychological help is especially important in the Gali region. “The people in this region live in an extremely difficult situation, which is why it can be hard to come to terms with some aspects of everyday life. All those who need help should have the opportunity to receive a psychological consultation in addition to medical aid,” said Paet.
The region of Gali, which is located on the edge of the Georgian border, is a part of Abkhazia. The region is extremely poor and was ravaged by the war. Georgians make up 95% of the population of the region and many of them are internally displaced persons that are awaiting the chance to return to their homes.
The project is being funded from the Foreign Ministry’s development and humanitarian aid budget for 2009. The Foreign Ministry’s development and humanitarian aid budget for 2009 is 40 million kroons.
Along with Afghanistan, Moldova and Ukraine, Georgia is one of Estonia’s primary development co-operation partners.
More detailed information on the projects and an overview of Estonia’s development co-operation projects in previous years can be found at: http://www.vm.ee/?q=en/taxonom....
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