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Partnership Innovation for Advocacy Award for Prevention of Infant Abandonment and Deinstitutionalis

11 Jun 2007 08:42:41 GMT
Source: World Vision Middle East/Eastern Europe office (MEERO)

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Maia Tsereteli with the beneficiary mother and her baby that was saved from abandonment due to the efforts of the project team
World Vision MEERO, http://meero.worldvision.org

Maia Tsereteli from World Vision Georgia has been awarded with World Vision's Innovation in Advocacy Award at Civicus 7th World Assembly in Glasgow, Scotland. As the first winner of this prestigious award, Maia has been recognised for her advocacy work on child welfare, carried out with a personal commitment, motivation and integrity which has empowered Georgia's Government and communities to address social problems through innovative approaches.

For the last 5 years, Maia Tsereteli, MD,Ph.D., has been managing World Vision's Prevention of Infant Abandonment and Deinstitutionalization (PIAD) Project that has already prevented over 300 infants from being abandoned in various institutions, reintegrated more than 60 to their biological families, and placed another 70 into loving foster families.

"World Vision Georgia is both delighted and honored that Maia's work has been recognized with this partnership wide award," says David Womble, National Director for World Vision Georgia. "At the same time, it is ironic because the grant environment in Georgia is on a downturn, and resources to enable Maia to continue her advocacy and development efforts to help single mothers and infants are dwindling. While we celebrate the award, we also seek resources to continue this great work."

In Georgia there are some 5,000 children living in state institutions, 87 percent of which have at least one parent.

Under Maia's leadership, the project convinced the Government of Georgia to alter its policy on children in institutions, leading to the adoption of the new child welfare system and provision of support mechanisms to the families of these children as part of the Government's social services.

"Although we have done lots of work, we are only half way there," says Maia. "To make these existing family support services more effective and sustainable, we need to first of all replicate them in different regions of Georgia and at the same time introduce new ones. This is a good time for such an expansion, since World Vision is one of the leading organizations in Georgia working for the well-being of children".

Due to the nature of the values practiced by the project, Maia and her team have established successful relationships with the Georgian Orthodox Church, thus making World Vision Georgia one of the few organizations that are productively working alongside the Patriarchy to assist the most vulnerable children and their families.

World Vision Georgia has already created the Infant Houses Transformation Strategy that is in full compliance with the new Child Welfare Reform in Georgia. The Government is looking forward to implementing and developing more such innovative ideas that will be transferred to the Ministry of Education and Science as they have already done with different components of the PIAD Project such as the Mother and Infant Shelter, the Social Work Service, Foster Care.

[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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Last updated:Mon Jun 11 12:10:18 2007