USAID funds more than 35 programs to strengthen Georgia's resilience to malign influence, consolidate democratic gains through enhanced citizen responsive governance, and enable high-value employment through increased economic growth.
Current Programs:
Assistance to the Public Defender’s Office
● Partner: Public Defender’s Office
● Dates: 06/15/2022 – 09/16/2024
USAID supports the Public Defender’s Office, a major Georgian independent human rights and oversight institution, to strengthen human rights protection in Georgia. Program activities bolster the Public Defender’s Office’s internal capabilities and help it to more effectively fulfill its oversight functions as defined by the Constitution of Georgia and other legislation. USAID support enables the Public Defender’s Office to expand its presence in rural communities and strengthen its ability to monitor and respond to human rights violations throughout the country.
Basic Education
● Partner: RTI International
● Dates: 01/06/2020 – 01/05/2026
USAID’s Basic Education program promotes innovative approaches to learning, building on the successes of previous U.S. Government investments in Georgia’s education system. The activity supports the implementation of sustainable, inclusive, and student-centered education reforms in line with the priorities of the Government of Georgia. Through the activity, USAID aims to support all primary school students and teachers in Georgia’s public schools, emphasizing interactive learning methods to help students develop skills in reading, mathematics, critical thinking, and problem-solving to establish a foundation for lifelong success.
Bridging the Gap
● Partner: Cultural-Humanitarian Fund ‘Sukhumi’
● Dates: 02/19/2021 – 02/18/2025
USAID’s Bridging the Gap activity fosters people-to-people interaction between residents across the conflict divides, including youth, entrepreneurs, and healthcare workers, to facilitate dialogue and cooperation in areas of mutual interest.
Business Development Service
● Partner: Gazelle Fund LLP
● Dates: 04/21/2021 – 04/20/2024
USAID’s Business Development Service Program helps SMEs strengthen their ability to attract future private sector investment through improved business planning, financial management and reporting, and marketing. USAID partners with Gazelle Finance to support beneficiary SMEs through a combination of zero-interest loans, grants, and direct technical assistance from Gazelle Finance. USAID and Gazelle Finance will create 400 new full-time jobs and leverage more than $15 million in private equity capital.
Capacity Building the State Audit Office of Georgia
● Partner: Government Accountability Office
● Dates: 06/01/20 – 12/31/2025
Georgia’s State Audit Office (SAO) plays a key role in ensuring that Government of Georgia agencies practice transparency, accountability, and efficacy in the use of public funds. Through this USAID-facilitated activity, the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s Center for Audit Excellence partners with the SAO to build its capacity to conduct performance audits that assess the impact and outcomes of government spending.
Civic Education Program
● Partner: Project Harmony International
● Dates: 03/18/2022 – 03/17/2027
USAID’s Civic Education Program strengthens Georgia’s civic education by: 1) improving student-led civic and democratic engagement in schools; 2) promoting private sector engagement in civic education at the school level; and 3) improving students’ ability and proficiency to responsibly use and harness technology to participate in civic activities and public discourse about important issues in Georgian society.
Civil Society Engagement Program
● Partner: East West Management Institute
● Dates: 11/01/2021 – 10/31/2026
USAID’s Civil Society Engagement Program supports Georgia's civil society sector to become stronger and more sustainable, and better able to build community resilience and promote citizen-centered democratic processes in Georgia’s diverse communities. By partnering with a diverse range of civic actors at the national, regional, and local levels, Georgia’s citizens have greater opportunities and agency to engage in democratic governance processes and civic life around the issues that matter in their communities.
Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity Program
● Partner: DAI
● Dates: 6/2/2023 - 5/31/2026
USAID supports the Government of Georgia and critical infrastructure entities to strengthen their cybersecurity resilience. USAID, through the Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity Program, supports the full implementation of Georgia’s Law on Information Security and its alignment of cybersecurity laws with European Union directives, in addition to building the human capital of Georgia’s cybersecurity professionals through management training and tabletop exercises. USAID also supports policy reforms to allow critical infrastructure entities to utilize cloud and off-premises data storage for disaster recovery and backup, strengthening information security.
Economic Governance Program
● Partner: Deloitte Consulting LLP
● Dates: 12/18/2019 - 12/17/2024
USAID’s Economic Governance Program partners with the Government of Georgia to support the regulatory environment around business and promote evidence-based policymaking, while supporting Georgia to meet the requirements of the EU-Georgia Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. Through the activity, USAID strengthens Georgia’s ability to attract private sector investment by supporting economic reforms that make Georgia’s business environment more transparent, predictable, consistent, inclusive, and cost-effective. This increased capacity and commitment to attract domestic and international private sector investment provides Georgia with more economic resources to drive prosperity and job creation.
Economic Security Program
● Partner: DAI Global LLC
● Dates: 04/17/2019 - 04/16/2024
USAID’s Economic Security Program works in partnership with the Government of Georgia and private sector partners to support Georgia’s economic sectors with the highest long-term potential to drive prosperity. These include intellectual services, light manufacturing, creative industries, and tourism. Through the activity, USAID provides technical assistance and cost-share grants to enhance growth and productivity in these four target sectors. This assistance helps develop value chains; enhances the viability of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises; supports a more skilled workforce; and facilitates public-private partnerships. The activity leverages local resources and facilitates collaboration between the government and the private sector to help Georgia build the capacity to plan, finance, and implement its own solutions to development challenges.
Educating the Future
● Partner: Chemonics International
● Dates: 05/21/2023 – 05/30/2028
USAID’s Educating the Future program helps Georgia strengthen its pre-service teacher education programs, build the capacity of school administrators to act as instructional leaders within schools, and support school autonomy policies that allow individual schools to make more decisions about how education is delivered. USAID partners with Georgia’s Ministry of Education and Science and its subsidiary agencies, public and private schools and universities, and civil society institutions to improve educational policies, processes, and mechanisms to promote quality and equitable education at the primary, secondary, and higher levels.
Elections and Political Processes Support
● Partner: Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS)
● Dates: 04/01/2019 – 03/31/2025
USAID supports citizen-centered democratic political processes to ensure that the needs and interests of Georgian citizens are well-represented through democratic political processes. Through the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening, USAID builds the capacity of political parties, citizen groups, and Georgia’s election management bodies to promote and engage in citizen-centered political processes, solidifying the foundation for democratic politics and governance in Georgia.
Facilitating Accountability, Integrity and Reforms in Elections
● Partner: International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED)
● Dates: 08/01/2019 – 03/31/2025
With USAID support, ISFED advances a robust electoral framework through comprehensive recommendations and evidence-based advocacy for electoral reforms. USAID also supports ISFED to provide the public with independent and impartial assessments of elections and related political processes through sophisticated and innovative methods, while building public confidence in electoral processes through timely detection and reaction to electoral irregularities, and providing recommendations to the election administration and relevant agencies to address these violations.
Free, Fair and Equal Electoral-Political 2019-2022 Cycle in Georgia
● Partner: Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA)
● Dates: 07/11/2019 – 03/31/2025
With USAID support, GYLA promotes more competitive and transparent electoral processes in Georgia. GYLA conducts monitoring and research of political-electoral processes between, during, and after elections, and engages in robust advocacy, awareness raising, and strategic litigation in support of a stronger enabling environment for free and fair electoral processes in Georgia.
Financial Innovation Program
● Partner: Palladium International, LLC
● Dates: 02/08/2023 - 02/07/2028
USAID’s Financial Innovation Program aims to increase the flow of diversified investment resources and innovative financial products to Georgia's private sector to help businesses expand, create jobs, and attract additional private investment. Through the program, USAID focuses on expanding access to finance for enterprises with high potential for employment generation. To strengthen and diversify Georgia’s financial system, USAID also partners with non-traditional finance providers to establish an investment mobilization platform that encourages innovation.
Human and Institutional Capacity Development
● Partner: The Kaizen Company, LLC
● Dates: 12/21/2020 – 12/22/2025
USAID’s Human and Institutional Capacity Development (HICD) Activity in Georgia aims to achieve lasting results in the human and institutional capacity development of key strategic partner institutions in Georgia. Participating institutions include governmental, non-governmental, and private sector entities that play key roles in Georgia’s democratic development and prosperity. USAID technical assistance under this contract will increase the organizational integrity, operational effectiveness, and long-term viability of these key partner organizations.
Independent Living Program
● Partner: McLain Association for Children
● Dates: 05/14/2020– 01/05/2025
USAID’s Independent Living Program helps Georgian society build on the progress it has already made protecting the rights of persons with disabilities, promoting the independent living model so that persons with disabilities can participate more fully in Georgian society. USAID works with local governments in six Georgian municipalities to build capacity, deliver improved public services, and promote independent living as a development objective for supporting persons with disabilities. USAID also promotes the independent living model of support in other municipalities around Georgia.
Industry-Led Skills Development
● Partner: International Executive Service Corps
● Dates: 05/03/2021 – 05/02/2026
The USAID Industry-Led Skills Development Program supports professionals and job seekers to obtain skills demanded by Georgia’s private sector. Working with the Government of Georgia and private sector partners, USAID co-invests and co-establishes training programs designed to lead directly to employment opportunities. Through the program, USAID plans to train roughly 5,000 individuals, incentivize 30 businesses to develop long-term partnerships with training providers, mobilize $7 million in cost-share from the private sector, and ensure that at least 35% of trainees come from rural areas and/or ethnic minority communities and that at least 45% are women.
Information Integrity Program
● Partner: Zinc Network Limited
● Dates: 09/22/2020 – 09/21/2025
USAID’s Information Integrity Program is USAID’s first long-term, stand-alone program dedicated exclusively to addressing the threat of disinformation. It brings together a range of interested stakeholders – including civil society, the private sector, media, and academia – to create solutions to reduce vulnerability to disinformation. Through this activity, USAID supports a network of domestic actors who actively combat disinformation and ensure that Georgia’s citizens have access to fact-based information about key issues.
Local Governance Program
● Partner: Tetra Tech ARD
● Dates: 02/07/2022 – 07/06/2027
USAID’s Local Governance Program promotes effective and accountable local governance in Georgia as part of the country’s ongoing decentralization reforms. Through the program, USAID cooperates with elected officials and civil servants to effectively deliver citizen-responsive public services and improve accountability to members of their communities. USAID also promotes citizen engagement in decision-making at the local level. Through the program, USAID supports implementation of the Government of Georgia’s 2020-2025 Local Government Decentralization Strategy, delivering targeted assistance to a planned 22 municipalities.
Media Program
● Partner: IREX
● Dates: 08/05/2022 – 08/04/2027
The USAID Media Program works to increase the availability of civically relevant, fact-based, independent sources of information. The program builds the capacity of Georgia’s media sector to produce well-researched, evidence-based content that adheres to international standards in ethics and quality journalism and is relevant and engaging to citizens.
Monitoring Electoral Processes in Minority Regions
● Partner: Public Movement Multinational Georgia (PMMG)
● Dates: 09/18/2019 – 03/17/2025
USAID’s Monitoring of Electoral Processes in Minority Regions activity promotes the political participation of ethnic minorities in Georgia and builds awareness of minority voters about electoral rights and procedures, electoral systems, and the need for informed participation in electoral processes by ethnic minorities. Supported by USAID, Public Movement Multinational Georgia conducts full-cycle monitoring of electoral processes in the ethnic minority-populated regions of Samtskhe-Javakheti, Kvemo Kartli, Shida Kartli, Mtskheta-Mtianeti and Kakheti, implements ethnic minority voter educational programs, and researches how ethnic minorities exercise their political and electoral rights.
Monitoring Political Party Finances and Misuse of Administrative Resources during Election Processes
● Partner: Transparency International Georgia
● Dates: 08/29/2019 – 03/31/2025
USAID Monitoring Political Party Finances and Misuse of Administrative Resources During Election Processes monitors transparency in election campaign funding, political financing, and the use of administrative resources for electoral purposes. With USAID support, Transparency International Georgia tracks developments related to political finance, including assessing financial reports of political parties, tracking, and assessing any relevant amendments to legislation, and the work of the State Audit Office; conducts parallel expenditure tracking of leading political parties; and publishes reports on the use of administrative resources in electoral processes.
National Governance Program
● Partner: DAI Global LLC
● Dates: 12/12/2022 – 12/11/2027
The purpose of the USAID National Governance Program is to work in partnership with the Government of Georgia to promote citizen-responsive governance based on greater accountability, transparency, and institutional independence and effectiveness. Program activities strengthen accountability systems, procedures, and mechanisms within the executive and legislative branches, as well as independent oversight institutions, enhancing their ability to serve the public. This includes strengthening the “demand-side” of citizen-responsive governance, supporting localization efforts, and strengthening the ability of Georgian civil society and the private sector to demand accountability of governance institutions. These efforts align with the U.S. government’s Presidential Initiative for Democratic Renewal, a landmark new set of policy deliverables and foreign assistance programs that will significantly expand and update the U.S. government’s work to bolster democracy and defend human rights globally.
National Parks and Eco-Tourism
● Partner: The Department of Interior
● Dates: 09/30/2019 – 09/30/2024
USAID’s National Parks and Ecotourism (NPE) Program, implemented by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s International Technical Assistance Program (DOI-ITAP), works in partnership with the Government of Georgia to support Georgia’s efforts to preserve national parks and protected areas for current and future generations while generating sustainable economic opportunities in surrounding communities. Program activities include technical assistance and training to improve the organizational capacity, tourism and economic development of Georgia’s parks, and to build Georgia’s reputation as a regional leader in professionally managed national parks and protected areas.
Partnering for Resilience
● Partner: UNDP
● Dates: 03/10/2022 – 03/09/2027
USAID’s Partnering for Resilience program, implemented by UNDP in partnership with UN agencies, delivers assistance to conflict-affected communities on both sides of the conflict divide. The program builds on successes and lessons learned from previous and current programmatic initiatives to support conflict-affected communities and lasting peace. The program aims to improve access to quality healthcare and education, empower youth, and strengthen professional linkages among the conflict-affected population, with the goal to promote sustainable peace and improve human security and community resilience on the ground.
INVEST – Promoting Georgian Exports
· Partner: DAI
· Dates: 12/28/2022 – 09/30/2024
USAID supports Enterprise Georgia, a legal entity of public law under the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, to promote export diversification by providing export facilitation services between the Government of Georgia, Georgian enterprises, and international buyers. Through the activity, USAID takes a two-phased approach: 1) conducting a rapid assessment of export-ready companies in target markets and sectors identified jointly by USAID and Enterprise Georgia; and 2) linking selected companies and international buyers and facilitating transactions.
Resilient Communities
● Partner: CNFA
● Dates: 07/29/2022-07/28/2027
The USAID Resilient Communities Program promotes socio-economic engagement within and between communities located near the Administrative Boundary Lines with Abkhazia and South Ossetia and other regions of Georgia. USAID works in partnership with Georgian government counterparts and the private sector to catalyze inclusive, sustained, and private sector-led development while supporting linkages to regional and national markets and ensuring the empowerment of women and youth.
Rule of Law Program
● Partner: East-West Management Institute
● Dates: 01/01/2022 – 03/12/26
The USAID Rule of Law Program partners with Georgia to strengthen the independence, effectiveness, and accountability of Georgia’s judicial institutions and increases access to justice for all of Georgia’s citizens. Through the program, USAID helps Georgia consolidate and build upon its past successful reforms strengthening the rule of law. USAID partners with Georgia’s courts, judges, civil society institutions, and universities to advance the rule of law and the principles of people-centered justice.
Securing Georgia’s Energy Future
● Partner: Deloitte Consulting LLP
● Dates: 06/01/2021-05/29/2026
USAID launched its Securing Georgia’s Energy Future Program in 2021 to bolster Georgia’s ability to ensure safe, stable, affordable, and diversified sources of energy for households, businesses, and public institutions across the country. USAID partners with the Government of Georgia and the private sector to advance reforms in line with Georgia’s obligations under the European Union Association Agreement and its international climate commitments, reduce dependence on external malign actors, build a strong, competitive, and transparent energy market, and build resilience to both natural and manmade risks, including cybersecurity threats.
Small Project Assistance
● Partner: Peace Corps
● Dates: 08/01/2018 – 09/30/2027
Small Project Assistance is a multi-country collaboration between USAID and Peace Corps to strengthen civil society by building the capacity of local people and organizations. Small Project Assistance impacts individuals, organizations, and communities through training and small grants awarded through an open competition among Peace Corps volunteers and their counterparts. Training activities provide capacity building for Georgian partners in key areas including project design and management, organizational development, and professional English language skills. The small grants scheme allows Peace Corps Volunteers to assist their local community partners to identify community priorities and advance local development through greater civic participation.
USAID Unity Through Diversity Program
● Partner: United Nations Association of Georgia
● Dates: 07/22/2022 – 07/21/2027
The USAID Unity Through Diversity Program supports the Government of Georgia, civil society, and the private sector to create a comprehensive national framework to address the political, social, and economic barriers to the integration of ethnic and religious minorities. The program supports Georgia's ethnic and religious minorities to become effective contributors to national and local policy and to strengthen social and economic linkages between minority and majority populations. The program also facilitates channels for minority inputs into government policymaking, such as implementation of the State Strategy for Civic Equality and Integration (SCEI) 2021-2030.