According to a 2022 UNDP report, disability and poverty in Georgia are still affecting the country, with improvements to such situations only beginning recently. During the Soviet period, Georgia handled those with disabilities and those suffering from poverty because of their disabilities, with a mindset and a practice of “exclusion and institutionalization.” Reformations to this mindset and the subsequent practices are going through implementation and amendments to help people with disabilities lead to a better quality of life.

Background on Disability and Poverty in Georgia

In 2021, the Social Service Agency registered about 128,285 people with disabilities living in Georgia. This number could be greater due to the lack of statistical data on people with disabilities in the country, according to a 2022 UNDP report. The types of disabilities that one may encounter within the country are those with physical, mental, sensory or intellectual long-term impairments, UNDP reports.

Life for those with disabilities within Georgia is incredibly difficult. They often face discrimination due to their impairments and they live out their days in boarding houses and institutions for an indefinite amount of time, according to UNDP. Those with disabilities are more likely to be a part of the impoverished population of Georgia as the society sees them as not being capable of contributing to the workforce within Georgia’s economy, with the right to employment being one of the biggest issues that people with disabilities face within the country, according to UNDP.

The general poverty rate within Georgia stood at 4.3% as of 2022. In 2023, the total population of Georgia is around 3,760,365 people. Given the Social Service Agency of Georgia’s registered amount of people with disabilities in 2022, of 128,285 people, one can assume that the general poverty rate of people with disabilities could be at around 29.3%.

Georgian Young Lawyers Association

To help aid those suffering from disabilities and poverty in Georgia, several NGOs are helping to fight for people with disabilities to have rights in Georgia. One of which is the Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA).

GYLA has been fighting for human rights since its establishment in 1994. It set out to protect human rights, strengthen the country’s democratic institutions and create fair governance by promoting transparency and governance accountability within the country. So far, GYLA has helped to provide Georgia with a Legal Aid Program that has helped to provide Georgians with 1.3 million consultations in free legal aid assistance. The Legal Aid Program that GYLA has established focuses on offering its assistance to those with disabilities, representatives of minorities, women and children, and those that face discrimination, by providing them with lawyer services both in local and international courts.

Organizations such as GYLA, as well as other companies and their consumers, are also helping to fight poverty in Georgia and have been able to see drastic results early this year. Specifically, companies like the Asian Development Bank (ADB) that develop year-long contracts to help provide the country with a more sustainable economy have helped to decrease Georgia’s unemployment rate by 14% in 2024, alone. With the increase in domestic consumption of goods and services within the economy by consumers, it is projected that the GDP will continue to increase in 2025, by about 7%.

Results

The country is not only working to reduce poverty, it is also working toward providing people with disabilities with personal agency. In 2014, Georgia ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities. This ratification would allow them to make reforms to policies and legislation that would enable people with disabilities to be better represented within the country, as well as within their own families and communities. More recently, the country passed a 2020 Law on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities. This law would further allow for people with disabilities to be on an equal basis with their peers, by encouraging deinstitutionalization and essentially shifting the mindset of the country’s views towards people with disabilities to be that of a more inclusive one. 

Conclusion

Not only is Georgia beautiful to visit, but it has also been steadily and successfully addressing disability and poverty in Georgia. Georgia has been fighting against poverty since the early 2000s and has managed to increase GDP and monetary circulation throughout the economy. Overall, it would seem Georgia is headed for a bright future with the consistent fulfillment of the country’s SDG goals for the elimination of poverty and providing rights to those with disabilities and poverty within the country.

– Sadie Treadwell

Sadie is based in Grovetown, GA, USA and focuses on Business and Good News for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr