Visit of the President of the Federal Council of the Austrian Parliament to Zugdidi

On the 16^th of November 2023, Zugdidi LAG and Action Against Hunger hosted a visit of the President of the Federal Council of the Austrian Parliament, Claudia Arpa, together with the Austrian Parliamentary Delegation. The delegation was accompanied by the Austrian Ambassador to Georgia, Thomas Mühlmann, and the Head of the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) for Georgia, Alexander Karner.

The visit began with a meeting between the delegation and members of Action Against Hunger and Zugdidi LAG Executive Board. Here, LAG members provided a brief presentation on LAG’s activities and achievements over the past three years under the project “Improving Local Governance Through Inclusive Development Approaches” with funding from Austrian Development Cooperation, as well as explaining the LAGs continued engagement with the local community.

Within the framework of the visit, the delegation visited two projects supported by Zugdidi LAG. The first was to the Rehabilitation and Development Charitable Center "Tanaziari" which is an association supporting people with disabilities. Here, they learned about the project funded by the LAG “We Can Together” which provided support and skills development for parents of children with disabilities.

The second visit was to the Women’s Non-Formal Education Centre in Kakhati where they met the founders of the center and students attending German language courses at the centre. During the visit the students had the opportunity to talk with the guests in German about the function of the center and share their future plans. At the centre there was also a photo exhibition of the sub-projects funded by Zugdidi LAG and the delegation could also see the products made by two beneficiaries: Tea Kvitadze (dried fruit production) and Teona Kukhianidze (sewing and embroidery)