Photo: UNDP Georgia/Leli Blagonravova

Governance Reform Fund (GRF)

summary

Reshaping the public administration system, enhancing public trust in government officials, and developing state capacity has been a devoted trajectory of the government in the last couple of years. In this regard, it is critical to continue assistance to the wide-ranging reform efforts that will allow Georgia to conform to European standards of governance and market economy and increase the adherence of the public sector, civil society, and other actors to democratic values and human rights.

With the support of the Government of Sweden, UNDP, through the Governance Reform Fund (GRF) Project works with the to accelerate structural transformation for sustainable development by enhancing citizen-centric governance systems for efficiently serving their constituencies. The project directs its efforts toward strengthening Georgia's political and institutional context, the environmental, economic and social context to create an ecosystem where no one is left behind.

What we do

Drawing from the lessons learned from the previous phases, we promote learning, boosting empowerment, building social capital, creating an enabling environment, and establishing a relevant framework for collaboration and integration. The project focuses on initiatives leading to long-term improvements in public administration, human rights, public service delivery, the economy, energy, rural development, the environment, and decision-making.

GRF continues its support through the following well-tested mechanisms:  

  • Capacity Development Fund (CDF): addresses critical and immediate capacity development needs of public sector agencies. The project will continue to place more emphasis on initiatives with medium- to longer-term implications.
  • On-Demand [Consultancy] Services (ODS): provides on-demand advisory services and technical expertise to develop the capacity of public agencies with regard to policy formation and implementation.

results so far

Since 2015, GRF has benefited a number of public agencies. Some specific results of the programme include:

  • Established partnerships with 25 government institutions at the ministry and LEPL level to improve public administration systems through the implementation of 53 initiatives in the reform areas such as civil service, citizen-centred public service delivery, e-governance, data-and-evidence-driven policy planning, youth policy, sports policy, the mining sector and labour safety, air and water quality management, energy efficiency, forest management, spatial planning and the construction sector, and waste management.
  • Targeted interventions in the areas of policy elaboration (55%), legislative enforcement (47%), the institutionalization of SDGs (6%), regional development (39%) and meeting the obligations of the Association Agreement (41%). The achievements observed during the six years also support the government to fulfil the commitments taken under Public Administration Reform.
  • Strengthened the institutional capacity of 25 public institutions (ministries and LEPLs) to deliver inclusive and responsive decision-making and policies through enforcement of sustainable development agenda and engagement of women, youth, people with disabilities, rural poor in public service design and delivery processes.
  • Fostered agility and changed mindsets in the civil service by capacitating over 10,000 civil servants, creating knowledge and information sharing platforms and introducing mentoring and coaching approaches on central and local levels.
  • Improved processes, mechanisms, and culture to involve citizens in the design and delivery of services through investing in human capacity to narrow the gap between policy formulation and implementation and creating an enabling environment of public trust and confidence.
  • Leveraged legal enforcement of national and international commitments through capacity building of state institutions and creation of instruments for their operationalization in the areas of democratic and environmental governance.

 

Contact information

Project address

3 Kavsadze Street
Tbilisi 0179 Georgia

Contact persons

Salome Odisharia
Project Manager
salome.odisharia@undp.org

Gigi Bregadze
UNDP Democratic Governance Team Leader
gigi.bregadze@undp.org

Impact

START DATE

January 2022

END DATE

December 2024

STATUS

Ongoing

PROJECT OFFICE

Georgia

IMPLEMENTING PARTNER

GEO -Government Administration

DONORS

SWEDISH INT'L DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION

TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS

$3,365,910

DELIVERY IN PREVIOUS YEARS

2021$0

2022$995,848

2023$1,013,176

2024$431,235

Full Project information