Georgian Young Professionals Making a Difference

"I feel empowered and by all means, more confident in making informed decisions to ensure that the institution performs better.” - said Meri Maglaferidze, Head of ATIPfund’s Monitoring and Evaluation Department

With 50-55% of Georgia’s population living below the poverty line and some 15% living in conditions of extreme poverty, maintening a strong social assistance system is a challenging task in 2016. In response to its new social welfare policy, the Government of Georgia (GoG) created a Legal Entity of Public Law, the State Fund for Protection and Assistance of Victims of Human Trafficking (ATIPFund), under the Georgia’s Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs. ATIPfund provides care for and services to the victims of domestic violence and human trafficking, and supports marginalized groups such as people with disabilities, children without parental care and the elderly.

With a Head Office in Tbilisi, ATIPfund oversees seven branches and six shelters across the country employing 532 staff. The organization consists of many young and dedicated professionals striving to make a difference and transform people’s lives. Meri Maglapheridze, who was recently appointed as the Head of ATIPfund’s Monitoring and Evaluation Department, plays the vital role of tracking progress towards ATIPfund’s institutional goals. Ms. Maglapheridze’s day-to-day work is essential to evaluate and develop operational standards and provide the needed services to help victims protect and restore their rights, ensure adequate care for infants, children without parental care and people with disabilities, and to ensure quality life for Georgia’s elderly.

“It was an absolutely unique experience for me and a valuable opportunity to explore new patterns of organizational assessment and analysis. I haven’t been part of such a complex process before and it was quite exciting. Most certainly, it equipped me with tools and techniques that I will be using in my future work” – says Ms. Maglapheridze, reflecting on the comprehensive performance assessment HICD 2020 together with its subcontractor GEC Developments Corp. conducted for ATIPfund as part of a multi-component human and institutional capacity development (HICD) effort.

Following a thorough institutional performance assessment, consultants developed detailed performance improvement solutions and recommendations to strengthening the quality of the services ATIPfund offers to our society’s most vulnerable communities.

“The indicators developed by the team will help me measure performance in relation to our organizational goals. I feel empowered, and by all means more confident in making informed decisions”, Ms. Maglapheridze said.

ME&A implements the HICD 2020 Task Order contract under USAID’s Human and Institutional Development (HICDpro) IDIQ contract, which was awarded to ME&A in November 2013.