Georgia | Georgia Community Action and Linkages for Legal Socialization | 3 Jul 2014

On June 24, in Radisson Blue Iveria Hotel, GE Calls held a final conference for the pilot year - “School, Police and Community Cooperation for Crime Prevention” The conference was attended by partner ministries and donor organizations. Among the guests were participant schools, school principals, police officers, experts, GE Calls grantees and other organizations. Georgia Community Action and Linkages for Legal Socialization (GE CALLS) is a one-year pilot program funded by the US Department of State’s International Bureau of Narcotics and Law-enforcement (INL). The goal of GE CALLS program is to prevent/reduce recurrence of juvenile delinquency. Program Components include: School-based Prevention Programs, Support for Community-Led Prevention Programs and Strengthening the Diversion Program for Juvenile Offenders Opening speeches were made by the deputy Minister of Education and Science of Georgia – Mrs. Lia Gigauri, Head of INL-Mr. Aaron Fishman and by the representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs – Ekaterine Machvariani. They underlined the importance and role of GE Calls program in juvenile crime prevention. GE Calls program representatives introduced the outcomes of all three components of the pilot year. Participant schools principals, teachers and police officers discussed about their experience in frames of program activities. NGO representatives from Poti, Zugdidi and Telavi made presentations about their community initiatives in the frames of GE Calls program. Mr. Lado Javakhishvili from the “Center for Crime Prevention and Innovative Programs” and the program manager of GE CALLS program Mrs. Tinatin Ebanoidze discussed the role of program outcomes of the mediation and diversion component. Currently, GE CALLS program is in preparation for the next academic year. In 2014-2015 the program will continue its work within all three directions in cooperation with the schools and NGOs.