The European Union (EU) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) today handed over 7,500 protective face shields to the Emergency Situations Coordination and Urgent Assistance Center of the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia.

UNDP Head Louisa Vinton, Team Leader for Economic Development and Market Opportunities at the EU Delegation to Georgia Dominik Papenheim and Director of the Emergency Situations Coordination and Urgent Assistance Center Avtandil Talakvadze met today at the Center premises in Tbilisi to hand over the protective gear and discuss future assistance to front-line medical personnel.

Manufactured by the Georgian company CaucasPack with EU and UNDP support, the adjustable and reusable face shields will help ensure that emergency crews in Tbilisi and Georgia’s regions are able to do their jobs safely amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The shields are made from recycled plastic bottles.

This assistance is part of a larger programme of support to healthcare workers, civil servants and other at-risk personnel who are working all over the country, providing people with essential healthcare and other services.

More than 40,000 face shields were produced in April and May with assistance from the EU, UNDP and the governments of Switzerland, Austria and the United States, to be distributed in Tbilisi and Georgia’s regions. UNDP, with assistance from the EU and the US, is also ensuring that protective equipment and other medical supplies are provided to Abkhazia, Georgia to mitigate COVID-19 risks.

Media contacts:

• Sophie Tchitchinadze, UNDP, +995 599 196907, sophie.tchitchinadze@undp.org
• Teiko Kandelaki, UNDP, +995 599 103525, tinatin.kandelaki@undp.org
• Tamar Mikadze, EU Delegation to Georgia, +995 32 2943763, tamriko.mikadze@eeas.europa.eu