The U.S. Department of State hosted the meeting of the U.S.-Georgia Strategic Partnership Commission"s Working Group on People-to-People and Cultural Exchanges

On the 18th of December 2014, in Washington, D.C., the United States Department of State hosted the annual meeting of the U.S.-Georgia Strategic Partnership Commission's Working Group on People-to-People and Cultural Exchanges.

The U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Mr Mark Toner, the USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator, Mr Jonathan Katz, the Georgian First Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr David Dondua, and the Georgian First Deputy State Minister of Georgia for Reconciliation and Civic Equality, Ms Ketevan Tsikhelashvili co-chaired the Working Group.

The United States reiterated its strong support for Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty and reaffirmed that it will not recognize the legitimacy of any so-called "treaty" between Georgia's Abkhazia region and the Russian Federation. One of the main issues of the meeting was the discussion of Georgia's and regional security, and the humanitarian situation in Georgia's occupied regions. The Working Group focused on the Georgian reintegration policy towards inhabitants of the occupied regions and on the prospects of further deepening the relations with them. The United States encouraged the continuation of the Georgian Government's efforts to enhance people-to-people contacts with the inhabitants of the occupied regions.

The Working Group emphasized the need to enhance co-operation in the spheres of public health, culture, education and science. The Working Group highlighted the continued support of the Millennium Challenge Corporation to improve the quality of education in science, technology and other spheres in Georgia. Last year Georgia was selected among those 20 countries, which took part in the U.S. initiated Science, Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (STIP) program.

The United States announced it would increase the annual number of Georgian students in the Future Leader Exchange Program (FLEX) by 33 percent and that the U.S. Peace Corps is expanding the number of volunteers serving in Georgia by 23 percent, including in regions where volunteers have not served since 2008. The United States also announced a new sports exchange program set to take place in 2015, and commended Georgia's new public-private partnership in support of the expanded Fulbright graduate student program.

18 December 2014

Press and Information Department