Georgia’s social workers are publishing a statement, in which they oppose the decision of the “Georgian Dream” to suspend EU integration: “We are united in loyalty to our profession, beneficiaries, and Georgia’s European future!”
As of December 4, the statement has been signed by 305 social workers, the list is being updated.
See the statement, unchanged:
“We, Georgia’s social workers, condemn and distance ourselves from the decision to terminate EU membership procedures. Our professional and civic responsibility obligates us to fight for maintaining Georgia’s European future in our daily activities, both in and outside the workspace.
In the context of our professional activities, this primarily means fighting to improve our own working conditions so that we can offer our service recipients a well-functioning, sustainable, human rights-based service. Specifically, to provide timely psycho-social assistance and shelter to victims of violence; to ensure children with disabilities have timely access to rehabilitation services, homeless elderly don’t have to wait in line for shelter, and other vital actions that ensure dignified, timely, and needs-based support for each member of society.
We cannot and will not return to the time when people with disabilities faced social isolation throughout their lives, where children grew up under violence and neglect in large institutions, where people were deprived of psychological or social rehabilitation opportunities. We cannot return to where they neither recognized nor saw the need for social work!
We, Georgia’s social workers, are angry and concerned when we see how the police system operates and brutally brutalizes peaceful demonstrators, violating their dignity and health, endangering their lives. We express support for the victims and their families! We demand the immediate cessation of violence and human rights violations by state system employees.
We, social workers working in the public sector and non-governmental organizations, are united in our loyalty to our profession, beneficiaries, and Georgia’s European future! Our goal is not only to respond to current events but to establish a better, more equal and human-oriented society, which is currently threatened by the recent decision.”
