One of the key project directions is to ensure active involvement of the government in the project activities. This is a tool for getting the population closer to the government. Proposals of the population will be considered at the meetings of the local government, and if necessary, will be sent to the central legislative bodies for review. The project is supporting tighter linkage between the government and the local population.

The non-profit organization ?Kakheti? has been implementing the riverbank reinforcement projects for the river Alazani since 2009. During this period the gorge of the river Ilto was studied, and riverbank reinforcement works were planned for the river Ilto in agreement of the Gamgeoba of Akhmeta Municipality. The current significance of the problem is confirmed by the local population too. There was a meeting arranged with the local population, where the project activities, place of works and the gabion configuration were discussed.

The project envisages: protection of agricultural lands, residential houses and the road connecting Akhmeta-Tianeti with other villages, also the water main of Akhmeta town during the flooding of the river Ilto, which is directly linked to the improvement of sustainable livelihoods of local population. In particular, improved economic situation of 90 households, protected 25 ha during the flood on the river Ilto; agricultural land in the village Shakhvetila, a 15-km long drinking water main of Akhmeta town, which runs along the bank of the river Ilto, supplying water to about 8,571 people, and 15-18 km long motorway.

The project was prepared by the local non-profit organization ?Kakheti?, assisted by the community and Gamgeoba of Akhmeta Municipality, which is a precondition of cooperation among the NGO sector, local authorities and the community. The knowledge and experience gained during the project implementation will be delivered to other community members and community unions in the community. Based on the obtained experience, they will be able to carry out other activities in the future, as the community-based organization has already got potential. During the project, members of the non-profit organization Kakheti will have meetings once a month with the Akhmeta community members, where the progress of project activities will be discussed, together with the achievements and problems faced while performing the works, which will be beneficial for stronger community mobilization.

There are not many people residing in the villages along the river Ilto. Being scared of the flood, also on the background of experienced damages, the population started to migrate from villages. However, the number of people increased in the villages due to the processes taking place recently in the country focused on improving the livelihoods. As the result of project implementation, the population will have improved livelihoods. 52% of beneficiaries are women; there are 117 beneficiary women among the population in the villages of Ilto valley. Besides, if the drinking water main is protected from the flood on the river Ilto, there will be 8,517 beneficiaries in total in Akhmeta town, and among them 4,714 will be women. One of the key directions of the project is to keep the gender balance, expressed in terms of the number of project beneficiary women and the project management team staffed with women.

With the support of the Gamgeoba, there were individuals selected in the community who possess respective qualification and experience, and the project monitoring and evaluation plan was elaborated with them. During the project implementation, the community members will actively be involved in the project activities, also in the monitoring of the works.

project results was broadcaster by local media, as a result local CBOs became willing to attract financial resources for replicating international waster best management practices. e.g. Akhemta community started constructing gabion across river Orvili.