OCHA Situation Report
Georgia
Bulletin September 2003
7 October 2003


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

HIGHLIGHTS
Abkhaz de-facto Government Celebrates the "Independence Day"

On 30 September, Government of the de-facto republic of Abkhazia
celebrated the tenth anniversary of Abkhazia's "independence" and the
victory over Georgian Government on the Sukhumi Liberty Square. A number
of Russian senior officials, members of the Russian DUMA, district
governors and other authorities attended the military parade in the center
of Sukhumi. The "President" of the secessionist government, Vladislav
Ardzinba, who has returned from Moscow few days before, did not appear at
the ceremony. "Vice-President" Valerie Arshba spoke on behalf of Ardzinba,
urging they were building an independent state and would by no means step
back. The celebration ended with a concert, where under the decree of the
non-recognised president of breakaway Abkhazia, "warriors for Abkhazia's
independence" were awarded for their "bravery".

The 10-year anniversary of the Abkhaz "Independence Day" celebrated by the
de facto authorities and possible rise of tensions, as well as some
information on possible threats to UN staff in the region in view also of
global events, prompted UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) to
institute strict movement restrictions for the UN personnel in Abkhazia in
the period September 1 -- October 15.

Despite Strong Guarantees Offered, Russia Fails to Convince Chechen
Refugees to Return

On 30 September, the Russia's Minister for Chechen Affairs Stanislav
Ilyasov met with the Chechen refugees residing in the Pankisi Gorge with
an intention to assure them to return to their homes. The Russian
government guarantees security and permanent living places in addition to
the material compensation to the Chechen refugees who are willing to go
back to Chechnya. However, most of the Chechens living in Georgia refuse
to go back. Over 200 Chechen refugees listened to the offer of the Russian
official at the administration office of the Duisi village, Pankisi
Valley. Talks with Iliasov and Groznyy administration head Abuz Kutuzov
was aggressive enough, which compelled Duisi head Jaraf Khangoshvili to
invite Russian Minister to his office for further negotiations. Finally,
the sides agreed to create a special team of Chechen refugees who will
arrive in Chechnya and will assess the situation on the ground, even use a
video camera. The group will be able to report to their countrymen in
Georgia on situation in Chechnya. The visit will take place tentatively
after the presidential elections in Chechnya in order to avoid political
motivation of the agreement. Chechen refugees also refused to accept 20
tones of humanitarian aid (food and warm clothes) which the Russian
governmental delegation delivered with them so the aid bags were taken to
a storage the town of Telavi.

According to the latest information, about 3,600 Chechen refugees reside
in the Pankisi valley.

The Georgian-Abkhazian Negotiations Scheduled for 23 September in Tbilisi
Postponed

The Georgian-Abkhazian negotiations on security guarantees and
non-resumption of hostilities, scheduled for 23 September with
participation of the Special Representative of the Secretary General
(SRSG) and the members of the Group of Friends of the UN Secretary-General
on Georgia, has been postponed for October. The sides were supposed to
discuss also the issue of establishment of UN civic police in the Gali
region of Abkhazia, as recommended in the latest SG's report on Abkhazia,
Georgia.

New Chairperson of the CEC Appointed

The upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for 2 November remain the
main political theme in Georgia. Upon long debates, on 1 September 2003,
Ms. Nana Devdariani, former Public Defender has been appointed by the
President to the post of the Chairperson of the Central Election
Committee. She was one of the three candidates proposed by the Ad Hoc
Advisory Commission consisting from the representatives of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Council of
Europe.

The OSCE/ODIHR Observer's Mission To Monitor Parliamentary Elections
Deployed

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)
officially launched large-scale, long-term activities to monitor the
parliamentary elections in Georgia. At the invitation of the Georgian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the ODIHR will monitor the election process
before, during, and after the Election Day with one of the longest and
largest observation missions ever deployed to an OSCE country. Beside the
short-term observers, who started operating in early September, up to 400
short-term observers together with representatives of the OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly and the Council of Europe arrived to Georgia to
monitor the elections. On 3 November, the OSCE observation mission will
issue a statement about the preliminary findings and conclusions over the
parliamentary elections. One month after the announcement of the final
results of the elections, the mission will issue a report depicting all
the registered violations in detail.

Energy Crisis Remains on the List of Major Concerns of Georgian Population
for this Fall

The very unsatisfactory situation in the energy sector over summer in
Georgia, considered to be the worse summer in years, did not improve in
September. Major blackouts continued throughout Georgia. The Government
sources explained the poor supply as a consequence of damages in the main
supply lines, but there were also rumours of politically-motivated
sabotage. Natural gas continued to be in very low supply.

SECURITY

Large-Scale Jailbreak of the Dangerous Convicts from the Rustavi Detention
Centre

On 10 September, 129 convicts, described by the authorities as
"dangerous," most of them serving 15 -- 20 years sentence, escaped from
the Rustavi top security prison near Tbilisi, killing one prison guard and
gravely injuring another. This was the largest jailbreak in Georgia's
history and was a major blow to the penitentiary system and the reforms
carried out in the system couple of years ago. By end-September, about 75
of the convicts were recaptured. In the last four months, and prior to the
largest jailbreak, a total of 49 prisoners escaped in 6 attempts. The
Minister of Justice Roland Giligashvili resigned in the wake of the
September 10 jailbreak. The President already nominated Mariam
Tsatsanashvili, a Parliamentary Secretary for the post of the Minister of
Justice.

Anti-criminal Operation Launched in Svaneti

On 9 September, Georgian authorities started the anti-criminal operation
in Svaneti region. A unit of a special-purpose detachment of the Interior
Ministry was dispatched to Svaneti to restore order in this north-western
high mountainous region of Georgia. In recent period, Svaneti has become
notorious as a shelter for criminals, threatening local population and
visitors. Majority of the local population welcomed the decision of the
Government of Georgia. Very poor road network and communication system
make Svaneti even more isolated from the rest of Georgia, especially in
the winter, when the roads are blocked due to frequent landslides and
avalanches.

HUMANITARIAN AND DEVELOPMENT ISSUES

WFP Selects WV to Implement its "Food for Work" Programme

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has appointed World Vision to carry out
the largest "Food for Work" programme in Georgia to date. World Vision US
has matched 10% of the CIF food value for the three-year program. Taking a
community-based approach, World Vision seeks to meet the immediate food
need of targeted vulnerable groups, improve their household livelihood
security and support rehabilitation of the communities' agricultural
infrastructure, via Community Initiative Groups (CIGs). The primarily
agricultural target communities, which are located within the three most
food insecure regions in Georgia, i.e. Kakheti & Samtskhe-Javakheti in
east Georgia and Imereti in west Georgia. World Vision anticipates that it
will serve around 70,000 beneficiaries with 4,700 MT of family food
rations, consisting of flour, beans, vegetable oil, salt and sugar.
Delivery of food assistance will be actively monitored in order to protect
the local production and market. Communities will also be required to
contribute to the projects through labor and materials, promoting
ownership and making it more likely that assets will be maintained.

Major Financial Institutions Either Reduce or Suspend Aid to Georgia

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) decided to suspend implementation of
its assistance programmes in Georgia after assessment that the Georgian
government failed to fulfill any of the Fund's key recommendations related
to reduction of the state budget of 2003 last summer. The discussion on
possible resumption of IMF's programmes in Georgia is not expected before
December 2003. The IMF's decision may also affect the World Bank's
programmes in the country.

On 25 September, Thomas C. Adams, Acting Coordinator of U.S. Assistance to
Europe and Eurasia met the President Shevardnadze, where he informed about
the reduction of the US financial aids to Georgia. Thomas C. Adams
declared that Georgia holds last position in the list of 27 post Soviet
countries according to its development indicators, corruption scale and
ineffectiveness of conducted reforms. The Acting Coordinator of U.S.
Assistance to Europe and Eurasia admitted that the United States would
terminate financial programs in the energetic sector, fiscal and the
taxation systems in Georgia. Thomas Adams added that the United States
would continue monitoring on developments in Georgia and in case of
further failure to fulfil its responsibilities, the United States would
refuse to any aid to Georgia.

It is noteworthy that according to the Georgian mass media Georgia
receives the biggest amount of foreign aid per year per capita among post
Soviet countries. Since 1992 the aid exceeded one billion US$. In 2004, so
far Georgia received 300 million US$ foreign aid for different sectors. As
per the Georgian Broadcasting Company Rustavi 2 Information, in addition
to the IMF and US Government, the following donors suspended their
earmarked assistance: European Union (24 million Euros for Food Security
Programme), Government of Netherlands (31 million Euros), the European
Bank for Reconstruction and Development (40 million Euros for the energy
sector) and the World Bank (30 million for poverty reduction programme).

Agreement Between the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia and the US
Government on "Food for Progress" Programme

The Ministry of Agriculture and Food in Georgia signed an agreement with
the US Government on the donation of agricultural commodities under the
"Food-for-Progress" Act. The US donated 50,000 MT of wheat to Georgia. As
per the Georgian "Law on State Procurement", the Ministry of Agriculture
and Food is required to select the service agent on basis of the open
tender.

LOCAL NGO SPOTLIGHT

Democratic Club of Youth by UNA Georgia

The United Nations Association of Georgia (UNA-Georgia) with financial
assistance from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) implements a
project "Democratic Club for Youth." NED is a private, non-profit
organization created in 1983 to strengthen democratic institutions around
the world through nongovernmental efforts. NED is governed by an
independent, non-partisan board of directors. With its annual
congressional appropriation, it makes hundreds of grants each year to
support pro-democracy groups in Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe,
Latin America, the Middle East, and the former Soviet Union.

The Club's main activities are dedicated to the endorsement of democratic
values, promotion of decision-making process and the increase of youth
participation in target groups. Target groups compile the youth, students
from various institutions, NGO representatives, young journalists and
other young professionals. The Club will facilitate the participation of
young people in building civil society, the development of their skills
and the improvement of their democratic vision, raising awareness on
issues such as legal rights, democratic values and basic human rights.
Young people will also get familiar with basic principles of networking,
decision-making, participation and communication.

In the framework of the project, the young people will have access to the
computerized laboratory, library and the Internet. They will be able to
participate in the activities of discussion clubs, trainings and workshops
that will include meetings with NGOs, Government and representatives of
international organizations, international experts and consultants.

Individuals willing to become a member of the Club can fill in special
questionnaire available at the Club's resource center. For additional
information, please contact Mr. Iliko Natsvaladze. Address: 3 Rustaveli
Ave., Kutaisi. Tel.: (8 231) 4 42 66, 5 58 78. E-mail: iliko.info@posta.ge

HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE UPDATE

Counterpart International's Distributions and Assistance to the Marneuli
Maternity Hospital

In August 2003, Counterpart International's Community Humanitarian
Assistance Programme (CHAP)/Georgia staff distributed humanitarian
assistance valued at over US$477,600 among Georgian pensioners, IDPs,
orphans and strategic policlinics for IDPs' projects. The aid included
blankets, cabinets, chests, chairs, miscellaneous medical supplies, heart
monitors and gurney, refrigerators, deliberator, wheelchairs and
examination tables. The total number of beneficiaries was 5,830. Seven
CHAP/Georgia partner organizations in different regions of Georgia
assisted in distributions.

With financial assistance from the Union Oil Company for California
(UNOCAL -the US based energy resource and project development company)
Counterpart International implemented the winterization project for the
Gardabani Maternity Hospital.

Produced by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA)-Georgia

For more information or your comments and suggestions please contact Ms.
Maka Esaiashvili, Information Officer

Address: 9 Eristavi Street, Tbilisi, Georgia. Tel: (995 32) 95 95 16, 94
31 63. Fax: (995 32) 95 95 16; e-mail: maka.esaiashvili@unocha.org.ge


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