OCHA Situation Report
Georgia
Report for October 2004
10 November 2004


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

HIGHLIGHTS:
"Presidential Elections" in Abkhazia

Five candidates squared off on 3 October for the de-facto presidency of 
breakaway Abkhazia, all vowing to keep the separatist Black Sea resort 
area independent of Georgia, which dismissed the election as illegal.

The front-runner in the election was de-facto Prime Minister Raul 
Khadzhimba, backed by outgoing de-facto President Vladislav Ardzinba and 
supposedly by Russia, but opposition candidate Sergei Bagapsh posed a 
strong challenge. According to the early results of the Abkhazia's Central 
Election Commission (CEC) Raul Khajimba was leading in the presidential 
race with 52.8% of the votes. However, after couple of days the Abkhazian 
Central Election Commission (CEC) has surprisingly announced that all 
previous reports that went through the newswires regarding the preliminary 
results of the 3 October presidential elections were not valid and 
declared re-voting for October 17 in Gali district. On 11 October majority 
of the 15-member Central Election Commission of the unrecognised Abkhaz 
Republic signed a protocol declaring opposition candidate Sergey Bagapsh 
the winner of the 3 October presidential elections. This decision added 
confusion to the crisis, which has erupted in the breakaway region after 
the first-ever contested presidential elections, which are not 
internationally recognized. As source in Sukhumi said, the central 
electoral commission assembled and deciding not to wait for the 
re-election in the Gali region announced Sergey Baghapsh president of the 
republic.

The decision was challenged by Raul Khajimba, who demanded a re-vote in 
the entire republic and not just in Gali. He even appealed the Supreme 
Court and its session was scheduled for 14 October. Bagapsh was supported 
by an all-Abkhaz National gathering (Convent) held in the breakaway 
region's capital Sukhumi on 14 October and through a rally demanding 
letting Bagapsh take the president's office.

According to the Supreme Court's decision a special commission was set up 
to re-count votes. One representative of the Central Election Commission 
and two representatives of each presidential candidate composed the 
commission. Finally, on 28 October, after re-counting the votes, the 
Supreme Court of breakaway Abkhazia confirmed opposition candidate Sergey 
Bagapsh winner of the disputed de-facto presidential elections.

Georgia Retains Voting Right in the UN General Assembly

On 11 October, the Fifth Committee of the UN (Administrative and 
Budgetary) has recommended that the General Assembly allow 11 States 
including Georgia to retain their voting rights in the Assembly until 30 
June 2005, despite their level of accumulated unpaid contributions to the 
United Nations, under Article 19 of the Charter. According to Article 19, 
should a Member State fall behind in the payment of its dues by an amount 
equal to its assessments for the two most recent years, it will lose its 
right to vote in the General Assembly, unless the Assembly decides that 
non-payment is a consequence of factors beyond its control. Georgia had 
only presented its request for an exemption at a Committee meeting in the 
beginning of October. From unpaid contributions is $5 968 712, Georgia has 
paid only $700 000.

UN Secretary-General's Report on Abkhazia, Georgia

In his Report on Abkhazia, Georgia to the Security Council, the UN 
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, warning that the Georgia-Abkhaz peace 
process has come "perilously close" to a standstill, urges both sides to 
resume political contacts and to continue pursuing a negotiated settlement 
to the conflict.

He notes that while his Special Representative, Heidi Tagliavini, is still 
in close and frequent contact with both sides, they have not met at the 
political level since July, and even the regular working level contacts 
have been suspended.

The Secretary-General voices hope that after the October "elections," the 
Abkhaz side "will muster the political will" to return to the UN-led peace 
process without preconditions and to seek solutions at the negotiating 
table.

As for the Georgian side, Mr. Annan urges it to maintain its commitment to 
pursuing settlement of the conflict in Abkhazia and other internal 
disputes exclusively by peaceful means.

The Secretary-General also stresses again the importance of security for 
personnel with the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG), which was 
established in 1993 to verify compliance with the ceasefire agreement 
between the Government and the separatist authorities in Abkhazia. Its 
mandate has since been expanded to deal also with policing, human rights 
and humanitarian issues.

He urges both sides to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of 
criminal acts, including those responsible for the ambush of a UNOMIG bus 
in the Abkhaz capital of Sukhumi in September 1998, the shooting down of a 
UNOMIG helicopter in October 2001 and those involved in hostage-taking 
incidents.

Situation in South Ossetia

Tensions have remained high in October with several cases of armed clashes 
and confrontation reported. Two Georgian soldiers, who are part of the 
joint Russian-Georgian-Ossetian peacekeeping troops stationed in the South 
Ossetian conflict zone, were wounded in the Georgian village of 
Tamarasheni on 8 October. An unknown armed man wounded a Russian 
peacekeeper in the village of Artsevi in the breakaway South Ossetian 
conflict zone late on 9 October, as reported by Commander of the joint 
Russian-Georgian-Ossetian peacekeeping troops.

One Ossetian peacekeeper died and two others were wounded in the South 
Ossetian conflict area on 12 October, after the truck transporting the 
unit of the Ossetian Battalion of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces was 
attacked by unknown armed men, as reported by de-facto press services. The 
Georgian side has also confirmed the report, however no official statement 
was made so far.

The South Ossetian side reported that an armed clash occurred between the 
Georgian and South Ossetian forces near the Georgian village of Avnevi in 
the early hours of 18 October after the Georgian side opened fire on 
Ossetian villages. However, the Georgian side denies these reports, 
claiming that that the South Ossetian forces were the first to open fire.

On 15 October, Georgian media reported that the Georgian village of 
Tamarasheni came under fire, initiated from the positions occupied by the 
South Ossetian side. No casualties have been reported. On 25 October the 
Georgian villages of the Didi (Great) Liakhvi Gorge came under fire from 
armed units of the de facto South Ossetian forces. The residents of the 
Georgian village Achabeti say that the houses were damaged due to the 
intensive fire. Later, the residents of the Georgian villages in the 
conflict zone blocked the Tskhinvli - Java highway urging the Ossetian 
party to cease fire and the Georgian party - to intensify defence measures 
in the region. Russian peacekeepers' commander Marat Kulakhmetov also met 
the protesters, however, failing to guarantee that the separatists would 
cease-fire.

IMF Mission Welcomes Reforms

The International Monetary Fund's (IMF) mission, which visited Georgia on 
12-23 October to review recent economic developments in Georgia, hailed 
the planned tax reforms, as well as welcomed the progress in the fiscal 
position and stabilized microeconomic situation.

The mission will recommend to the IMF Executive Board that the first 
review under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility Arrangement (PRGF) 
be completed, thus enabling Georgia to draw US$ 20 million, according to a 
press statement issued by the IMF Tbilisi office on 25 October. The 
mission was particularly pleased with the good progress in strengthening 
the fiscal position thus far in 2004, thanks to an impressive improvement 
in tax and customs administration. This has permitted a sizable reduction 
in domestic wage and pension arrears the mission welcomed the proposed tax 
reform and the related government plans to further combat tax evasion and 
smuggling. It also welcomed the government's plans to accelerate 
privatization and improve the business climate, while stressing the need 
to ensure transparency in asset sales procedures.

Corruption Still Rampant in Georgia ? TI Report

Transparency International's (TI) Corruption Perceptions Index 2004, which 
measures the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public 
officials and politicians in a given country, put Georgia among the 
countries where corruption is rampant.

In the 2004 report, issued by the TI on 20 October, Georgia is ranked 
136th out of 146 countries listed. It's minor progress for Georgia when 
compared to last year's TI report, where Georgia was ranked 127th out of 
133 countries listed.

This year's report puts Georgia ahead of only three CIS countries ? 
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan.

HUMANITARIAN AND DEVELOPMENT UPDATE:

Physicians with Heart Assist Georgian Medical Facilities

On 30 October, a donation of medical supplies and medicines worth $5.4 
million was delivered to Georgia by the NGO, Physicians With Heart. 
Physicians With Heart, a partnership of the American Academy of Family 
Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation, and 
Heart to Heart International, will be in Georgia for a week to deliver the 
medicines to hospitals and clinics throughout Georgia. The medicines were 
delivered by on a special plane chartered and paid for by the U.S. 
Department of State. The 40-member delegation, who paid their own way to 
Georgia, includes the presidents of the three NGOs, key executives of 
McNeil/Johnson & Johnson, Welch Allyn, and Pfizer. Many of the delegates 
are doctors, who will conduct a Family Medicine Symposium and training in 
Advance Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO). The ALSO training is supported 
by a grant from USAID, which is funding materials and travel for the 60 
doctors throughout the country to attend this course.

Some of the delegates will spend their time assisting several orphanages. 
In addition to the main $5.4 million donation, the delegates raised an 
additional $15,000 from their own communities for these orphanages. This 
money will be spent to purchase food, new mattresses, blankets, winter 
coats and sports equipment. The delegation also brought with them 100 
quilts donated by American quilting guilds for the children, as well as 
warm caps and infant booties knitted by American senior citizens. The 
delegation collected school supplies for the children from schoolchildren 
back in the United States.

IDPs' Registration Exercise

The Ministry of Refugee and Accommodation on behalf of the Government of 
Georgia will be conducting a countrywide verification of the IDPs' 
registration exercise. UNHCR is supporting the Ministry with its technical 
expertise and helping in securing the funding. The Swiss Government 
through its Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs has contributed an earmarked budgetary of CHF 300,000 to 
support this important initiative of the Government of Georgia.

At the beginning of 2004 the total number of IDPs registered with the 
Ministry of Refugees and Accommodation stood at approximately 260,000 
persons. The last IDP registration took place in 1996 and it is important 
to collect and update basic information on IDPs from Abkhazia and South 
Ossetia. Accurate figures of the IDP population in Georgia will enable the 
Georgian Government to use its resources more effectively for the benefit 
of IDPs.

WFP Brings Crucial Winter Aid to Svaneti

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has assured some 2,000 Mestians, whose 
lives were devastated by rains and floods last July, adequate food to 
survive the winter.

Three months have passed since torrential rains swept through the remote 
mountaneous villages in Mestia, destroying homes and washing away farmland 
and livestock. Almost 2,000 people in Mulakhi, Tsvirmi and Ipari villages, 
who were just beginning to rebuild their lives, were facing the prospects 
of a harsh winter without adequate food stocks.

On 25 October the first trucks moved from WFP's Kutaisi warehouse to 
Mestia. In total, 115 metric tones of food including wheat flour, 
vegetable oil and iodised salt, were delivered to 1,957 inhabitants of 
these three badly-affected villages. The operation is being carried out in 
collaboration with ACH and the Gamgeoba, the local district 
administration.

An initial distribution of emergency food aid ? 45 metric tones of wheat 
flour and vegetable oil was provided by WFP in August, immediately after 
the catastrophe. Although it initially brought immediate relief to people, 
the general food security in this impoverished agricultural region remains 
critical as revealed by a follow-up needs assessment conducted by WFP in 
September 2004.

Floods destroy over 70 percent of the capital crops - potato and hey ? and 
washed away pasture land. The loss of this year's harvest resulted not 
only in critical depletions of winter stock but also in loss of cash crops 
vital for purchasing of wheat flour and other essential food items. 
Without outside assistance, farmers will be forced to sell or slaughter 
the livestock that their livelihoods depend upon.

WFP assistance will ensure access to basic food items for the local 
population during the most critical winter period, from November 2004 
through March 2005.

Donations from WFP's current operation in Georgia have come from United 
States (US$ 5.9 million), Japan (US$ 2.1 million), Switzerland (US$1.4 
million), Italy (US$1.2 million), Canada (US$ 335,570), Germany (US$ 161, 
464), Luxembourg (US$ 118,765), Poland (US$100,000) and Ireland (US$ 
8,450).

Save the Children Assists Children in Need in Georgia

Starting from September 2004, with financial support from USAID, Save the 
Children is implementing a new project ? Rebuilding Lives ? Street 
Children (RLSC). The goal of the RLSC project is to strengthen and expand 
local capacities to promote the physical, cognitive, emotional and 
psychosocial well being of street children in Georgia. This project will 
be implemented in partnership with two local partner organizations - Child 
and Environment and Biliki. The target locations for the project include 
Tbilisi, Gori, Chiatura, and Zugdidi.

The past decade has seen a dramatic rise in the number of street children. 
Recent data indicates that there may be as many as 5,000 children in 
Georgia living and working on the streets. The project will provide street 
children with basic education, socialization and vocational opportunities 
to help them become active contributors in creating a new Georgia.

Key activities of the project include the provision of training to local 
NGO partners in order to enhance their capacities in addressing critical 
needs of street children, as well as the expansion of access to a 
diversified set of quality services to street children at centres and 
through outreach programmes. In addition, the project pays substantial 
attention to reaching the parents and/or relatives of street children with 
the aim of re-establishing contacts between children and families, 
building to family reunification or offering foster care services as 
alternative care. It also aims at establishing a National Response Team 
(NRT) composed of key stakeholders including government, religious, and 
civil sector to identify priorities and coordinate related activities to 
address the needs of street children at the national level. In the frames 
of the project, together with beneficiaries from other youth-oriented 
USAID programming, beneficiaries participate in a variety of different 
activities, including TV-video production, journalism, computer classes 
and cultural activities.

A broad public awareness campaign is planned in order to increase public 
understanding of street children issues, utilising messages to counter the 
existing stigmatisation and prejudices against street children.

For more information, please contact Ms. Katarzyna Wargan, Project 
Director, Save the Children. Tel.: 99 54 54, e-mail: katarzyna@save.org.ge

BTC Co and the Government of Georgia Sign Agreement

The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline Company (BTC Co.), led by BP, signed two 
new protocols with the Georgia government on 10 October that envisage new 
grant programs totaling more than US$ 46 million, according to a press 
release issued by the BP Tbilisi Office.

Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania and Michael Townshend, Chief 
Executive Officer of BTC Co. signed the protocols after visiting the 
construction area at the ecologically sensitive Borjomi section of the BTC 
pipeline, which is to carry Azeri oil to the western markets via Georgia 
and the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan starting in 2005. Under the 
first protocol, the parties agree to formalize obligations concerning the 
provision of pipeline security in a manner consistent with international 
security and human rights undertakings. Through this agreement, BTC Co. 
will provide the government with a range of necessary equipment, including 
vehicles and accommodation for government security personnel, together 
with maintenance support.  The total value of the items to be provided is 
US$ 6 million, with maintenance support of US$ 1 million per year for the 
life of the BTC pipeline.

Under the second protocol, BTC Co. will provide a series of grants to the 
Georgian government, which are to be used for the funding of social and 
economic projects. The total funding for the programme amounts to US$ 40 
million through 2010, with a further US$ 1 million per year for the 
remaining life of the BTC pipeline.

The BP has also announced that it will invest US$ 10 million in Georgia in 
a range of projects, including education, healthcare, cultural heritage, 
energy sector revitalisation and the promotion of business and civil 
society links between Georgia and the European Union.

LOCAL NGO SPOTLIGHT

Association for Helping Children with Hearing and Speaking Disorders

The Support Association for hearing and speaking disorders was founded in 
1997 by the parents of the disabled children. The main purpose of the 
organisation is to assist children not only with hearing disorders but 
also children with other physical and mental disabilities. Organisation's 
mission is to support the integration of the disabled children with 
society by enforcing inclusive education methodologies and cultural 
activities.

The organisation mainly focuses on educational programmes and pilot 
integration activities and cooperates with governmental structures, 
parents of the disabled children in order to raise general public 
awareness on the disability-related issues.

In 1998 the Association implemented the project "Progressive Pedagogy for 
the Disabled Children". Since then, the organisation has implemented 
number of projects with financial support from Horizonti Foundation, 
Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs, Open Society-Georgia 
Foundation, and Mercy Corps.

The association publishes monthly newspaper "Parents' Voice" providing 
parents of the disabled children information about the most acute issues.

Currently the organisation is implementing a new project with the 
assistance from the MoLHSA on social integration of children with limited 
skills. Under the project activities it is envisaged to enforce inclusive 
education principles by mainstreaming the disabled children into regular 
schools in Tbilisi and Telavi.

The organisation is willing to cooperate with all organisations with 
similar interest and activities. For more information, please contact Ms. 
Maya Asakashvili, President. Address: 3rd block of Vazha-Pshavela, 
Building 1, Room 14. Tel.: 32 34 83, 99 73 24. E-mail: makako@geonet.ge

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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