OCHA Situation Report
Georgia
Report for November 2004
6 December 2004


Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

HIGHLIGHTS:

"Presidential Elections" in Abkhazia

In light of unrecognised Presidential elections, Abkhazia became a 
political battlefield of two opposed parties seeking final victory over 
contender. Following the Abkhaz Supreme Court's decision confirming the 
Central Election Commission's decree that announced Bagapsh 
president-elect, Khajimba supporters stormed the court building and in the 
early hours of 29 October, being under pressure by Khajimba's supporters, 
the Supreme Court announced its new decision, which overruled the earlier 
verdict and ordered to hold a re-vote, as demanded by Khajimba. Both 
candidates visited Moscow to meet officials from the Kremlin 
administration. As per some Georgian analysts, the fate of the Abkhaz 
de-facto President has to be decided in Moscow.

On 11 November, the Press Office of the Abkhaz de facto President 
Vladislav Ardzinba issued an appeal to Abkhaz people in which the outgoing 
President insisted on holding repeat presidential elections in the 
breakaway region. The statement was followed by two simultaneous rallies 
by supporters of Sergey Bagapsh and Raul Khajimba in Sukhumi. Around 700 
supporters of the pro-governmental presidential candidate Raul Khajimba, 
who demands repeat elections, gathered outside the Abkhaz governmental 
office, while up to 3,000 supporters of the opposition candidate Sergey 
Bagapsh gathered on Freedom Square.  During the clashes, several 
supporters of Bagapsh were wounded and a 78 years old woman, famous Abkhaz 
Professor died.

In attempt to resolve the crisis, Sergey Bagapsh offered Khajimba to form 
a coalition government. Raul Khajimba declined the chance to become 
unrecognized republic's Prime Minister in opposition presidential 
candidate Sergey Bagapsh's government and warned that Bagapsh's decision 
to hold his presidential inauguration on 6 December, would further strain 
the aggravated situation in Abkhazia. On 23 November, Council of Elderly 
of Abkhazia recognized the victory of Sergey Bagapsh in Presidential 
Elections. The Council's decision does not count as official, however, 
traditionally values highly, even among official decision-makers. The 
Council offers the defeated candidate to take a position in the Government 
and cooperate with the winner.

On 26 November, the Parliament of self-proclaimed republic of Abkhazia 
recognized Sergei Bagapsh's victory in the presidential elections. The 
Parliament of self-proclaimed republic of Abkhazia also issued a decree 
stating: "The Central Elections Commission has recognized the presidential 
elections as valid and Sergei Bagapsh as the elected president of the 
Republic of Abkhazia."


Situation in South Ossetia

The most important event of November has been a face-to-face talks between 
Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania and South Ossetian de facto 
President Eduard Kokoev held in Russia's Black Sea resort town of Sochi on 
5 November. During the meeting, Georgian Prime Minister and South Ossetian 
de-facto leader signed an agreement envisaging the demilitarization of the 
South Ossetian conflict zone before 20 November, the securing of free 
movement of the population, the implementation of joint economic projects 
and an increase in the number of OSCE observers in the conflict zone.

The talks were preceded by long preparatory process and several delays 
from the Ossetian side. Meanwhile situation in conflict zone remained 
tense, with several incidents of violence against civilian population. A 
peaceful civilian was injured due to explosion of unknown explosive 
device, another civilian was kidnapped by unknown armed group, so far 
being searched without success. After the Sochi talks, Georgian and South 
Ossetian sides exchanged dozens of hostages on 7 November, but one 
Georgian is still missing in the South Ossetian conflict zone. Several 
cases of mine explosion and shelling of Georgian villages have been still 
reported.

Meanwhile, Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues Goga 
Khaindrava met with representatives of the South Ossetian side on 9 and 11 
November to discuss and supervise the implementation of the agreement 
signed by Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania and South Ossetian leader 
Eduard Kokoev in Sochi. Indeed, the Georgian and South Ossetian sides, 
under the supervision of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces, involving 
Georgian, Ossetian and Russian troops, began undertaking measures aimed at 
dismantling military fortifications in the conflict zone on 15 November. 
South Ossetian authorities removed military fortifications near the 
Georgian village of Tamarasheni, as part of the demilitarization process 
of the conflict zone.

The quadripartite Joint Control Commission (JCC) overseeing South Ossetian 
conflict resolution issues, which held a session on 19-20 November in 
North Ossetian capital Vladikavkaz, hailed the demilitarization process 
and agreed to install additional checkpoints of the joint - Georgian, 
Ossetian, Russian - peacekeeping troops in the Georgian village of Didi 
Liakhvi gorge. The conflicting sides should provide the exact schemes of 
existing military fortifications in the Didi Liakhvi gorge before 25 
November. In addition, On 17 November, European Union's Special 
Representative to the South Caucasus countries Heikki Talvitie and Head of 
OSCE Mission to Georgia Roy Reeve held talks with South Ossetian de facto 
President Eduard Kokoev in Tskhinvali. The issue of implementing the 5 
November agreement on demilitarization was discussed during the talks. The 
Ossetian side once again accused Georgians in hindering demilitarization 
process by bringing extra troops and organizing reservists' trainings near 
Georgian villages.


Anniversary of "Rose Revolution"

On 23 November, the Georgian Government marked one-year anniversary of 
"Rose Revolution" that led to end Shevardnadze's presidency. One year 
after the Revolution many Georgians are hopeful about country's future, 
but the same time many critical remarks can be heard towards the new 
Government. New authorities took over almost destructed state with very 
limited budget resources and endemic corruption. During last year, the new 
authorities have clearly outlined new initiatives in the sphere of 
economy, anti-corruption activities, conflict resolution and military and 
managed to draw attention, confidence and finances of many donors. The new 
Government managed to establish control over self-modeled Adjara 
autonomous republic and wowed to reunite Georgia in coming years. 
Despite good will combined with obvious progress in certain areas, such as 
timely payments of pending obligations, enhanced revenue collection, etc., 
much needs to be done in social sphere in order to eradicate poverty. The 
Government pledges to double the flat-rate pensions from 2005 and to 
launch a new Social Assistance Programme to assist the most vulnerable 
persons.


UN High Commissioner for Refugees Visits Georgia

During 23-25 November, Mr. Ruud Lubbers, UN High Commissioner for Refugees 
visited Georgia upon the invitation of the Georgian Government. Mr. 
Lubbers visited Pankisi Valley for short meeting with Chechen refugees and 
South Ossetia where he visited UNHCR/NRC project sites and held meeting 
with de-facto authorities. In addition, his agenda in Tbilisi included 
meetings with the President of Georgia, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of 
the Parliament, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and other officials, 
including representatives of diplomatic corps and UN Agencies.



HUMANITARIAN AND DEVELOPMENT UPDATE:

Save the Children's Communal Center Rehabilitation Project: Innovation at 
The Paper Factory Hospital in Zugdidi

Save the Children, together with its local implementing partner Erani 
National Foundation, has been implementing the Communal Center 
Rehabilitation Project (CCRP) over the last year. The goal of the project 
is to enhance the quality of life for IDP children, women and their 
families through sustainable, qualitative improvement of shelter 
accommodation. The project, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and 
Cooperation (SDC), will be completed in December 2004. A total of 23 
communal centers in Tbilisi and Zugdidi have been rehabilitated.

At one site in Zugdidi, the Paper Factory Hospital, SC/Erani devised a 
particularly innovative approach in order to maximize funding provided by 
donors while allowing IDPs to have greater access to essential health 
services. IDP families had been occupying rooms on the same floors where 
hospital services, including emergency and surgical services, are 
provided. This caused many problems for the hospital administration as 
well as the IDPs. Through dialogue and negotiation, an ideal solution was 
found. SC/Erani and the hospital administration decided to separate IDP 
families from the functional hospital area by moving them to the 2nd floor 
and relocating all medical services to the 3rd floor.  In exchange for the 
amount contributed by SC/Erani for the rehabilitation of both the hospital 
and IDP-inhabited areas, the hospital administration provides free 
surgical and non-surgical services to IDPs-a true "win-win" situation.

This initiative has proved to be a remarkable success. So far, medical 
services in the amount of 2,885 GEL have been provided to IDPs. The 
activity has been well-monitored, with the creation of a monitoring 
working group, comprised of two hospital staff, two Erani staff and one 
member of the Action Plan Committee made up of IDP residents. The 
monitoring group works to ensure that residents requiring emergency 
medical services are prioritized.

Both the hospital administration and IDP residents at the hospital have 
expressed absolute satisfaction with the outcome, acknowledging that, not 
only has it offered improvements to the running of the hospital (thanks to 
essential renovation) and the health of the IDPs (thanks to timely medical 
intervention), but it has also helped improve relations between the 
hospital and its IDP residents.


The Voting Rights of Internally Displaced Persons

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has 
recognized that the voting rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs) 
should be a matter of "special scrutiny." To assist the OSCE, a new report 
by the Brookings Institution-Johns Hopkins SAIS Project on Internal 
Displacement examines the extent to which IDPs in the OSCE region, who 
currently number some 3 million, are able to exercise their right to vote.

Entitled The Voting Rights of Internally Displaced Persons: The OSCE 
Region, the study assesses the voting rights of IDPs in all thirteen 
countries in the OSCE where there are internally displaced populations. 
While noting that progress has been made in helping IDPs exercise their 
right to vote, the study also finds that many IDPs continue to face 
obstacles in exercising this right, sharply reducing their influence over 
the political, economic and social decisions affecting their lives. To 
address these concerns, the study puts forth a number of recommendations 
for particular countries as well as for the OSCE.

Written by Erin Mooney and Balkees Jarrah, the report was presented at the 
OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on Internally Displaced Persons 
in Vienna on 4-5 November 2004 so as to assist the OSCE, its participating 
states and civil society partners to devote greater attention to the 
voting rights of the internally displaced. The main obstacles IDPs 
experience in voting include lack of documentation, discriminatory 
practices, obsolete and restrictive residence requirements, inadequate 
arrangements, etc.

Significant improvements have occurred in Georgia in recent years as 
regards IDP voting rights. Until August 2003, the voting rights of IDPs 
were expressly restricted in national legislation. Though IDPs participate 
in presidential elections and the proportional component of parliamentary 
elections, they could not participate in local elections or in the 
component parliamentary elections selecting the parliamentary deputy 
representing the district where they currently reside. These restrictions, 
however, began to attract considerable attention in national, regional and 
international fora, where changes to national legislation were strongly 
urged. Starting in August 2001 and in a process that continued until 
August 2003, the discriminatory provision regarding IDP voting were 
removed from national legislation.

2 November 2003 Parliamentary Elections were first governed by the 
significant amendments incorporated into the Unified Election Code in 
August 2003, according to which IDPs, for the first time, would be allowed 
to vote as well as stand for elections in majoritarian as well as 
proportional elections, without loss of IDP status and benefits. However, 
the results for the proportional contest was annulled in result of 
widespread and systematic fraud. Repeat parliamentary elections were held 
as a result of the nullification of the results of the parliamentary 
elections of 2 November. However, among the identified problems which 
possibly may have had a bearing on IDP voting were that "potentially 
significant numbers of eligible voters lacked identity documents" and that 
"concern was expressed that some voters were registered at polling 
stations in places other than their official residence."

Specific recommendations are put forth for Georgia to build upon and 
consolidate these significant improvements, such as to continue monitoring 
IDP voting to ensure that amendments now enabling

IDPs to vote in all elections are consistently observed, to identify the 
particular barriers IDPs continue to face in having their names, included 
on voter lists and introduce measures to remove these barriers in future 
elections, to train officials in the Ministry of Refugees and 
Accommodation as well as electoral officials at the central, district and 
precinct level in IDP voting rights and the arrangements provided for by 
law to enable them to exercise the right to vote. Additional 
recommendations include Sponsoring voter education programs targeted to 
IDPs to promote not only awareness of their right to vote but their right 
to stand for election and monitor and report on the extent to which IDPs 
are, in practice, able to stand for election in local as well as 
parliamentary elections.

For additional information, please contact the Brooking-SAIS Project on 
Internal Displacement, tel.: (202) 797-6489, e-mail: 
bjarrah@brookings.edu.


Humanitarian Situation and Strategy 2005

On 17 November, OCHA Georgia organized a Humanitarian Situation and 
Strategy Conference 2005 for the Government of Georgia representatives, 
donors, international organizations, local NGOs and other interested 
stakeholders. The aim of the conference was to present and discuss major 
issues of relevance to the humanitarian and related community, major 
assistance trends in recent years, the main assistance needs and unmet 
gaps, and the priority challenges regarding assistance and advocacy 
efforts. The presented document is compiled based on the consultations 
with the representatives of the Government, donor agencies, international 
and local NGOs present in the country.

The Conference highlighted Panel discussions and questions and answer 
sessions focused on four areas requiring special attention, i.e. Enabling 
Transition, Conflict Affected Populations, Vulnerable Populations and 
Natural Disasters. The Conference was in general well received by 
participants. There was unanimous and strong appreciation for such 
initiative and the need for the UN to continue to provide such leadership 
and support.

The copy of the Document is available at OCHA-Georgia Office, address: 9 
Eristavi street, UN House. Tel.: 95 95 16, 94 31 63, or you can download 
it from www.assistancegeorgia.org.ge and www.ungeorgia.ge


Humanitarian Response Update

The Government of Italy allocated humanitarian aid for EURO 15,000 to 
Georgia to assist IDPs from Abkhazia. The aid, which comprises of 
macaroni, will be distributed in the framework of the World Food Program 
to about 13,000 IDPs living in 15 collective centres in Tbilisi. The list 
for the distribution will be provided by the Ministry of Refugees and 
Accommodation. A gift certificate was handed over to Minister for Refugees 
and Accommodation of Georgia Eteri Astemirova by Margherita Boniver, 
Italian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Embassy of Italy in 
Georgia. After the Euro 1,000,000 donation made by the Government of Italy 
last year for WFP, this new initiative confirms Italian commitment in the 
field of humanitarian aid for Georgian IDPs.


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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