LDA Report

Local Democracy Agency Kutaisi
Report by Ioseb Khakhaleishvili

Support to IDPs in Georgia, August 2008

In the last couple of weeks the situation in Georgia has dramatically changed. Currently Georgia is in state of war.

In violation of the principles enshrined in the UN Charter, the Russian Federation has used force against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia, forcing Georgia to act in self-defense in accordance with requirements given in article 51 of the UN Charter.

Therefore Georgia is in an international armed conflict with the Russian Federation, which is governed by the relevant rules of the International Humanitarian Law.

Unfortunately the Russian Federation is committing grave violations of the rules of humanitarian law by targeting civilian population and cities, rather than directing its attacks against military targets. After the announced ceasefire, Russian troops have remained outside of the conflict zones and are continuing the military occupation of Georgia. In the town of Gori together with Ossetian and other Caucasian armed “volunteers”, the main road was blocked that connected the western and eastern parts of country.

During the last two days, the town was totally destroyed and robbed by the so called “peacekeepers”. One of the most deplorable facts is that Abkhazian and Russian troops conquered Kodori Gorge, the last and most strategic territory of Abkhazia controlled by the Georgian government.

Russian troops are also encamped in the town Poti on the Black Sea, where they destroyed almost the entire Georgian navy as well as the town of Zugdidi, where they pillaged all governmental facilities and seized computers, furniture, and office equipment. In the town of Senaki, they destroyed the newly built Georgian army base. All these places are located 200-300 km away from conflict zones and these facts reaffirm once again that the main objective of Russia is to annex Georgia rather than conflict resolution.

Shelter in Kutaisi, August 2008

The Situation in Kutaisi.

Fortunately, Kutaisi was not bombed, but the situation in the whole country is tense. According to the United Nations about 100,000 people left their homes during the conflict. Within Georgia approximately 60,000 people are now considered as Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), mainly coming from the city of Gori and the territory of South Ossetia. Most of the IDPs are in urgent need of shelter, food, water, hygiene kits and medical supplies.

Large numbers of IDPs are situated in and around Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, but others are situated in western Georgia far away from any humanitarian help.

The country received humanitarian assistance from different states and organizations, but due to the blocked roads and destroyed electronic communication no financial and technical assistance was provided for western Georgia. The Local Government in co-operation with business and NGO sectors is trying to provide minimum requirements for the IDPs, but resources are scarce. The western part of the country is facing a massive problem with humanitarian assistance and is looking for additional resources, first of all to provide food for displaced persons. This dire situation and the unknown timetable of withdrawal of Russian troops, it looks like that the road between Tbilisi and Kutaisi will still be blocked for some time.

Out of the 8500 IDPs allocated in Imereti Region 1600 are in Kutaisi. They are allocated in 12 different places. Most of the IDPs are children, youths and old people. All IDPs are accommodated in old, not functional and non-residential premises like schools, administration buildings, etc. Their living conditions are below any reasonable living standards. Most of them even don’t have a mattress (not to mention a bed) to sleep on. Hygiene and sanitation conditions of these buildings are very bad and in some buildings there is no water at all. That is why some infectious diseases mainly among children are already obvious.

The coordination committee in Kutaisi has been functioning very efficiently from the very beginning of the conflict and LDA Georgia is a member of this committee. The committee is chaired by the Head of Ministry for Refugees, Imereti Department. Representatives of LG and NGO sectors are also members of committee. Every evening we discuss and share information about situation in different shelters and planning activities for the next day.

The primary and most urgent need is food for refugees, especially for babies. In some shelters, basic food preparation areas are available and as more funds are made available they will be used to provide renovation and rebuilding of kitchens. This will allow us to provide basic products, not ready-made food, which is more difficult from a technical point of view and more expensive.

The other important requirements are beds, mattresses, pillows, and blankets. Clothes are more or less provided by the local population and for the moment, there is no urgent need for that. One of the major problems is the lack of drinking water in the shelters. In Kutaisi, the central water supply system works only for a few hours every two days and in the shelters there are no reservoirs to collect the drinking water. There are no tables and chairs, no refrigerators and no means to get news in the shelters.

The LDA Georgia have asked ALDA to lead a fundraising process to support IDPs living in the City of Kutaisi and the Imereti Region. From our side we express our readiness to provide any needed information and manage the resources provided at a local level. With the joint efforts of ALDA and LDA network we can help the people who lost everything and who are waiting for any kind of assistance to survive. Thanks in advance for your support.

Ioseb KHAKHALEISHVILI

Director: LDA Georgia


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