OCHA-Georgia Information Bulletin for the period 01-10 May 2002

Counterpart International Assists Medical Facilities in Samegrelo
On 18 April 2002, Counterpart International's Community and Humanitarian Assistance Program (CHAP) distributed humanitarian assistance donated by the US government and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, valued at over US$200,000 to NGOs and medical facilities operating in Poti, Zugdidi and Senaki districts. The commodities donated by the Church included clothing that met the needs of over 1,200 vulnerable beneficiaries in Poti. The US government assistance consisted of the following medical commodities: gurneys, medical cabinets, medical desks, medical tables, folding beds, wrist splints, mattress pads, tray tables, therapy chairs, labor and delivery carts, medical office chairs, folding beds with mattresses, patient bibs, laboratory coats, sterile wrapping, infant scales, and a dental grinding and polishing machine.

The portion of the US government-donated non-medical commodities consisted of two CASE International tractors, office chairs, clothing hampers, office credenzas, literature stands, clothing, mixed eating utensils, mess kits, shelter half tents, kerosene lanterns and votive candles.

The distributed commodities assisted the specific needs of the Senaki Maternity House, Senaki Polyclinic for IDPs, Zugdidi Hospital of Infectious Diseases, Senaki Boarding House for Disabled Children, Secondary School of the village of Nokalakevi, and the beneficiaries of the NGO Georgia.

The Union of Support and Assistance to the Socially Vulnerable Families of Senaki and the Community Social Development and Revival Union "Jikha" of Nokalakevi village received one agricultural tractor each. Both NGOs have arable land and supply their beneficiaries with harvested food products.

For additional information, please contact Counterpart International's office. Address: 7 Vazha-Pshavela Ave, tel.: 77 96 69. E-mail: chap@counterpart.ge.

Civil Georgia Website

The Civil Georgia website (www.civil.ge) is an online magazine and information service based on the principles of independent mass media and views and expertise of the non-governmental sector. The publication has its own network of correspondents and belongs to United Nations Association of Georgia.

The project was launched in 2001 with financial support from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES). It aims at promotion of civil participation in public policy. The publication utilises online sources of information distribution, their development in Georgia and provision of first-hand information about the region to the international society. The magazine is bilingual (Georgian and English), and the Russian version is coming soon.

The magazine has three journalists and a special correspondent in the Parliament of Georgia. The main sources of information include daily news columns and feature columns. The news section is updated regularly and covers different themes: politics, economics, society and military issues. The magazine provides facts as well as analysis. Under the title of "Last Week in the Parliament," one can find a review of the previous week's parliamentary sessions, meetings and briefings. Upcoming events are highlighted under the section of Planned Events. Another special column is dedicated to human rights in Georgia.

The magazine also features the special web-projects Civil Forum and Pankisi Crisis. Readers of Civil Forum can express their opinion and discuss various issues online, as well as suggest other topics for discussion. The Pankisi Crisis project was launched as a result of recent developments in Pankisi Valley and expected US-Georgian military cooperation. It covers issues related to Pankisi Valley events as an independent information agency.

About 10-12 new stories appear on the web site daily. Up to 1,000 subscribers to the magazine regularly receive newsflashes about important events and updates on the web site. The web site can be viewed from all over the world through the internet. Information from the magazine is used by the international information agencies including Eurasia Net, Transition Online, BBC and others.

FEATURE

The main users of the Civil Georgia magazine are staff members of international organisations and NGOs in Georgia and worldwide, various governments, institutions, Georgians abroad, foreign media agencies, etc. Among the frequent visitors are the Northern Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the European Council, UN Agencies, US State Department and others. Interested visitors can view the statistics page to find out the number and location of other visitors (both daily and total). About 400-600 persons go to the site daily, and the biggest number of visitors was on 26 April 2002, the day after the earthquake in Tbilisi.

The Civil Georgia managers plan to implement a number of new web projects including databases providing information about Georgia governmental organisational structures and contact, Georgian politicians, journalists, civil society leaders, NGOs, media agencies, etc. The database will contain photo archives and a search engine.

The website is available at the following address: www.civil.ge. Civil Georgia magazine project staff is ready to cooperate with interested organisations and individuals. For additional questions and comments, please contact Civil Georgia at: info@civil.ge.

SECTORS

Assistance to the Vulnerable

In the beginning of May 2002, the SOCO foundation distributed 1000 kg food to 100 vulnerable persons including single pensioners, invalids, large families and families affected by the earthquake in Tbilisi.

The provisions included sugar, rice, oil, flour, baker's yeast, raisins, buckwheat, condensed milk, oat porridge and sweets. The effort was funded by Dutch organisations Ocean Net and Capucijners Den Bosch.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The New Approach to IDP Assistance is a joint effort by the Government of Georgia, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Bank and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), launched in 1999. It aims at improving the lives of displaced persons in Georgia, as well as the conditions of host communities by reforming the government policy and by developing more appropriate assistance programs.

The second round of the Georgia Self-Reliance Fund (GSRF) grants competition has been completed. Four NGOs were approved by the Steering Committee: Accion Contra el Hambre (ACH), Charity Humanitarian Center "Abkhazeti" (CHCA), Counterpart International and Lazarus. The actual implementation of projects is anticipated to be launched in June 2002. One proposal remains under consideration.

On 16 May (from 12.00 until 18.00) the Horizonti Foundation in cooperation with the Parliament of Georgia will organise an exposition of the NGOs providing social services from Tbilisi and other regions of Georgia. The event will take place at the Rustaveli Hall in Parliament. The slogan of the event, which is a part of the NGO Public Relations (PR) Campaign - 2002, initiated by the Horizonti Foundation, is "NGOs Serving Georgia."

The goal of the expo is to highlight NGOs that feeding people, provide services, protect human rights, help communities and assist pensioners and show that the Third Sector is an effective tool for Georgia and the government to meet needs of the population, especially in transitional times.

The NGO expo will provide Members of the Parliament (MP) the opportunity to interact with NGO representatives and learn more about their work and achievements. NGOs will be able to demonstrate the importance of the assistance they provide to the people in Georgia so that MPs have a better understanding of the role they play helping the country.

On 13-15 May 2002, a local NGO Avangardi will hold free trainings for NGOs working in Samegrelo region on NGO staff management. The training programme is funded by the United Nations Volunteers (UNV).

For more information, please contact Ms. Medea Kakachia, Avangardi. Address: 2 Tbilisi Street, Zugdidi. Tel.: 8 99 50 07 40. E-mail: avangardi@iberiapac.ge.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in cooperation with the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs (MoLHSA) and the Ministry of Urbanisation and Construction (MoUC), launched a new project entitled Beautiful Borjomi Pilot Project: Temporary Urban Employment and Vocational Training through Refurbishing of Public Accessible Buildings, Squares and Parks. The main aim of the project is to alleviate poverty, as well as to facilitate good governance and small and medium enterprise development. The project targets unskilled and semi-skilled unemployed, local government institutions, IDP/minorities and small and medium enterprise owners.

For more information, please contact Mr. Lars Nejsig, Intern, UNDP. Tel.: 25 11 26/28. E-mail: lars.nejsig@undp.org or Ms. Mari Bandzeladze at the MoLHSA, tel.: 38 78 63.

Produced by OCHA Georgia.

For more information, please contact Ms. Maka Esaiashvili, Information Officer
Tel/Fax: 995-32-959516; Tel: 995-32-943163; e-mail: unocha@unocha.org.ge

Contributions are welcome and should reach OCHA, 9 Eristavi St., Tbilisi by 12.00 hrs. on 9th 19th, and 29th of each month