Humanitarian and political context
Almost 6% of the overall population (some 233,000 people) are internally displaced in Georgia as a result of the conflicts around Abkhazia and South Ossetia 17 years ago. The conflict between Georgia and the Russian Federation over the future of the secessionist territory of South Ossetia (August 2008) resulted in additional 128 000 IDPs from South Ossetia and adjacent areas and from the Kodori Gorge of Abkhazia. The majority of the newly displaced have since returned to their original places of residence with about 22,000 people still unable or unwilling to return in the foreseeable future.

NRC’s priorities and programme implementation
Shelter: The NRC Shelter Project aims at increasing access to adequate housing for IDPs and returnees/war affected populations through provision of sustainable housing solutions (West Georgia) and adequate housing plus improved education facilities (Abkhazia).

In West Georgia in close coordination with the local department of the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees , 18 beneficiary families were identified for the Individual Houses Project and five collective centres for the rehabilitation component. Construction and rehabilitation works started in June by five contractor companies, selected in open tender.

Under EC/UNHCR durable housing solution project, rehabilitation of four buildings, targeting 44 displaced families, started in April, the works to be completed in July.

Under SIDA/DRC self-help project, 43 beneficiary families were provided with construction materials and 80% of works was carried out by the end of June.

In Abkhazia, NRC committed to rehabilitate 25 houses (15 ‘quick fix’ and 10 ‘roof and a dry room’ type of interventions) and build 10 new houses. Distribution of building materials for 11 new houses started at the beginning of June. Memorandums of Understanding between NRC and selected beneficiaries have been signed.

An overall percentage of completion of the planned 50 houses under UNHCR funding is at 63, 3 %.

The process of identifying greenhouse beneficiaries is ongoing. In total, 157 beneficiaries have been interviewed and the information entered into the shelter beneficiary database. An additional 40 beneficiaries will be interviewed before all information can be analyzed and the final 100 greenhouse beneficiaries selected.

Carpentry Workshop instructors conduct daily practical carpentry classes for 13 Carpentry Vocational training students. Additional tools have been ordered for the carpentry workshop.

ICLA
The ICLA Project focuses on contributing to sustainable (re-)integration of IDPs, returnees and refugees by promoting protection of their civil rights, such as increasing awareness of their rights through training, and provision of individual legal and administrative assistance to overcome legal obstacles related to access to housing, property, documentation and basic services.

In April-June 2010, ICLA lawyers conducted 285 mobile visits to 249 locations - collective centres, resettlement areas and returnee villages (in total, since January 2010, 536 visits to 477 locations), 109 information sessions were conducted covering a total of 1041 persons (554 females /487 males).
741 individual beneficiaries (422 female /319 male) were provided with legal counseling (3000 persons are anticipated for the whole year; during the first two quarters 1510 persons were covered, in total).

During the second quarter, 234 beneficiaries acted independently (1200 beneficiaries anticipated for 2010; during first two quarters, 442 beneficiaries were covered). 197 beneficiaries succeeded in their efforts which is close to the figure of the same period in 2009 (201 persons). An annual 10% increase is planned for 2010. 170 legal cases were opened and 114 cases were closed during the reporting period.

In addition to its regular ICLA activities, NRC, in partnership with UNHCR, has initiated a sub-project aimed at promoting the idea of condominiums in privatized IDP collective centers. During the reporting period, having undergone training of trainers, the project mobilization team and lawyers finalised a one-day training module for the targeted communities; the community mobilization team also conducted initial visits to the targeted privatized IDP collective centers. Delivering of the one-day trainings to the targeted communities will start as of July 2010.

Education
NRC education activities strive to promote (re-)integration of displaced children and youth through tailored activities focussing on IDPs’ right to quality education and job opportunities on equal terms with their fellow citizens. The activities have included after-class work with children, youth training and empowerment programmes, teacher training, capacity-building activities for partner organizations and advocacy work vis-à-vis the Georgian Ministry of Education and Science (MoES).

In March-July 2010, 652 students (269 boys-383 girls) were provided with trainings in life-skills and 54 school graduate students (20 boys-34 girls) attended the catch-up programme courses.

205 beneficiaries (age group 17-25; 68 males – 137 females) were trained within the UN Guiding Principles framework.

Around 329 youth attended Peer Education programme/Youth Clubs.

Overall, 239 schoolteachers were trained in different skills through teacher professional development trainings. The number of teachers trained was higher than initially planned for due to the high interest of teachers in professional development programmes. It can be presumed, that this is partially due to the upcoming certification process in Georgia.  

Eight Vocational Education Centres were selected to provide vocational trainings to 18 groups of youth 325 (133 males – 192 females) comprising both IDPs and local youth. Considering the successful implementation of the VET programme in the first half of the year and sustainable employment opportunities for the graduates, the expansion of beneficiary numbers is in process for the second intake of the programme (July-December, 2010). It has to be noted, that approximately 40% of different professional programme graduates were still employed/self-employed after the six months of the course completion.

57 students were selected to attend a media training course in the first quarter. After the initial three months of the project, based on motivation and interest of participants to further perceive the different professional aspects, a group of 34 students will proceed with practical works.

Within the framework of the sub-project “Stress/Trauma of Displacement”, the first three-day workshop was conducted. The sub-project involves five universities from different regions of Georgia, nine professors in total.

Protection Monitoring Project
NRC has been implementing a protection monitoring project since December 2008 in response to the displacement situation after August 2008. Operating with teams in Tbilisi and Kutaisi, the project initially covered locations where newly displaced persons were settled after the August conflict, but soon expanded its monitoring activities to the old caseload of IDPs as well. The sites monitored included 37 new settlements, more than 100 collective centres and several locations in the private sector. The field monitors identified protection/assistance/service delivery gaps and referred the pending needs on a regular basis to a number of referral partners and followed up on the response received. The gathered data is analysed in regular reports that are shared with major stakeholders. The project has come to an end by 31 May 2010.

Advocacy
NRC seeks to promote and advocate for durable solutions for displaced populations, with a focus on the right to adequate housing and the right to quality education, on equal footing with other parts of the Georgian population. Following the August 2008 crisis, NRC - together with other actors present in Georgia – continues to actively advocate for maintained humanitarian access to Abkhazia. NRC continues to advocate for assistance on equal levels for both old and new caseloads of IDPs. Together with UNHCR, SDC and DRC, NRC has also played a key role in promoting and drafting the State IDP strategy that has been implemented by the Government of Georgia since 2007. Major focus in 2010 is the advocacy for durable housing solutions and the right to quality education for IDP children, through a rights-based implementation of the recently revised Action Plan to the State Strategy on IDPs.

NRC priorities for 2010 and beyond
NRC plans for a phasing out if its activities in Georgia by the end of 2011. Until this date NRC Georgia will continue to implement projects within three core activities - shelter, ICLA and education - to complete some of the major tasks that will be prioritized during the exit period (2010-2011): sustainability of the property privatized by IDPs; the monitoring of the privatization process and the development of capacity and models within the education system that can be replicated by the authorities.