Global Needs Assessment

In August, 2008 conflict broke out between Georgia and Russia forcing some 127,000 people from their homes throughout Georgia, adding to an already displaced population of some 223,000 people uprooted by conflicts in South Ossetia and Abkhazia in the early 1990s.

The fresh wave of displacement focused international attention on the plight of Georgia's displaced and has created a strong impetus to try to improve conditions for all displaced people and refugees in Georgia. A UNHCR donor mission in April 2008, after witnessing the often desperate living conditions in collective centres of some 100,000 people displaced earlier, described the needs of Georgia's displaced as 'overwhelming'. The collective centres are generally overcrowded, squalid, lacking in access to adequate water supply and sanitation creating tensions and negatively affecting school attendance rates. The displaced also face the risk of eviction.

Country Operations Profile

Working environment

The context

The recent conflict in Georgia has increased the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the country by adding to a population of over 200,000 already there. The conflict damaged Georgia's economy, infrastructure and environment. Social services, including health, education, social protection and shelter, as well as agriculture and livelihoods, have been affected.

Before the recent crisis, the Government of Georgia had made considerable strides towards implementing a framework to address displacement. The Government adopted its IDP Action Plan, which serves as the implementation tool of the State Strategy for Internally Displaced Persons.

Two key goals will be pursued within this framework: One is the creation of conditions for the dignified and safe return of IDPs; the other, their integration supported by improved socioeconomic conditions. Under the IDP Action Plan the Government gives priority to measures to address IDP needs for shelter, access to social services and education. It also foresees the restructuring of the Ministry for Refugees and Accommodation (MRA).

In September 2008, a Joint Needs Assessment (JNA) was undertaken under the leadership of the World Bank, the UN and the European Union. UNHCR participated in the assessments of sectors related to basic social services, and co-led the shelter sub-sector with UNDP. Finding solutions for the displaced, without distinction as to their year of displacement or their place of origin, is a central concern of the Government and the JNA.

The needs

The conflict in August 2008 resulted in more than 127,000 people being displaced from their homes, including from South Ossetia and surrounding areas, Abkhazia and Upper Kodori. People from other parts of Georgia fearful of conflict and the general insecurity, also fled their homes.

Some 68,000 displaced people had returned spontaneously to their homes by September 2008. But UNHCR anticipates that more than 54,000 people will be unable to return before the winter sets in, and consequently remain displaced well into 2009. This group joins some 222,000 people who were already displaced before this crisis, bringing the total number of displaced people in Georgia to some 252,000.

Georgia also hosts some 1,100 refugees, most of whom are accommodated in the Pankisi Valley. Most recognized refugees have indicated they wish to integrate locally. In addition, Georgia receives some 40 asylum-seekers each year.

UNHCR also monitors the situation of some 45,000 spontaneous returnees to Gali district in eastern Georgia. Returnee needs include the construction and repair of shelters, the rehabilitation of schools, and information on how to exercise their rights.

Main objectives

Annual programme

• Pursue durable solutions for IDPs from Abkhazia and South Ossetia, assist spontaneous returnees, and provide local integration opportunities for those who are unable to return.

• Promote and provide protection and assistance to IDPs, in partnership with international organizations and NGOs.

• Move from material assistance activities to supporting a local integration solution within an overall exit strategy for Chechen refugees.

• Strengthen local protection capacity, including the legal framework and implementation capacity, on behalf of refugees and asylum-seekers.

• Improve reception facilities, policies, asylum legislation and practices.

• Reduce the risk of statelessness and, in cases where statelessness exists, pursue effective solutions, in particular for the ethnic Meskhetians who wish to return from Turkey to Georgia.

Supplementary programme

• Respond to the needs of survivors of sexual and gender-based violence or those at risk of it through advocacy for humanitarian access, protection against forced relocation, and registration and documentation.

• Support the shelter and non-food item needs of IDPs.

• Where conditions permit, provide small-scale shelter assistance to returnees.

Key targets

Annual programme

• Some 1,000 refugees in the Pankisi Valley are integrated and have the same access to social protection and employment as the local population.

• All refugees with specific needs have access to the social protection mechanisms provided to the local population.

• Up to 40 new asylum-seekers in Georgia have adequate reception conditions; the legal framework and procedures to address their claims and provide adequate protection are established.

• All stateless people or those at risk of statelessness have access to legal mechanisms to redress their situation, while at the same time the gaps in the current nationality legislation are identified and addressed through legislation or revised procedures.

• Key UNHCR protection materials are translated into the Georgian language and disseminated to adjudicators and policymakers.

• Refugee legislation is improved through legislative drafting committee recommendations and subsequent passage in the National Assembly.

• Responses to sexual and gender-based violence are mainstreamed into UNHCR's programmes in Georgia, including through the Office's continued support for safe house. UNHCR will advocate for law enforcement and judicial bodies to include responses to sexual and gender-based violence in their standard operating procedures.

• Solutions are found for IDPs, including those in need of local integration and those who have spontaneously returned to Abkhazia.

Supplementary programme

• UNHCR and the international community are granted humanitarian access to all parts of the country affected by the conflict and to all affected populations.

• All displaced persons, including children separated from their caregivers, are registered and documented.

• Government policies and practices comply with international standards and legal obligations, particularly with regard to the protection of minorities and those within mixed marriages.

• Victims of sexual and gender-based violence receive protection as well as medical and psychosocial services, the latter with due respect for confidentiality. Government and civil society capacity is strengthened, and a national referral mechanism for the victims of sexual and gender-based violence is established. Awareness of such violence is increased among the displaced and other conflict-affected citizens in order to prevent and reduce its incidence.

• Some 40,000 newly displaced persons, including 35,000 people in collective centres and 5,000 in durable housing, are provided with adequate shelter for the winter months.

• Up to 8,000 people are supported with nominal reconstruction assistance to facilitate their return to damaged homes.

• IDPs with specific needs receive a non-food item winter kit, including stoves and firewood.

Strategy and activities

On 30 July 2008, just days before the latest conflict broke out, Georgia adopted an Action Plan for Internally Displaced Persons, building on the State Strategy for Internally Displaced Persons adopted in February 2007. The adoption of the Action Plan is a sign of the Government's commitment to improve the living conditions of the displaced, in particular in the areas of shelter, access to social services and education.

The Action Plan aims at creating conditions for the dignified and safe return of IDPs, as well as their integration and the improvement of their socioeconomic conditions. The plan arose from consultations among stakeholders, and invites the international community to assist the Government by providing technical support, expertise, humanitarian assistance and funding.

Georgia's IDP Strategy and Action Plan will create a new platform for assistance to displaced people and programmes to help find durable solutions, including local integration. For effective implementation, relevant government departments, including the MRA, require strengthening. UNHCR will pursue improvements in the domestic legislation addressing IDP issues, particularly related to IDP status, social benefits, shelter, registration, and protection from eviction. IDPs also encounter discrimination in terms of unequal access to agricultural land. UNHCR will continue to advocate for the right to return, and support the conflict resolution process for Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The Office seeks to increase the local integration and self-reliance of refugees in Georgia while phasing-out assistance and handing over these activities to authorities and partners. However, it will maintain its responsibility to ensure that refugees have access to reliable and timely information related to voluntary repatriation as well as local integration solutions.

The Office will also support the MRA to strengthen its management and assistance programmes for refugees, including in the Pankisi Valley. The ministry will receive technical assistance to either legalize refugee ID cards or to issue temporary residence permit to the refugees.

UNHCR will support and strengthen the Government's referral and reception systems for asylum-seekers. The skills of relevant authorities and implementing partners will be enhanced to help them provide better assistance and protection to asylum-seekers and improve refugee status determination (RSD) procedures. A working group convened by the MRA will review the draft asylum law with other relevant ministries.

Standard operating procedures to address and prevent sexual and gender-based violence were established in 2007. UNHCR will strengthen and mainstream its prevention and response mechanisms for such violence, and continue supporting the safe house established in Tbilisi.

The Office will also develop its interventions and advocacy for the Georgian Government's accession to the Statelessness convention. Based on the results of two studies on statelessness, UNHCR will identify activities to prevent and address this problem. It will strengthen its assistance in the elaboration of the legal framework for the return of the Meskhetian population, who were deported from Georgia in 1944.

Constraints

Following the robust response by the international community to the recent conflict, it is hoped that the momentum of the search for solutions for the displaced in Georgia will continue. It is expected that the Government will maintain its commitment to the IDP National Strategy and Action Plan, and moreover, that the international community will support the Government's efforts with sufficient funds.

Return and integration are not mutually exclusive solutions for the displaced. It is critical that steps to achieve integration are not thwarted by concerns that such an approach prejudices the right to return. Local integration may require new housing for the displaced, especially for people currently accommodated in dilapidated collective centres. Adequate land or accommodation must be made available to individuals and families to allow collective centres to be closed.

Over the last several years, more than 45,000 IDPs have returned spontaneously to Abkhazia. UNHCR is hopeful that conditions to ensure their sustainable return will prevail, and that the authorities permit UNHCR and other international organizations humanitarian access to the territory.

Organization and implementation

Coordination

UNHCR is a part of the inter-agency response to the recent conflict in Georgia, in coordination with the designated Resident Coordinator. The UN Country Team has established a coordinated response strategy wherein UNHCR chairs the clusters related to protection as well as non-food items and shelter. UNHCR continues to exercise its refugee mandate.

Financial information

In 2008, UNHCR's requirements in Georgia increased significantly because of the crisis. Initially, UNHCR had to respond to the needs of displaced people with limited resources. Its supplementary programme for the emergency response will continue into 2009. The 2009 Annual Programme Budget is increasing significantly because of the Global Needs Assessment initiative.