This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Kris Janowski – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 5 August 2003, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

UNHCR and the Norwegian Refugee Council will rehabilitate earthquake-damaged public buildings housing internally displaced people in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. The buildings, which include former schools, dormitories, hospitals, factories, train stations and government office buildings, house 3,000 people who fled from Abkhazia in the early 1990s. They were damaged during a powerful earthquake that shook Tbilisi in April of 2002. The damaged structures have since posed a danger to their inhabitants. The rehabilitation project is financed by the Norwegian government which donated $560,000 to it. In total, 20 buildings will be rehabilitated. This project is scheduled to start immediately and is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Story date: 5 August 2003
UNHCR Briefing Notes