Promoting IDPs' and Women's Voices in Post-Conflict Georgia

ural areas (4.8% as 2006 21 ). By contrast, the average unemployment rate in cities is 26% 22 , whilein Tbilisi unemployment is reported to be reaching 40%. 23Foreign aid plays a prominent role in Georgia’s annual budget. More than US $1.5 billion (approximatelyGEL 2.1 billion) were delivered annually by donors between 2009-11. The state’s annual budget in eachof those years was 6.75, 6.97 and 7.35 billion GEL, respectively. 24 In addition, foreign direct investmenthas significantly declined in Georgia since the late-2000s global recession, not least due to conflict in thecountry. Since the 2008 war, inflation has risen substantially and the country faces problems ingenerating revenue. Georgia has also suffered substantial infrastructure damage from the 2008 war andhas faced the burden of providing for several thousand IDPs from conflict areas. With all of Georgia’schallenges, perhaps its greatest —especially according to the Georgian people— is to create jobs. 25Conflicts and Peace ProcessesThe conflicts between Georgians, South Ossetians, and Abkhaz have deep-seated roots. The breakup ofthe Soviet Union provided a catalyst for civil wars, with Georgia fighting to contain South Ossetia andAbkhazia within its borders, and the latter entities seeking self-determination. 26 Hostilities erupted inSouth Ossetia in 1990, and despite a cease-fire two years later, the region has remained unstable.President Saakashvili has repeatedly sought autonomy for South Ossetia inside Georgia, while Ossetianleaders continue to call for the reunification of North and South Ossetia. 27 Paralleling South Ossetia’sstory in many ways, war broke out in Abkhazia in 1993. The parties achieved a cease-fire in May 1994but the contradiction between Abkhazia’s unrecognized de facto independence and Georgia’s de jureterritorial integrity 28 continues to shape the dynamics of the conflict.These unresolved conflicts inflamed tensions between Georgia and Russia, finally resulting in warbetween the two countries in August 2008. 29 The war caused hundreds of casualties on both sides, inaddition to a new wave of Georgians becoming displaced. The parties reached a preliminary ceasefireagreement after five days, but Russia has yet to fully implement the six-point plan, maintaining troops inthe conflict regions and preventing the return of IDPs. In the effort to resolve the broader conflict,Georgians —including the Abkhaz governments-in-exile and representatives from South Ossetia—, andRussians are currently engaged in peace talks in Geneva, which also include South Ossetian and Abkhazparticipants and EU, US, UN and OSCE mediators. 30 However, the talks remain stalled with the majorissues of territorial integrity, sovereignty and return of displaced persons unresolved. So far, limited21 Employment and unemployment. National Statistics Office of Georgia. Web. 28 April 2012.22 Ibid.23 Widespread unemployment takes its toll – World Vision. Web. 28 April 2012.24 Transparency International. Web. 6 May 2012.25 de Waal, 2011. 10-14; Economist Intelligence Unit. Georgia – Economy. n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2011.26 Cornell, Svante E, and S F. Starr. The Guns of August 2008: Russia's War in Georgia. Armonk, N.Y: M.E. Sharpe, 2009, 5.27 Gahrton, Per. Georgia: Pawn in the New Great Game. London: Pluto Press, 2010, 60-63.28 Ciobanu, Ceslav. Frozen and Forgotten Conflicts in the Post-Soviet States: Genesis, Political Economy and Prospects forSolution. Boulder, CO: East European Monographs, 2009, 113.29 Cornell and Starr, 143; Ciobanu, 118.30 Gahrton, 74.10