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

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een in operation for two years or less. The great diversity among IDPs themselves also presents achallenge for NGOs in connecting with one another. The differences between old and new waves, alongwith IDPs from Abkhazia and South Ossetia, result in weak networks among NGOs that represent thesevarious groups. For instance, certain member IDP NGOs in the Synergy Network were established asearly as the 1990s, with the majority operating for a handful of years before they connected throughthis network. 366 NGO leaders also express different levels of motivation to communicate a concretestrategy and unified message to government actors, as some prefer to focus on their individualconcerns. Certain NGO leaders also act out of self-interest to benefit from their personal contacts withgovernment officials. 367While self-interested NGOs are not the norm, many well-meaning organizations may fail to adequatelyprepare for important multilateral events with concrete suggestions or recommendations, which maycause them to miss an opportunity to leverage access to policymakers. Several international donorrepresentatives highlighted that although they advise IDP NGO staff to prepare for conferences to whichthey are invited by reading relevant background documents, they instead “come with very harshfeelings” about not having been included in previous meetings. 368 According to one donorrepresentative, “what they don’t see is that it requires a bit of input and preparation. And if they feelthey need support to be better prepared, there are ways to get that support from donors.” 369Other stakeholders highlight the important role of the media in facilitating advocacy efforts. Currently,IDP organizations have limited access to electronic media in Georgia due to expensive prices forairtimes, and a lack of political will on the part of those controlling media outlets. Having greater accessto national media outlets can also help address gender inequality issues, and highlight messages ofwomen’s leadership in a positive manner. 370In 2002, UNIFEM (the predecessor of UN Women) attempted to create a coalition of women’s IDPNGOs, but this effort was unsuccessful. 371 Instead, it was found that many NGOs claiming to work ongender issues were not in fact doing so. These organizations were attempting to acquire donor support,as this was a ‘sexy topic’ for the international community. 372 Nevertheless, international donors areoptimistic that IDP NGOs can yet strengthen relations with one another and form a coalition tocommunicate a more unified message. 373 However, reconciling donor demands for greater unity and thereality of achieving this with limited financial support, a lack of leadership and coordination will remaindifficult for the NGO community.366 Ibid.367 Caroline Stampfer, Personal Interview.368 Tina Gewis, Personal Interview.369 Ibid.370 Senior Fellow, Personal Interview.371 Ibid.372 Manana Gabashvili, Personal Interview.373 Tamar Tavartkiladze and Graziella Piga (UN Women), Personal Interview, 12 March 2012.71
Competition for Donor FundingAs the Georgian government provides minimal financial support to NGOs, many are overly dependenton international donors, resulting in fierce competition for these limited funds. According to one donorrepresentative, this has led to women’s and IDP organizations working against each other, rather thanstrengthening collaboration to build up mutual capacities. 374 Some argue that NGOs have the necessarycapacity to coordinate their efforts, but they lack the willingness to do so and continue to compete witheach other for funding. 375A representative from the Institute for Policy Studies adds that there are in fact two NGO communitiesin Georgia: “One is small but strong because all money goes to them. The other one is bigger butwithout voice.” 376 The first group has the support of the government because it remains connected togovernment officials who had participated in civil society prior to the Rose Revolution. This createsimplications for the impartiality of the work that these NGOs undertake, as they have it in their bestinterest to avoid criticizing the government to maintain favorable relations. 377Stakeholders from the local NGO community also highlight the challenges they face due to unstablefunding. They point to the lack of sustainability of their programs as a result of funding that is limited toone year, and urge international and local donors to support their work on a more long-term basis. 378This would also help address the challenge NGOs face in gathering and providing quality information totheir beneficiaries. 379 This will require working closely with the MRA and other relevant Ministries whodepend on NGOs to gather information on IDP communities.Leadership in the NGO CommunityAlthough the IDP NGO community in Georgia is responsible for many valuable initiatives to promote IDPand women’s political participation, these organizations lack effective leadership at both theorganizational and network levels. That is, many NGOs are characterized by an insular focus onbeneficiaries’ concerns at the expense of connecting on collective issues. This results in a low level ofcollaboration among IDP NGOs, and thus a weaker collective voice to influence high-level policymaking.According to one interviewee, there is currently no clear IDP leader or leading organization to facilitatecommunication between IDP NGOs and other actors, or to take responsibility for representing IDPneeds. 380 This lack of leadership manifests itself into a weak lobbying capacity and perception ofincompetence. For instance, a representative from the EU urged the Synergy Network to develop astrong lobby message and communicate it to the Steering Committee by requesting meetings with itsinternational members. She noted that the ability to lobby effectively reflects a group’s level of374 Tamuna Karosanidze (Deputy Chief of Party, G-PAC/East West Management Institute), Personal Interview, 30 January 2012.375 Eka Gvalia, Personal Interview.376 Nana Sumbadze, Personal Interview.377 Ibid.378 Eka Gvalia, Personal Interview.379 Senior Fellow, Personal Interview.380 Eka Gvalia, Personal Interview.72
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Promoting IDPs’ and Women’s Voi
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CONTENTSAcronyms and Abbreviations
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARYInternally displac
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THE WOMEN’S POLITICAL RESOURCE CE
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fair reporting on politically sensi
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people-to-people diplomacy efforts
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and the Guiding Principles, in Febr
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an effort to address these stereoty
Page 18 and 19:
The identities, perceptions, and re
Page 20 and 21:
even IDPs themselves. The HRBA seek
Page 22 and 23: Karaleti settlement, and Potskho-Et
Page 24 and 25: displacement differently, with men
Page 26 and 27: on an equal footing with men in for
Page 28 and 29: The Ministry for Internally Displac
Page 30 and 31: Defender’s Office) and leave no r
Page 32 and 33: prominent national level IDP NGO wo
Page 34 and 35: in the past but none have yet to be
Page 36 and 37: Grassroots Peacebuilding EffortsCiv
Page 38 and 39: esettlement and local integration h
Page 40 and 41: ability to contribute to the new Ac
Page 42 and 43: Women convened a working group to a
Page 44 and 45: were involved, in addition to “wo
Page 46 and 47: towards addressing this population
Page 48 and 49: waves. 224 A Conciliation Resources
Page 50 and 51: governing shelter requirements. 238
Page 52 and 53: esults of eviction on those who did
Page 54 and 55: FINDINGSSIPA team member Drilon Gas
Page 56 and 57: unique opportunities exist for them
Page 58 and 59: an important opportunity for women
Page 60 and 61: early morning…when I was going to
Page 62 and 63: our office to investigate these iss
Page 64 and 65: on this? It’s impossible.” 322
Page 66 and 67: high levels of unemployment and pov
Page 68 and 69: groups do not differentiate between
Page 70 and 71: funding and influence to implement
Page 74 and 75: organization, and highlighted that
Page 76 and 77: The Education System’s Influence
Page 78 and 79: system has an important role to pla
Page 80 and 81: Political FactorsMany elements of t
Page 82 and 83: international organizations working
Page 84 and 85: uling party. 433 There were some si
Page 86 and 87: especially highly-influential broad
Page 88 and 89: ationale behind the government’s
Page 90 and 91: international working for a major d
Page 92 and 93: Also, according to a World Bank rep
Page 94 and 95: willing to challenge authorities th
Page 96 and 97: The lack of narrative connecting po
Page 98 and 99: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE GEORGIAN GO
Page 100 and 101: the government also needs to commit
Page 102 and 103: ‣ Continue to support and expand
Page 104 and 105: ‣ Address male IDP needs (Immedia
Page 106 and 107: The campaign should have a face, su
Page 108 and 109: APPENDIX BList of IntervieweesLocal
Page 110 and 111: Kristy KellyLincoln MitchellLawrenc
Page 112 and 113: Article 10 - Non-discrimination in
Page 114 and 115: Principle 18.1 - Adequate standard
Page 116 and 117: Esaiashvili, Mariam (Official, Mini
Page 118 and 119: Lanskoy, Miriam and Giorgi Areshidz
Page 120: Transparency International Georgia.
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Promoting IDPs' and Women's Voices in Post-Conflict Georgia

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