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

Also, according to a World Bank report, the incomes earned and positions held by IDPs are generallylower than for the general population. 470 A staff member of the Office of the Public Defender expandedon the particular vulnerability of IDPs linking it to a vicious circle:“Unemployment is IDP-specific because IDPs are the most vulnerable. They are in asense disadvantaged because they don’t have access to education because theirfamilies lack financial resources – it’s just a chain. They don’t have propereducation, then they don’t have proper employment opportunities, etc.” 471Another differentiating factor that makes many IDPs more vulnerable in relation to the non-displacedpopulation is the lack of ownership of a permanent residence. This is especially significant in a countrylike Georgia, where the rate of home ownership is traditionally very high. Owning a house is veryimportant for people’s sense of security, because they feel protected from becoming totally destitute.Apart from the psychological burden this instability creates among the IDP community, it entails veryconcrete economic disadvantages, such as the impossibility to get mortgage loans. This sense ofinsecurity and instability relates to the psychosocial factors discussed earlier, challenging IDPs’ in theirefforts to integrate and participate in society.Relationship Between Economic Status and ParticipationSeveral interviewees – including Georgian political figures, internationals, and members of the displacedcommunity representing a range of socioeconomic statuses cited poverty as a key factor affecting IDPs’level of political activity. Poverty does not necessarily equal passivity in someone’s civic or politicalaction, but being economically disadvantaged certainly creates certain barriers to participation.Obviously the first priority for any person must be survival, so political participation becomescomparatively a secondary issue. The struggle of many IDPs to meet their and their families’ basic needsoften takes precedence over political participation. Eka Gvalia, Executive Director of the NGO CharityHumanitarian Center “Abkhazeti,” explained the impact of socio-economic status on IDPs’ civic activity:“In general, less active involvement among IDPs is somehow based on their hardsocioeconomic conditions. Because of course everybody has priorities, and when itcomes to their family, income is priority number one (to take care of the family) so theyhave really less time because they have to think of their priorities… we have to think ofthe socio-economic conditions.” 472470 Tskitishvili, Gocha; Dershem, Larry; and Kechakmadze, Vano. Social Capital and Employment Opportunities Among InternallyDisplaced Persons in Georgia. The World Bank, Tbilisi, May 2005. 34–36.471 Staff member of the Office of the Public Defender. Personal Interview. 15 March 2012.472 Eka Gvalia, Personal Interview.91