From Responsibility to Response: Assessing National - Brookings

CHAPTER 2 Case Studies: Georgia, Kenya, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka
nongovernmental organizations. As stated in its terms of
reference, the steering committee is “a decisionmaking/
advisory board to coordinate joint efforts of the government
of Georgia and international organizations” regarding
implementation of the State Strategy. 104 Putting
in place an effective and transparent mechanism for
coordination of efforts to implement the State Strategy,
both within government and with the international
community, was a consensus recommendation of the
international community and a precondition for donor
funding of the revised action plan. 105 Complementing
the USAID technical assistance project of 2009–10,
UNHCR’s ongoing support to the MRA includes support
for the continued effective functioning of the steering
committee and its subsidiary bodies.
The Steering Committee on Internally Displaced
Persons is to meet monthly, with provision for extraordinary
meetings should the need arise; in practice,
it meets on average every six weeks to two months.
To support its work, it has established several temporary
expert groups to undertake analysis and develop
policy recommendations. Among its achievements have
been the development and adoption in August 2009 of
Shelter Standards for the Conversion or Rehabilitation
of Collective Centers and for New Construction; the development
and adoption in August 2009 of the Guiding
Principles on Livelihoods Projects; and the development
and adoption in September 2010 of Standard Operating
Procedures for Vacation and Re-allocation of IDPs for
Durable Housing Solutions (also commonly known as
the Standard Operating Procedures for Evictions and
Relocation). All of these and other documents adopted
by the steering committee as well as its terms of reference
and now also the minutes of its meetings are posted (in
Georgian and English) on the website of the MRA. Yet,
besides the MRA, which continues to chair and serve as
104 “Terms of Reference for the Steering Committee on IDP
Issues,” March 2009 (www.mra.gov.ge).
105 Author’s notes, mission to Georgia for USAID-
FORECAST, February-March 2009. Proposing and
supporting the establishment of the steering committee
was a recommendation and achievement of the USAID-
FORCAST technical assistance project to the MRA.
200
secretariat of the steering committee, and some ministries
that participate on the steering committee, other
ministries have taken a generally limited part in the
overall national response to internal displacement. 106
7. Designate an Institutional Focal
Point on IDPs
Has the government designated a national
focal point on IDPs?
Georgia has had a designated national focal point for
responding to internal displacement, usually a government
ministry, since 1993. While the designated entity
has remained constant, its name and instiutional profile
have changed a few times over the years. Initially known
as the Committee for Refugees and Accommodation,
in 1995 it was renamed the Ministry of Refugees and
Accommodation; in 2010, it was renamed the Ministry
for IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation
and Refugees. 107
The 1996 Law on Forcibly Displaced Persons–Persecuted
Persons formally recognized the responsibility of MRA
to organize assistance to IDPs, in particular the issues of
IDP registration, shelter, and social and other assistance.
It is noteworthy that the law speaks of the responsibilities
of MRA and of government authorities generally in
terms of “guaranteeing exercise of IDPs’ rights.” In particular,
MRA, together with other relevant government
actors, is to ensure that IDPs enjoy all of the specific entitlements
provided for them under law (see Benchmark
5. If an IDP returns to the place of permanent residence,
the MRA and “relevant bodies of executive authorities
and local self-government” have responsibilities including
to guarantee exercise of returnees’ constitutional
106 IDMC, “Georgia: Towards Durable Solutions for IDPs,”
2010, p. 4.
107 Government of Georgia, Decree of the Prime Minister No.
185 of 30 June 2010. The name change reflects the legal
declaration by the government of Georgia in October 2008
of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as “occupied territories”
(see the analysis relevant to Benchmark 12).