ACF to Improve Poor Conditions in Georgian Relief Shelters

With an estimated 20,000 people still displaced in the aftermath of the recent Georgian conflict, the humanitarian aid organization Action Against Hunger | ACF International has initiated an emergency intervention in Tbilisi. In addition to poor hygienic conditions in shelters, food is scarce and expensive. "In Tbilisi, the price of staple foods such as flour and sugar continues to rise," says Vincent Stehli, desk officer for Action Against Hunger in Caucasus.

The organization aims to distribute hygiene kits and food to 1,500 families housed in 27 centers in Tbilisi. In Kutaisi and other cities in the west of the country, where assistance is most scarce, ACF will also distribute hygiene kits to roughly 1,000 displaced families and rehabilitate sanitation for many of the shelters over the next six months.

Action Against Hunger has worked in the region of South Caucasus (Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan) since 1995, undertaking water and sanitation projects and working to improve food security. Its team of 78 staff members (eight international and 70 national staff) working in Georgia were reinforced by personnel from ACF’s emergency pool, which traveled from Madrid to Kutaisi last week to support and assess the needs of the population. Emergency efforts are made possible by the financing of Obra Social Caja Madrid and the Catalan Cooperació al Desenvolupament (ACCD).