Georgia

Georgia is located in the Caucasus, a region straddling Europe and Asia, and has most recently garnered international attention for its tense relations with neighboring Russia. Tensions became acute in 2008 when Russia angered Georgia by recognizing the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The resulting conflict displaced an initial 130,000 people from South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and Sidha Kartli, forcing tens of thousands to shelter with host families or in transit sites throughout Georgia.

While some the internally displaced have been able to return home, the number of displaced people has actually increased over time, and remains at a quarter million people. The situation in Abkhazia remains unresolved and has prevented any significant improvements in the region’s economic situation, exacerbating tensions between the local population and increasing the likelihood of a new conflict. Abkhazia’s dependence on budgetary support from Russia also places the separatist region in a vulnerable situation.

Action Against Hunger has worked in Georgia since 1994 with a heavy focus on our longer-term food security programs. We work directly with the most vulnerable of communities to improve living conditions by identifying income-generating activities, providing training in conflict resolution, and strengthening community participation in determining livelihood activities, directions for community development, and ownership of our water, sanitation and hygiene programs. 

In 2017, we established rural employment and development projects, offering technical assistance to cooperatives through vocational training and technical and financial advice. In Georgia, we worked with the local vulnerable population, minorities and internally displaced people. We are also working on a response to mitigate the effects of a plague that affected both zones, Georgia and Abkhazia, significantly harming rural people’s livelihoods.