The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) maintains a permanent presence in Tbilisi, Zugdidi, Sukhumi, Gali and Tskhinvali. It has been active in the region since 1992.

The ICRC delegation in Georgia assists and advises the authorities on the implementation of international humanitarian law (IHL).

To reach tomorrow's decision-makers and opinion leaders, the ICRC targets universities and secondary schools to encourage the inclusion of IHL into the curriculum.

The ICRC also promotes the systematic inclusion of IHL into military training.

• In March 2007, the ICRC and Georgia's ministry of defence signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at ensuring broader dissemination of IHL within the armed forces. At the end of November, an IHL military basic course took place under the auspices of the agreement.

• In February, ICRC awareness presentations were conducted for over 50 service men in Kutaisi and quick deployment forces in Batumi, as well as for more than 35 officers of the Georgian, Russian and North Ossetian battalion of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces in Tskhinvali

• Throughout the year, in order to enhance students' knowledge of IHL, a number of events were organised by the ICRC. In May, an IHL competition was held among students of Sukhumi University and cadets of Sukhumi Combined Arms Command Institute. The competition gave 30 students the chance to demonstrate their knowledge of the basics of international humanitarian law.

• In June, a two-day training session on IHL was held for 20 students of the faculty of law and international relations of Sukhumi University. The ICRC also co-organised an essay competition with Tbilisi State University, dedicated to the 30th Anniversary of the Additional Protocols to the 1949 Geneva Conventions. The winner of the competition took part in an international summer school session on IHL, held in Moscow in August.

• In March, 500 CD-ROMs on the basics of IHL were produced for secondary school teachers near Tbilisi, while three school teams participated in an IHL competition in Batumi in June, which was organized by the ICRC and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports of Autonomous Republic of Adjara.

• The rules of IHL were also promoted during a football match called "Play by the Rules" in Zugdidi, Western Georgia in September. Around 70 students took part.

The ICRC has been visiting places of detention in Georgia and the surrounding region since 1992. The purpose of the ICRC's detention visits is purely humanitarian. The visits aim to ensure adequate detention conditions and that detainees are treated humanely, have access to health care services and are able to maintain links with their families. The ICRC pays particular attention to persons deprived of freedom in relation to conflict situations and follows them individually. The findings of its visits are confidential and shared only with the authorities in charge.

Collecting and distributing Red Cross Messages (RCM) and organizing family reunions are the main tasks of the ICRC Tracing Agency. RCMs are often the only way to maintain contact between family members separated by conflict or between detainees and their relatives.

The ICRC maintains a dialogue with all parties involved in a conflict, in an effort to ensure that the civilian population is protected, according to the rules of IHL.

• Around 9,300 Red Cross Messages were exchanged in Georgia and the surrounding region in 2007.

• The ICRC also carried out 66 visits to various places of detention in order to assess the living conditions and treatment of detainees.

• In April, a workshop on the techniques used to recover and identify human remains was organised by the ICRC in Tbilisi, together with Georgian specialists. Its purpose was to provide training in the basic principles of forensic science used in the search for missing persons.

• In order to provide Georgian and Abkhaz forensic specialists with a solid foundation of the fundamental principles of forensic archaeology for the exhumation of human remains in the context of the missing, a one-day workshop "Mock Exhumation" was organised at end of July in Tbilisi and Sukhumi.

• In connection with the International Day of the Missing on 30 August, the ICRC supported two projects by associations of families of missing persons in Tbilisi and in Sukhumi to commemorate the disappeared. In collaboration with the "Molodini" foundation, the ICRC produced a TV video clip, which was broadcast on all major TV channels over several days at the end of August. The ICRC also financed the publication of a memory book by the "Mothers of Abkhazia for Peace and Social Justice" which was presented to the families of the missing at a ceremony on 30 August 2007.

Ten years ago, the worrying results of a tuberculosis prevalence study prompted the ICRC to launch a programme aimed at treating TB patients in Georgian prisons. A strategy was adopted to jointly set up an early detection system and treatment programme, in conjunction with the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs and the National TB Programme (NTP).

Since 1998, the ICRC has been providing technical support to the Ministry of Justice and the National TB Programme, in an effort to establish a comprehensive and sustainable TB control programme for all persons deprived of freedom in Georgia.

• In 2007, 15,983 detainees were screened for active tuberculosis in 14 places of detention.

• Seven TB laboratories, supported by the ICRC, performed 15,003 examinations, while 638 detainees were started on the WHO-recommended DOTS treatment programme. Just over 503 patients completed it. As of November 2007, 434 detainees were undergoing treatment in nine facilities.

• In addition, the ICRC participated in a tuberculosis conference organized by the National TB Programme with the support of the Global Fund project to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Georgia in March.

• In June, a tripartite cooperation agreement was signed between the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs and the ICRC on the continuation of the TB control programme in the penitentiary system of Georgia for another two years.

In order to guarantee access to emergency surgery, including for war related victims, the ICRC supported the Sukhumi Republican Hospital, and the Agudzera and Tkvarcheli hospitals with surgical supplies in 2007.

• In March, a final "one-time" donation of medical supplies was provided to medical institutions, supported by the ICRC, in Abkhazia.

The ICRC's physical rehabilitation programme contributes to the socio-economic integration of physically disabled people, including mine victims, allowing them to lead an active life again.

With this aim, the ICRC opened two orthopaedic centres in Tbilisi and Gagra in 1994. Building on the success of this project, the Georgian Foundation for Prosthetic and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (GEFPOR) was founded in 2004.

• With support from the ICRC, the foundation in Tbilisi and the orthopaedic centre in Gagra, provided 910 patients with orthopaedic appliances between January and September 2007. Over 320 new patients were registered, while 248 prostheses and 248 orthoses were produced. In addition, 393 pairs of crutches were distributed.

• In May, a four-year cooperation agreement was signed between the Georgian Foundation for Prosthetic Orthopaedic Rehabilitation and the ICRC. Thanks to this partnership, physically disabled people will continue receiving physical rehabilitation services.

Food and non-food assistance

In view of the economic recovery taking place in the country and the role of the authorities in assuming full responsibility for assisting the poorest members of society, the ICRC terminated its assistance programme related to economic security in Western Georgia.

The ICRC continued to provide assistance, though at a lower scale, to the most vulnerable people in Abkhazia.

In order to limit dependency on humanitarian assistance and to contribute to economic self-sufficiency, micro-economic projects were granted to the most vulnerable households.

• In Samegrelo and Imereti, in Western Georgia, 411 households, who received an agricultural grant, participated in training workshops on how to make the projects a success...

• In Abkhazia, around 2,000 destitute people, who previously received monthly dry food rations and essential household items every two months, were provided with a substantial final distribution of food and non-food items, including cereal, oil beans, sugar and hygiene items, to supplement their supplies between April and June.

• Also during this period, as food assistance was scaled back, 84 micro-economic projects were launched to help vulnerable people become more financially stable. From July to September, 91 micro-economic projects were implemented to strengthen the economic situation of 255 beneficiaries.

• The management of the home assistance programme was handed over to the Red Cross in Abkhazia, which in November provided care to almost 250 beneficiaries, with the help of 42 social assistants. The beneficiaries also received essential household items every two months.

• Between June and August, the ICRC and relevant authorities in Abkhazia jointly assessed the economic situation of more than 1,800 people still receiving food and essential household items from the ICRC. Based on this assessment, over 1,000 beneficiaries requiring further assistance have been financially supported by the authorities since October 2007.

The ICRC's water and habitat programmes aim to ensure that victims of armed conflicts have access to drinking water, adequate shelter and that the most vulnerable are protected from hazards caused by a lack of hygiene.

For these reasons, the ICRC rehabilitates water and sanitation facilities in hospitals, prisons and collective centres for internally displaced people.

• In 2007, water and sanitation conditions were improved and roofs were repaired in 16 Collective Centres. In Western Georgia and Tskhinvali region, shelter conditions were improved for around 1,570 internally displaced persons.

Renovation Projects in Detention Facilities

Since the beginning of 2007, the ICRC has implemented renovation projects in various detention facilities, in order to improve the delivery of health care and detention conditions, as well as the working conditions of the prison medical staff.

Two Georgian penitentiary institutions – Batumi prison N°3 and Zugdidi prison N°4 – now have newly renovated medical wards, with improved sanitation conditions. Maintenance tool kits were handed over to the prison authorities in order to improve the capacity of the maintenance teams.

In the temporary detention facility of Tskhinvali, a medical ward was built and sanitary facilities were improved. The existing ventilation system was rehabilitated to improve the general detention conditions. The ICRC donated medical equipment and furniture to the Tskhinvali prison.

The ICRC rehabilitated the water supply system of Dranda prison in Abkhazia. The complete rehabilitation of the pumping station also allows for access to running water for the residents of Dranda village. In the medical ward of the temporary detention facility of Sukhumi, access to fresh water was also ensured.


The Georgian Red Cross Society

On 16 November, the Georgian Red Cross Society held its XXIV ordinary session of the General Assembly. The session was attended by 27 delegates, representing the 23 selected and registered branches of the National Society. The delegates approved a new strategic development plan for 2007-2011, including a 2008 plan of action.