Download - Report womens participation p2pcbms
Strategy for engagement and joint actions on confidence building and
P2P diplomacy that involve women
Final Report
EU-UN Women Project - “Innovative Action for Gender Equality in Georgia” (IAGE)
January 2014
Project Funded by the European Union
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UN Women is a UN organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of
women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate
progress in meeting women’s needs worldwide.
UN Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender
equality, and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes
and services needed to implement these standards. The organization stands behind women’s
equal participation in all aspects of life, focusing on five priority areas: increasing women’s
leadership and participation; ending violence against women; engaging women in all aspects
of peace and security processes; enhancing women’s economic empowerment; and making
gender equality central to national development planning and budgeting. UN Women also
coordinates and promotes the UN system’s work in advancing gender equality.
The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily
represent the views ofUN Women, United Nations or any of its affiliated organizations.
Research Consultant: Nino Lagvilava
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS .................................................................................... 3
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY....................................................................................................................... 4
INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 7
Objectives and Outline of the research/Overview and methodology ................................................ 7
Peace-building, confidence building and P2P diplomacy .................................................................. 9
Women, Peace and Security Agenda ................................................................................................ 10
BACKGROUND TO THE CONTEXT .................................................................................................. 12
Managing conflicts in Georgia: new reality – new approaches to peace building ............................ 12
Georgian women’s peace efforts to broaden the scope of peace-building ........................................ 13
STUDY RESULTS/KEY RESEARCH FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS ............................................ 14
The methodology to review the peace-building approaches of the organisations working in conflict
contexts and women’s issues ............................................................................................................ 14
KEY RESEARCH FINDINGS/ REFLECTIONS AND IMPLICATIONS ............................................... 16
Major highlights from the interviews .............................................................................................. 16
Implications on People to people diplomacy .................................................................................... 19
Implications on other tools of CBMs ................................................................................................ 23
Reflections ........................................................................................................................................ 25
Gaps and Challenges ......................................................................................................................... 28
RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................................................................................... 32
Appendix 1: List of used literature
Appendix 2: The detailed work plan and project methodology
Appendix 3: Interview Questions for local NGOs/sample
Appendix 4: Interviews and Focus Group Discussions/list of participants
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS
Administrative Boundary Lines ABLs
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women CEDAW
Civil Society Organisations CSOs
Confidence Building Measures CBMs
European Union EU
Gender Equality Council GEC
Internally Displaced Persons IDPs
International Organisations IOs
Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism IPRM
National Action Plan NAP
Non-Governmental Organizations NGOs
People-to-People P2P
United Nations Security Council Resolution UNSCR
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report represents the findings of the study on engagement and joint actions on
confidence building and P2P diplomacy that involve women and explores the issue of the
application of peace-building tools and mechanisms by women in Georgia; how peace and
security programmes and projects, having been implemented in the country for over two
decades, have influenced the reconciliation and rapprochement processes between conflict-
divided societies and their perceptions about peace and security; whether there have been
any changes and, if so, whether any improvements have resulted, what the challenges and
lessons learned are in this process and, finally, what women’s contribution is to the process.
The main objective of the study was to facilitate discussions about confidence building and
P2P diplomacy programmes that involve women, analyse existing experience and derive a
vision and strategy for engagement and joint actions for the future. The study was carried out
within the framework of the UN Women-EU project entitled “Innovative Action for Gender
Equality in Georgia” (IAGE).
The report is composed of four sections: in the introductory part, the objectives and the
research methodology are outlined; the second section provides a background and context,
describing the new reality in Georgia and the increased need to strengthen peace-building
efforts and Georgian women’s participation in these efforts; the third section refers to the
study results - key research findings and implications which include the main points raised
in the interviews, implications ofP2P diplomacy and other CBM tools, as well as reflections
on gaps and challenges; the final section concludes with recommendations for the project
and itsrespective stakeholders.
The introduction contains information on the purpose of the study, its goals and objectives,
and anoutline of thestudy methodology. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, a period
of unrest saw two secessionist armed conflicts and one civil war in Georgia.Thereafter,
significant efforts have been employed to mitigate conflicts, support the reconciliation
process and build peace and confidence among conflict-torn communities. In these
processeswomen have been one of the most active and effective agents of peace. The current
study was decidedby UN Women in order to analyse past experiencesin the sphere of
confidence building and P2P diplomacy initiatives that involved women and
deliverrecommendations to make women’s engagement in confidence building and P2P
diplomacy initiatives even more effective. The methodology employed was to review
respective documents and carry out extensive face-to-face interviews with Georgian
government staff and also to conduct interviews and focus group meetings with Georgian
and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working on the relevant topics in
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Georgia. The focus was on gathering information on both the past and current work of these
organisations, the lessons learned and best practices as well as thegaps and challenges
identified and opportunities for future strategy on women’s involvement in confidence
building and P2P diplomacy. The concepts of peace-building, confidence building and P2P
diplomacy as well as the women, peace and security agenda were reviewed in this
section.Theparticipation of women in the process of conflict resolution and peace-building is
one of the key factors for the implementation of reconstruction policies and development
programmes.
The second section reviews the background leading to the current context, how conflicts are
managed in today’sGeorgia, what the new realities and approaches are to peace-buildingand
what policies the current Government of Georgia pursues, including the National Action
Plan for the implementation of UNCRs on women, peace and security.In addition, the role of
Georgian women’s efforts to broaden the scope of peace-building is examined, including
their past and current work, their achievements, and peace objectives. The new Georgian
government’s efforts to exert soft power in the conflict resolution process are welcomed by
civil society and international organisations and it is essentialthat this track is not
diverted.Without confidence building measures, the reconciliation process will not advance
and peace will be difficult to achieve; women’s role in the peace-building process for 20 years
is regarded as a decisive factor for the participatory process and promotion ofpeace-building
strategies in the country.
The third section concerns the key research findings and its implications. In this section,the
methodology used to reviewpeace-building approaches of the organisations working in
conflict contexts and women’s issues are examined as well as the gaps and challenges
identified. Key research findings are those important tools and mechanisms which promote
peace-building processes overall, such as P2P diplomacy and all other confidence building
mechanisms. Women’s participation is underlined as the inalienable component of the entire
process. Economic cooperation and promotion of joint initiatives in all areas of development
such as trade, agriculture, environment, culture and education, health, and social spheres are
considered major tools for building confidence and trust, thereby promoting peace and
security in the country. All respondents interviewed agree that P2P diplomacy and all other
CBMs are instrumental in bringing conflicting parties closer, re-establishing trust and
confidence, and engaging them in joint activities for public benefit and better peace
outcomes. In the process of discussions, gaps and challenges were also reviewed such as the
factor of Russia as an impediment to the reconciliation process, although it was noted that, if
it has such a desire, Russia can play a positive role and become a peace agent. The political
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will of both Georgia and breakaway regions were also mentioned as challenging aspects to
managing the existing conflicts through peaceful means. Inadequate access to justice and a
lack of democratic institutions and values were also named as challengesto peace, stability
and development as a whole for the breakaway regionsin particular. International
organisations were considered instrumental inhelping to manage conflicts and support the
reconciliation and confidence building process.
The final section makes recommendations and suggests ways to contribute to a
comprehensive approach to peace-building in Georgia through confidence building and P2P
diplomacy where women’s increased participation is seen as a valuable part of the process.
The recommendations are based on interviews, focus group meetings and review of relevant
documents and refer to the perspectives gathered on confidence building and reconciliation
with breakaway regions. The recommendations stem from well-known strategies and
approaches such as peace being achievable only through democracy and justice; that the win-
win and do-no-harm approach is vital to solving the problem; that international documents,
resolutions and conventions as well as strategies and plans need to be applied. The
recommendations are based on the current context where the Georgian government’s peace-
buildingdirection needs to be continued and P2P diplomacy and all other CBMs should be
considered as the most effective mechanisms for reaching peaceful outcomes. Informed
citizenry and active peace journalism is an important factor for re-establishing trust between
conflicting parties with methodologies for formal and informal peace education required in
order to foster a culture of dialogue and peaceful handling of conflicts. Specificsegments of
societies, such as women NGOs and CBOs, youth groups and IDPs, local governments,and
professional groups are considered among the best resources for confidencebuildingwhile it is
especially important to strengthen women’s participation in all peace avenues so that the
process is transparent, participatory and much more effective. A contextual and
comprehensive conflict analysis from a gender-orientated perspectivemust be conducted
regularly andforwardthinking security and peace experts, professional international and local
organizations, grassroots peace movement members, including women professionals should
be engaged. Peace building capacity, such as human resources, institutional capacities and
peace infrastructure is necessary in order to ensure effective national peace planning and
implementation. These capacities representa short list of the recommendations which can be
found in full in the last section of the report. As noted above, the recommendations reflect
the views, approaches and visions of those participating in the research and represent an
outlook that will help accelerate a process conducive to the development of peace building
agenda in the country with the active participation of women.
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INTRODUCTION
Objectives and outline of the research/Overview and methodology
In 2013, UN Women with the financial support of the EU launched the project - “Innovative
Action for Gender Equality in Georgia” (IAGE). The overall objective of IAGE is to adopt and
implement relevant policies and legislation to address specific healthcare, social and
economic needs of women from excluded groups in Georgia, while the specific objective is to
support women’s initiatives aimed at confidence building and social stability through
addressing healthcare, social and economic needs of ethnic minorities, imprisoned women,
IDPs and conflict-affected women and women living in remote mountainous areas in
Georgia.
The project is aimed at realizing three interrelated outputs/results:
To increase the capacity of gender equality and women’s rights advocates to lobby for
integration of issues of excluded groups of women and girls in relevant policies and
legislation;
To increase the willingness and capacity of state structures to incorporate issues of
excluded groups of women and girls in relevant policies, legislation and services at
national and local levels;
To increase partnerships among the government and women’s civil society groups as well
as women’s P2P diplomacy initiatives for the promotion of social stability and confidence
building.
Based on the project objectives, a study was carried out in order to analyse past experiences
in the area of confidence building and P2P diplomacy initiatives that have involved women
in order to identify best practices, lessons learned, and existing challenges (what has worked
and what has not) and to come up with recommendations to make women’s engagement in
confidence building and P2P diplomacy initiatives even more effective.
To pursue the goal of the study, a special methodology and detailed work plan that supported
the exploratory and descriptive nature of the research was elaborated. The detailed work
plan offered an overall activity design andspecific methodology for data collection and data
analysis. The specific methodology focused on standard approaches to perform qualitative
evaluation –collecting data though interviews, focus groups, observations; desk-top review of
relevant documents; analysis of collected data and the final product -the Final Report for
public use –for the stakeholders and all parties concerned (see the detailed work plan and the
full project methodology in Annex 1).
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The report draws information from in-depth interviews and
focus-group meetings with over 54 people, in particular with:
1. State representatives: (i) the Office of the State
Minister of Georgia for Reintegration1(two
respondents) and (ii) Government of Abkhazia, Head
of the Department of Education and Culture (one
respondent);
2. Representatives of donor organizations and
implementing agencies: (i) UNWomen (one
respondent) and (ii) EU-UNDP COBERM programme
(one respondent);
3. International and national organisations: (i)
KvinnatilKvinna (one respondent); (ii) CARE (one
respondent) and (iii)local women’s organizations
(seven respondents);
4. Focus group meetings with local representatives of
CSOs(one in each in Gori, Kutaisi and Zugdidi).2
The report illustrates the current status quo of women’s
involvement in confidence-building and P2Pdiplomacy
initiatives and includes recommendations to accelerate a
process conducive to the development of the peace-building
agenda in Georgia with the active participation of women and
young girls. The document will serve as a vision paper to give
a basic framework for future action for UN Women IAGE and
otherprogrammes to elaborate a new strategy; a
comprehensive approach to women’s effective engagement in
the peace-buildingprocess of Georgia.
1In January 2014, the name of the institution was changed into the ‘’State Minister of Georgia for Reconciliation
and Civic Equality’’
2In total 40 respondents were invited in three focus groups. In city of Gori Women NGO representatives,
women journalists and women from academia were represented the focus group, in total 18 participants. In city
of Kutaisi mainly IDP organizations were invited to the focus group, women and men representing NGOs
working on IDP issues and women issues, in total 11 participants. In the city Zugdidi mainly the focus group
consisted of Women organizations and IDPs from compact settlements, in total 11 participants
"For countries emerging from
conflict, peace-building offers the
chance to establish new institutions,
social, political and judicial, that can
give impetus to development. [...]
Pulling up the roots of conflict goes
beyond immediate post-conflict
requirements and the repair of war-
torn societies. The underlying
conditions that led to conflict must
be addressed. As the causes of
conflict are varied, so must be the
means of addressing them. Peace-
building means fostering a culture
of peace. Land reform, water-
sharing schemes, common
economic enterprise zones, joint
tourism projects and cultural
exchanges can make a major
difference. Restoring employment
growth will be a strong inducement
to the young to abandon the
vocation of war."
An Agenda for Development, 1994
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Peace-building, confidence building and P2P diplomacy
Peace was announced as a cornerstone of the post-2015 development agenda in the recently
released Report of the UN High-Level Panel. The report stresses how ‘freedom from fear,
conflict and violence is the most fundamental human right and the essential foundation for
building peaceful and prosperous societies’. For peace to be established, the world needs to
take global shifts to recognize peace and good governance as core elements of wellbeing,
rather than optional extras.3
Looking at the current list of Wars in Progress as of February 10, 20134 there are currently14
active armed conflicts/wars across the world affecting millions of people, causingdevastation
and immeasurable damage to people’s well-being.These conflicts takethousands of lives and
lead states and communities to social, cultural, economic and political harm and loss.
Today, with its complex nature of security dimensions, the world still faces traditional
security threats and challenges in numerous locations. This requires more vigorous post-
conflict strategies and peace agendas combined with more effective peace-building, conflict
mitigation and reconciliation programmes to address the core causes of conflicts or the post-
conflict needs at global/international, national and local levels.
An Agenda for Peace: Preventive Diplomacy, Peacemaking and Peacekeeping was
introduced to the UN on 17 June 1992 by former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-
Ghali5describing peace-building as “A range of measures targeted to reduce the risk of lapsing
or relapsing into conflict by strengthening national capacities at all levels for conflict
management, and to lay the foundation for sustainable peace and development". According
to this document, peace-building consists of a wide range of activities associated with
capacity building, reconciliation, and societal transformation, therefore peace-building
strategies must be coherent and tailored to the specific needs of the country concerned, based
3A New Global Partnership: Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economies Through Sustainable Development; The
Report of the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agendahttp://www.beyond2015.org/sites/default/files/HLPReport.pdf
4http://www.internationalrelations.com/wars-in-progress/ and UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict Dataset (The Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University); http://www.pcr.uu.se/digitalAssets/167/167200_version_history_v4-2013.pdf 5http://www.unpbf.org/application-guidelines/what-is-peace-building/
http://www.un.org/en/sc/repertoire/89-92/Chapter%208/GENERAL%20ISSUES/Item%2029_Agenda%20for%20peace_.pdf
10
on national ownership, and should comprise a carefully prioritized, sequenced and relatively
narrow set of activities, aimed at achieving the peace objectives’’6.
To build sustainable peace, lowering tensions and reducing the likelihoodof conflicts
erupting again andto foster trust and build bridges between conflicting parties, confidence
building measures are the best tools used in all phases of all conflict cycles7.
Confidence building measures between states have for many centuries included the activities
of embassies, now referred to asTrack IDiplomacy or Official Diplomacy.However, amore
grassroots form of confidence building has arisen directly between ordinary people.The
growing importance of non-state actors in addressing existing conflicts has created a greater
demand for unofficial Track II/P2Pdiplomacy. “This has been applied as the main peace-
building tool in a global context as the idea was that unofficial dialogues would grow the
ability of ordinary people from grassroots to raise ideas and solutions that might not be
possible in official circles and could over time influence official thinking and, ultimately,
policy’’.8Accordingly, P2P diplomacy has become increasingly common in conflict
resolution, complementing the formal Track Ipeacemaking efforts at various points
throughout a peace process.
Women, Peace and Security Agenda
Peace and security issues in combination with the gender dimension are exceptionally
important in supporting the realization of women’s rights to equal participation in building
peace and sustainable development. Full participation of women and men in the process of
conflict resolution and post-conflict reconstruction, as well as other decision-making
processes, should be ensured once debating peace and security and implementing
reconstruction policies and development programmes commence.
6 ‘Peace-building 2.0 Mapping the Boundaries on an Expanding Field’; Alliance for Peace-building; 2012
7According to OSCE ‘non-military confidence building measures are “actions or processes undertaken in all
phases of the conflict cycle or across the three dimensions of security political, economic, environmental, social
or cultural fields with the aim of increasing transparency and the level of trust and confidence between two
more conflicting parties to prevent inter-State and/or intra-State conflicts from emerging, or (re-) escalating and
to pave the way for lasting conflict settlement”’; What are non-military CBMs, Chapter 1, CBMs a conceptual framework; OSCE Guide on Non-military Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs)published in 2012, is available at http://www.osce.org/cpc/91082 8 Heidi Burgess and Guy Burgess, ‘Conducting Track II Peace Making’’, Published: December 2010;8http://www.usip.org/publications/conducting-track-ii-peace-making
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Wars and conflicts as well as conflict management and post-conflict recovery processes are
situations whereby gender divisions increase. Women are still excluded from formal peace
processes and their interests and needs are rarely represented in peace strategies and plans,
even though they are crucial for the promotion and implementation of participatory peace
processes that will strengthen transparent decision-making and civic engagement.
The women, peace, and security agenda is clarified and outlined in United Nations Security
Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325). The international community has recognized the
valuable contribution women make to conflict prevention and sustainable peace-building in
recognition of the serious impact that armed conflict has on women and children. TheUN
Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security calls for increased
participation of women in all aspects of the peacemaking process and calls on Member States
and all actors in a conflict to protect women’s rights, to
take account of their specific needs in conflict and post-
conflict situations, and to involve them in the entire
process of re-establishing peace and stability through
their participation in peacemaking, peacekeeping and
peace-building efforts. Since2000,six more UNSC
resolutions have been adopted on Women, Peace and
Security urging Member States to address the issue of
furthering peace and security for women and girls and
calling for women to be represented at all levels of
decision-making to prevent, manage and resolve
conflict.9
The UN Security Council’s agenda is comprised of both
geographic situations and thematic issues. Women,
Peace and Security is one of these larger thematic agenda
items on which the Security Council holds annual Open Debates, ad-hoc briefings and also
adopts resolutions and presidential statements.10Women, Peace and Security issues are an
essential part of EU, NATO, OSCE and many other international organisations’ development
agendas, making this a globally recognised theme to be addressed closely in order to attain
global security, peace and development.
9 These resolutions are UN SCR1820, 1888, 1889, 1960, 2106 and 2122
10http://www.peacewomen.org/security_council_monitor/about-women-peace-and-security-agenda
"An understanding of the
impact of armed conflict
on women and girls … can
significantly contribute to
the maintenance and
promotion of international
peace and security".
UN Security Council
Resolution # 1325 on
Women, Peace and Security
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BACKGROUND TO THE CONTEXT
Managing conflicts in Georgia: new reality – new approaches to peace-building
In the early 1990s, when the Soviet Union broke down, Georgia faced overwhelming
security problems - ethnic conflicts, civil unrests and secessionist wars, which resulted in
frozen conflicts in the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, one of which
resurfacedsix years ago, when in August 2008 a short war between Russia and Georgia broke
out over the contended territory of South Ossetia. This raised a serious concern about
emerging security dilemmas in this region leading to a needto strengthen national capacities
for conflict prevention and peace-building, security policies and strategies towards early
warning, peace negotiations, confidence building measures and a post-conflict rehabilitation
process to establish lasting peace and security in the entire region. After 2008, there was an
attempt to launch a ‘‘State Strategy on Occupied Territories Engagement through
Cooperation’’11. The strategy comprised confidence building and recovery objectives.
However, it was seen as politically motivated with an implication about the restoration of
territorial integrity (also some strict provisions from the Law on Occupied Territories were
not supported by many parties including those from breakaway regions). In addition, the
document lacked adequate resources and thus its implementation was slow and ultimately
ineffective.
With new political shifts, governments often change their approaches in many fields and in
many directions while changes in the political environment have a direct effect on peace-
building policies too. Georgia’s change of government in 2012 and its open declaration of not
using military means in restoring its territorial integrity, and its repeated announcement that
only through confidence building measures will it try to restore peace and stability in the
country, has raised expectations that open hostility with Russia, as well as with the
breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia would diminish and Georgia would
enhance its application of soft power. The government started to modify legislation and
practice related to its “Law on Occupied Territories” and plans to review itsstrategy
document: “State Strategy: Engagement through Cooperation and Action Plan for
Engagement”12. This implies that the peace-building policies will be cleared of political
rhetoric; they will be more target-oriented, better structured, goals and objectives will be
clearly defined,allpeace-building tools and mechanisms will be classified in details, all
stakeholders and peace agents will be identified, and thevalue and impact of peace-
11http://www.smr.gov.ge/docs/doc204.pdf 12 Interview with the representatives the Office of the State Minister of Georgia for Reintegration
13
buildingworkwill be clearly explained to the population on both sides of the ABL. Another
signof thegovernment’s soft power approach in its peace-building orientation toward the
break-away regions is that fromJanuary 2014 the name of the State Minister’s office for
Reintegration was changed to the Office of the State Minister of Georgia for Reconciliation
and Civil Equality13.
Georgian women’s peace efforts to broaden the scope of peace-building
During the past few years,Georgia has made progressive steps towards developing
frameworks to further the role of women in the peace and security field. The
Georgianparliament adopted the National Action Plan (NAP) for the implementation of
UNSCR 1325 and its subsequent resolutions on 27 December 2011. All major stakeholders
are involved in the implementation of its goals and objectives to meet the country’s
international obligations and address Georgia’s peace objectives.
Important aspects of peace negotiation includethe inclusion of women in Track I and Track
II diplomacy. Local women’s participation in security policy making have been taken into
consideration when writing the NAP, including supporting people’s diplomacy processes,
training women mediators and women’s participation within the framework of Geneva talks
and Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) established under the Geneva
International Discussions.14Theseare particularly important chaptersthat will ensure
women’s participation in the country’s peace-building process, which will take into account
women’s needs and requirements when drafting such peace policies and strategies. Georgian
CSOs and women’s NGOs in particular, are active in the implementation and the M&E
process to achieve the most effective peace outcomes.
Women’s participation in Georgian peace-building processesbegan inthe 1990sat which
pointthe OSCE andUNIFEM were the two most active international organisations to support
13http://www.smr.gov.ge/index.php?lng=eng
14Objective1.4. Support people’s diplomacy processes and women’s participation; Objective 1.4.1. For confidence
building purposes support joint implementation of economic/trade, healthcare, educational, social, cultural,
environmental and other projects with participation of population residing on territories, adjacent to occupied
regions, especially women and girls; 2.2.4. Involvement of media and its active participation in peace initiatives and
activities for the promotion of peace culture Objective 1.2. Support women’s involvement in official peace
negotiation process; Activities: 1.2.2. Cooperate with international and civil society organizations to train women
mediators; Activities: 1.2.1. Include the principles on women, peace and security during the meetings within the
framework of Geneva talks and Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) established under the Geneva
International Discussions (NAP on UNSCR on Women, Peace and Security, Georgia, 2011)
14
the women’s peace movement in Georgia. According to a survey conducted by the UN
Women IAGE project in 2013 in Georgia, currently 22% of the organizations working on
women’s issues and gender equality are working on women’s participation in the peace
process15. All of these organisations are committed to peace-building objectives from the very
beginning of their establishment and are still fullyinvolved in such initiatives.
Most organisations met during face-to-face interviews for this study and those in focus
groups have been participants of initial activities when women’s NGOs were making their
first steps in building civil society as well as much-neededpeace-buildingin the war-torn
Georgia of the early 1990s. These organizations are experienced, and carry with them
institutional and historical memories and, although excluded from formal peace and security
decision-making, their roles in security policy design have been noticeably increased,
especially in recent yearswhen they actively participated in the drafting process of the NAP
for UNSCR 1325. Having implementeda number of confidence-building projects and
programmes since the 1990s, theyhave proved to be effective peace agents and actors
especially in peace-building and post-conflict recovery processes. These women’s NGOs for
many years have participated in P2P initiatives in particular and have well-established
connections in both Abkhazia and South Ossetia, have strong cooperative links and even
embark on joint initiatives.Even though their efforts have not reached high level politics, at
grassroots level, they were able to generate some positive confidence building impacts.
From a long-term perspective, the inclusion of civil society actors including women’s
organizations and the full integration of gender issues in all peace programmes and projects
can generate local ownership of the peace building process, by ensuring that both women
and men are engaged and have the opportunity to express their distinct needs, views and
priorities. This will make thepeace-building process more representative, responsive and
legitimate in the eyes of all stakeholders and peace agents and peace beneficiaries.
STUDY RESULTS/KEY RESEARCH FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS
The methodology to review the peace-building approaches of the
organisationsworking in conflict contexts and women’s issues
The performed survey revealed that there is a diverse and vibrant community of peace-
building practice in Georgia whose work spans multiple sectors and a wide range of
15 p.8; Civil society actors’ capacity needs assessment in the area of evidence-based advocacy and gender mainstreaming into social and healthcare policies/UN Women IAGE Programme; Needs assessment Report 2013, November; Prepared by ARC (Applied Research Company) for UN women
15
activities. International organizations, as well as the Georgian government, support and
participate in theeffortsto strengthen the use of confidence building measures but within the
limits and the framework of their established strategies and capacities.Numerous post-
conflict studies and analyses have been performed by many international and local experts
and organizations, which help to analyse the overall context and facilitate the
conceptualization of future perspectives of peace-building in the country.
The survey was based on a pre-defined methodology and included,among many other
elements,studying the respondent organisations’peace-building approaches that include
women’s issues along with their scope of work, practices, principles and partners. Best
practices and lessons learned have been examined, challenges and gaps identified, and future
perspectives and implications analysed.
The study methodology and interview questions were elaborated in advance and adjusted to
every respondent from government, non-government and international organizations. In
general, the questionnaires covered the following aspects:
(i) The history of the organisation and its involvement in women, peace and security;
whether the organization was implementing P2Pand other confidence building projects that
involve women; whether a similar project had been implemented in the past 5-10 years,
when and where in particular, what were the results, what were the best practices, lessons
learned and challenges; (ii) The respondent organisation’s relationship with the government
- participation in state strategies, policies, action plans, such as NAP for UNSCRs on WPS;
State Strategy: Engagement through Cooperation and Action Plan for Engagement and
others; (iii) The respondent organisation’s relations and attitude to conflict management
through P2P initiatives and other confidence building measures including women’s
participation; whether Track II diplomacy worked, what benefits were yielded and what the
lessons learned and challenges identified were; beyond P2P initiatives, what confidence
building tools and mechanisms should apply or will work in this reality and context for
reconciliation and confidence building. As confidence building measures are now
increasingly seen in political, economic, environmental, social or cultural fields, these aspects
were widely covered through the questionnaires as well as in verbal discussions16.
16
According to OSCE Guide on Non-military Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs): Political CBMs are building confidence in the political systems; Economic CBMs are removing mistrust through economic cooperation between states and communities; Environmental CBMs are having confidence building functions though joint response in natural disaster and manmade disasters or through management of water resources, forestry, land and other natural resources; Societal CBMs as part of human dimension include P2P activities, dialogues and joint projects that ‘create the foundation upon which the mutual understanding and compromise can be built’. Cultural CBMs aim to demonstrate the governments’ sensitivity to local cultures and show respect for traditional authorities; OSCE Guide on Non-military Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs);http://www.osce.org/cpc/91082
16
During the interviews, the societal issues - human dimension of the conflicts,human aspects
of the conflicts, physical and moral aspects of war and peace, communication and personal
contacts;common human factors favourable for P2P relations; political aspects -how strong
the political perceptions in preventing conflict management and peace buildingare - were
also covered, as well ascommon and traditional security challenges,such aswar vs. peace;
political,democratic values/democracy and justice vs. injustice and human rights violations;
free media and ICTD; freedom of expression and freedom of movement; free media and
democratic institutions. Furthermore,common environmental security challenges such as sea
and water pollution,land degradation, deforestation, and decrease of agricultural productivity
were reviewed.Various factors were also reviewed and analysed, which may bring people
closer, such ascommon cultural, historic and traditional issues including common land,
common history, common destiny; common culture and traditions; cultural interactions,
multiculturalism, protection of cultural heritage and religious monuments;
offeringincentives/privileges/benefits such as social and health care benefits, increased
pensions; educational opportunities; economic opportunities/trade and joint economic
activities/economic production/employment opportunities/income generation and many
others.
KEY RESEARCH FINDINGS/ REFLECTIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
The main findings from the interviews
In order to clarify the assumptions and understandings of those interviewed, the interviews
and focus group discussions concerned three thematic areas: (i) the political, societal, social
and economic climate for confidence building and P2P initiatives; (ii) donor and government
policies and projects in this direction; (iii) grassroots efforts/local NGOs and local
governments and their approaches towards past experiences and future perspectives for
confidence building and P2P initiatives and the importance of women’s participation in the
overall process.
The responses gatheredat the interviews and focus group meetings revealed that most of the
respondents consider that in contemporaryGeorgia, thepolitical, societal, social and
economic climate for P2P and other confidence building initiatives is mature and that such
opportunities should not be missed.The present Government of Georgia is ready to support
the confidence building initiatives. The new government acknowledges the need of
rapprochement and conflict management through reconciliation and confidence building.
The respondents from the ministries interviewed believe that the Government of Georgia is
making considerable steps towards these objectives and that plans are in place to intensify
these efforts. A new state strategy is planned to be developed soon on peace-building and
17
reconciliation which will be strongly linked to peace-buildingmethodology through various
means of CBMs including public diplomacy.17
Women’s organizations are keen to actively participate in the elaboration process of all
strategy documents on peace-building and supporting mainstream gender in all key areas
where applicable. In addition, women’s organizations underline the need for women’s
participation in all aspects of thepeace-building process; they find the NAP for UNSCR 1325
to be an effective mechanism for considering women’s issues and the involvement of women
in the peace and security sphere of the country. Women’s NGOs consider it necessary that all
peace and security documents produced by the state from now on should take into
consideration women’s issues and priorities, which are extremely important for participatory
and consolidated democracies.18
On the role of donor organizations in facilitating an effective peace building process, all
respondents from governmental as well as non-governmental organisations underscored the
invaluable role played by international organizations, especially donor organizations,in this
process. Particular emphasis was placed on the need to increase the donor support in terms of
both technical assistance and financing as the outcomes will not be tangible and sustainable
if donor support is not systematic, strategic and holistic.19Almost all respondents underlined
that a coherent donor aid policy is required in orderto attain best peace results.Meanwhile,
the Georgian government’s increased interest in achieving this result is mentioned as one of
the key decisive factors for harnessing trust and support in both the national and
international arenas.
The importance of women’s participation in this process has been underscored as the main
factor for effective and results-based activity.Almost all respondents mentioned that
mainstreaming gender in their current work, programmes and policies is a priority task as
they have seenhow strong and effective women’s participation in all peace processes is and
how important it is to take into consideration women’s needs and priorities when planning
and implementing apeace-building process.
Youth participation in confidence building was mentioned as an important aspect, although
some respondents underlined that this is a difficult segment of society to work with asthe
17Interview with Government representatives 18Interviews with Women’s NGOs 19Interview with International, Government and Women’s NGOs
18
newgeneration from breakaway regions can be victims of misinformation and is persuaded
that Georgia is an enemy and an impediment to their societies’ development.They
mainlyspeak Russian, receive higher education in Russia and are more in favour of
strengthened cooperation with Russia rather than with Georgia proper.20On the other hand,
many consider that the youth groups are decisive for peace and should be activated as peace
agents following relevantdevelopment regarding awareness and capacity.21
Grassroots efforts/the role of local NGOs and CBOs, especially regardingthe participation of
women and girls, wereevaluated highlyby many respondents. It was considered
especiallyvaluable that local NGOs and CBOs are working across the ABL and beyond and
cooperating with the local groups and NGOs from South Ossetia and Abkhazia.This was
consideredthe most effective action for building trust and confidence and speeding up the
reconciliation process.22
The role of local governments of Georgia proper was considered by the interviewees to be
the most important but unused resource.It was stressed that the inclusion of local
government representatives in at least local level dialogue and negotiations framework such
as Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) would increase their credibility
and effectiveness in cross-border cooperation efforts. Many mentioned that local government
representatives from those districts/villages that are adjacent to conflict divided lines should
be present even in the Geneva International Discussions for greater participatory and
ownership reasons.
Several organisations underlined the need for a new framework for negotiations parallel to
Geneva International Discussions where only non-governmental organizations from all sides
of conflicting parties would be present and with the facilitation of international actors would
have opportunities to talk and lead dialogue without any involvement of politicians or any
political prerequisites.
The role of the media was emphasized by respondents as the decisive factor in building
confidence and trust, as media can play both a destructive as well as constructive role in
managing conflicts.Its role was considered as the most vital when societies become closed
and subject to an informational vacuum. Havingan informed citizenry is an important factor,
according to the interviewees, for re-establishing trust and confidence between conflicting
partiers.
20Interview with International Organization; Women’s NGOs 21Interview with International Organization
19
Even though most respondents still considerTrack I diplomacy as the most important avenue
for reconciliation where all parties involved in the conflict participate at a high level
negotiation table including Russia, they also strongly believe that P2P diplomacy and other
CBMs are extremely constructive and effective mechanisms to reach outto communities at
the other side of the ABL.The interviewees especially from the focus groups strongly believe
that if all tools and mechanisms including economic, cultural, educational and
environmental, social and societal are empowered and put into action, the changes will be
feasible and rapprochement will be more realistic for the benefit of conflict-tornsocieties.23
Implications on people-to-people diplomacy
The majority of interviewees consider Track II diplomacy/P2P initiatives to be one of the
important mechanisms for confidence building. LocalNGOs especially believe that bilateral
meetings in the P2P format in third-party countries are an effective mechanism for bringing
people and interested groups closer, to exchange ideas and concerns and plan to overcome
the existing conflict environment.
The vision of the NGOs working on IDP and women’s issues was as follows:‘‘P2P is a very
important mechanism and it is important to have regular meetings with the other parties in
third-party countries - more people are involved, more will becomeaware of the real
situation. It is therefore worthwhile to put money in it – although all these strategies are
oriented on long-term perspectives and objectives, this should be continued –many
respondents believe so - Abkhazians for example know that Russia will not leave [Abkhazia],
but Georgia should try all the time to be closer to show its readiness for reconciliation’’.24
Some respondentsthough do not consider bilateralP2Pactivity at the grassroots level to be an
effective mechanism, asthey believeit risks bringing people together in a politicized and
conflictual format that may make it difficult to open up new channels and narratives for
discussions on common interests. For these respondents, it is considered more effective to
bring people together in a wider format, not Georgians-Abkhazians or Georgians-South
Ossetians, but to involve the whole Caucasus as they all experience the same day-to-day
problems and their attitudes, behaviour and political culture are similar in all of these areas.
Thisprovides a safer space from the point of view of political sensitivity - not a bilateral
format but a multilateral one is important for P2P initiatives in a regional format in
23Interviews with Focus Groups and Women’s NGOs 24 Focus Group meetings
20
orderdilute the existing conflicts.25Some respondents think that P2P initiatives do work to a
certain extent.They believe that individuals do change their perspectives and outlook, and
that enemy perceptions are overcome however efforts also need to be madeatthe other levels
of society to contribute to sustainable development on both sides of the conflict divide26.
Many organizations interviewed mentioned that it is not necessary to spend a lot of money
on visiting expensive countries and places.They all agreed, however, that the use of this
mechanism should be continued, as up until recently this has been the only format that
worked positively,which would become muchmore effective if more interest groups beyond
NGOs were involved, such as journalists, writers and poets, students, and youth
groupsworking on environmental and other issues.27
It was thus agreed that meeting in third countries, especially expensive Western European
countries,wasnot particularly necessary and neighbouring countries, such as Armenia,
Azerbaijan or Turkey, could be used as alternative and cost-effective venues for
conferences.It was also underlined, however, that activities such as study tours to European
countries with similar problems were very useful and effectiveas it providedparticipants with
hands-on knowledge and experience of effective application in peace building practice.28
The majorityof participants of the research emphasized that the 2008 war undermined what
had been achieved for many years through public diplomacy efforts and other activities and
thatthe reconciliation process between the communities had now been torn by this
latestarmed conflict, and has been again postponed further for an uncertain period of time.29
It is important to note that the respondents strongly believe that the Georgian side is much
more open and ready to re-establish ties with South Ossetians and Abkhazians rather than
those in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.In fact, the willingness to cooperate may be reciprocal
but the fear of local self-proclaimed authorities and nationalistic forces prevail and prevent
them from making steps towards reconciliation with Georgia proper30. An example of this is
the rejection from the South Ossetian and Abkhazian women’s NGOs to participate inthis
study.The questionnaires translated into Russianweresent preliminarilyto Abkhazian and
South Ossetian NGOs and interviews were also offeredto complete the questionnaire either
via Skype conference or email.This offer was turned down. These organizations are taking
25 Interview with INGO 26 Interview with INGOs and Women’s NGOs 27 Interview with Women NGOs; International Organisations 28Interview with International Organisation 29Interviews with Gori Focus Group 30Interview with Women’s NGOs
21
part in many joint projects with Georgian partner NGOs but mainly prefer to have alow
profilewithno publicity, which might compromise of safety. The same problem is discussed
in the CARE publication and the need for freedom and safety for all civil society
representatives was underscored:“civil society actors … should have a right to freely express
their opinion and to engage with civil society from other parts of the region without fear for
their safety or persecution”.31
Civil society representatives, especially women’s NGOs and CBOs, were mentioned as
effective mechanisms for advancing P2P activities as women’s participation was considered
very important in all aspects of confidence building including P2P diplomacy.For many
respondents, women by nature are peace-minded and empathic, caring about their families,
communities, and good at planning, which includeselements relating to building peace.32
Furthermore, the respondents think that women proved to be more flexible, courageous and
straightforward when participating in various projects and initiatives.They were more
oriented on social issues, education of their children and livelihood development and used
non-violent mechanisms to achieve their goals. They are peace visionaries, respondentssay,
ready to cross borders and get through the tough regulations at checkpoints or even cross
borders illegally and fight for their lives: meeting their relatives and friends; participating in
various projects including training and skills development; ready to obtain knowledge,
establish contacts and exchange experience; receive social, health and educational benefits
offered by theGeorgian government; trade and do small business.This is all done because
they want their families to grow and develop, and their children to get an education and live
and work peacefully.33
The respondents from focus group meetings acknowledge that IDPs are invaluable resources
for reconciliation and rebuilding trust. They all agree that internally displaced people from
Abkhazia and South Ossetia, especially those united in NGOs, professional groupsand others
who have been involved in IDP issues and peace-building activities for many years, should
be invited to participate in P2P initiatives, as they not only have specific experience or
knowledge, but also are historically and emotionally linked to these conflicts.They all know
very well the root causes and the dramatic consequences of these conflicts.They maintain
contact with their relatives, friends, colleagues and communicate with them on a regular
31 Strengthening women’s capacity for peace building in the South Caucasus region –lessons for policy and practice, Care International; May 2013 32 Focus Group Interviews 33 Focus group discussions; Interviews with International Organizations and Women’s NGOs
22
basis, thus are more instrumental in advancing effective P2P diplomacy and broader
confidence building frameworks.34
To conclude, all respondents agreed that P2P diplomacy was instrumental in bringing
conflicting parties closer, re-establishing trust and confidence and engaging in joint activities
for public benefit and better peace outcomes. All interviewees believe that bringing together
the interest groups, friends and neighbours, students and youth groups, journalists and
NGOs, women’s organizations and human rights advocates, doctors and scientists,
businesspersons and environmentalists around a common but neutral agenda is much more
productive and sustainable and facilitates easy mobilization of groups, easy organization of
events and easy exchange of ideas and thoughts35.
Regardless of its advantages, Track II diplomacy also has its weaknesses. The weakness is that
Track II participants have limited ability to influence foreign policy and political power
structures because of their lack of political power; that interventions can take too long to
yield results; it has limited ability to influence change at the war stage of a conflict;Track II
participants rarely have the necessary resources for sustained leverage during negotiations
and for the implementation of agreements;Track II is not effective in authoritarian regimes
where leaders do not take advice from lower level leaders; andTrack II actors, due to their
lack of political power, are in most cases not accountable to the public for poor decisions.36
The fact that the offer to participate in the assessment was turned down by both South
Ossetian and Abkhazian women’s NGOs implies the weaknesses of Track II diplomacy,
which is unable to operate in authoritarian regimes where leaders exercise power on peace
workers or simply on local communities and where the latter is not free from fear, cannot
bypass the established status quo and cannot act as a free agent of peace on behalf of its
community.
These weaknesses were also discussed during the interviews:“They speak about peace within
the P2P framework, but very often do not have a unified approach to the understanding of
what peace is - for example, Georgians often say Abkhazians and South Ossetians are their
sisters and brothers, and then say we need to return and restore our territorial integrity-what
34 Interviews with Gori and Kutaisi and Zugdidi Focus Groups 35 Interviews with International Organisations 36
p.6. Defining track one and a half diplomacy: its complementary and the analysis of a factors that facilitate its
success, Jeffrey Mapendere, 2001
23
message should they take in this case, what does the word‘return’ mean for them? They take
only the second message that one is coming to conquer their territory again - there should be
a mutual agreement on what peace and peace-building means for both sides of conflicting
parties”.37 Some interviewees assume that, besides this, several years oftautology experience
persists,when the same people and organizations participate in various P2P initiatives (and
donors still finance thesekinds of activities). It does not lead to effectiveresults anymore, as it
causes fatigue and no multiplication of knowledge takes place.The participants become
reluctant to share and promotethe experience acquired though P2P initiatives.38
Implications on other tools of CBMs
Beyond P2P initiatives, among confidence building tools and mechanisms that may apply or
will work in the current context for rapprochement and reconciliation, most respondents
answered that economic relations can be the most effective tool for bringing people closer
and getting them involved in common issues that should be managed together, such as
common market/trade, exchange of goods and products. Financial income impactson
improving relationswhilethe creation of free economic zones could be an interesting
opportunity in this direction. However, all agree that such a move would be extremely
difficult to initiate. There is petty tradetaking placeacross conflict-divided lines–the
Abkhazian and South Ossetian populations do cross the so-called ‘borders’, but with
difficulties at checkpoints, with a limited number of bags and with limited weight (many
bypassing checkpoints risktheir safety in doing so). Economic incentives could act
asstimulifor people to come together but it is difficult to achieve anything of significant scale
with such limited possibilities. These activities are tolerated as long as they remain
undetected. As soon as they become visible, authorities on either side may look to block
them39, so all respondentswelcomed economic relations being legalised and formalised in the
framework of a free economic zone.
Educational opportunities, health care and social benefits are offered to both Abkhazians and
South Ossetians and they use these benefits, especially health care programmes. Health care
seemed to be an area where people were more likely to accept contact with the opposite
side.However, even this became politicizedwhen in 2013 the MFA of Abkhazia had to give a
37 Interview with Women’s NGO 38 Interviews with Women’s NGO and INGO 39 Interviews with Women’s NGO and INGO
24
public explanation of what it was doing to minimise the number of people travelling to
Georgia for treatment.40According to some respondents, Russia also provides health and
social services and spends much more money than Georgia and international organisations
together.Assoon as using these services took on asystematic character, Abkhazians
established ‘Fund Ashara’, telling Russians that the dangerwas critical.Russia now finances
this fund and all medical service programs. At the same time, university quotas have also
increased in Russia with more students travellingfrom Abkhazia to Russia to
attainhighereducation.41
On Education, the respondents think thatexchange projects could be a good entry point for
confidence building as students from all conflicting and breakaway regions may have a good
chance to study together and think together about better solutions for common problems
including conflict resolution. Some respondents noted: “Participation of students from
Georgia and the breakaway regions in education exchange programmes abroad will be a good
opportunity.There may be more opportunities to carry out P2P in Western countries
regarding educational matters”.42
Infrastructure and transportation is an important mechanism for improved communication
and cooperation, the interviewees agree. If it takes place, people will make use of this
opportunity to travel, to develop business and to use other benefits but this channel should
remain as open as possible and Georgia should not try to generate any political capital out of
this.43
On administrative measures -status free documents, passports, and other measures did not
work.Only 300 people from breakaway regions have applied and acquired the documents
since 2010, as mainly they use local passportsor Russian passports and status free documents
become quite dangerous for those who hold them (de facto authorities keep a close eye on
those who try toparticipate in the programmes offered by theGeorgian government), so
people prefer to travel with their old documents and have no expectations about benefiting
from administrative measures.44
40 Interview with INGO 41 Interview with Interviews with Women’s NGO 42 Interviews with International Organisation; INGOs 43 Interview with Women NGOs; IGOs 44Interviews with Government representative and Women’s NGOs
25
Women’s participation is considered to be an effective mechanism for confidence building:
“The practice shows that women’s participation is quite stable, although related to personal
relations. Generally, personal factorsare very important, and trust established for years
among different individual actors, contributes to the success of confidence building".Another
respondent noted: "Women have proven their capability and readiness to use their expertise
on peace-building and in peace processes to influence third party actors."45 The same
respondent recommends some practices that make use of women’s networks to inform the
population more about peace and security issues that are relevant to their daily
needs46.‘‘Participation of women in Geneva or IPRM meetings would make it easier for
Georgian officials to communicate to larger parts of the population about what progress is
being made’’ added another respondent.47
Everyone agrees that media should be used in the best possible way for confidence building;
avoiding hate speech in media isforemost in this area.Moreover, the provision of alternative
information sources, rather than Russian media, is considered important,so the Abkhazian
and South Ossetian populationsaccess more diverse information as they are watching only
Russian channels and listening only to Russian radio.Supporting the development of ICT in
these places is also vital so that people have internet availability and can thereby access
Georgian media as well as international broadcasting.48
Reflections
As mentioned above, beyond P2P diplomacy economic, social, educational, infrastructural,
and environmental and other projects should be promoted in order to advance confidence
building and reconciliation processes. In particular, the reconstruction of economic relations
was highlighted. On several occasions,the Ergnetiretail market which operated informally
until 2003 in the village of Ergneti (located near the ABL), was a large trade hub through
which both South Ossetians and Georgians partook inpetty trading and exchange of goods
and services. It was referred to as a place for meetings where conflict-torn communities were
able to meet and reunite. The Ergneti market was closed in 2004 as part of the new
Saakashvili government’s push to tackle smuggling. TheGori focus group in particular
underscored the strong influence the market had had on bringing conflicting populations 45Interviews with Women’s NGOs 46Interview with INGO 47Interviews INGO 48 Interview with Women’s NGOs
26
closer together: “With this market, Georgians and Ossetians were able to restore relations;
they were meeting each other there, got involved in trade activities and conducted business
together. This brought the conflict-divided communities so close that very little was needed
to come back to the old status of friendly relations”. Now this process begins from the start
again, but, according to the Gori focus group representatives, if the framework of economic
relations are put in place again and effectively promoted, it will be possible to re-establish
these links.49.
Economic relations are named as the most effective mechanism for rapprochement and re-
establishing trust. Almost all participants stressed the need for the reconstruction of Ergneti
retail market system and/or something like informal markets or free economic zones50. IDP
women from South Ossetia and those living across the ABL in the Gori focus group meeting
stressed the positive experience of having such a market, which they said united people torn
by the conflicts in the 1990s. Abkhazian IDPs, NGOs from Kutaisi and Zugdidi focus group
meetings also mentioned that Abkhazians were visiting Georgia proper for trading purposes
and small business activities. All agreed that if free economic zones were arranged and
legally regulated this could lead to massive population engagement in economic activities
and to foster networking and communication between communities, which facilitate the
exchange of goods, information, knowledge and workforce. A properly organized free
economic zone, without fear and barriers, would enable people to trade, to gain knowledge
and experience useful for effective business activities and strengthen economic relations.
This will have a direct effect on people’s wellbeing on both sides of the conflict divide lines
which will subsequently bring strengthened trust and wider cooperation practices –
according to the respondents.51
All respondents welcome the new government’s peace-building track, where all the
attention is given to peaceful means of conflict resolution, and especially P2Pdiplomacy and
the overall confidence building activities, which are understood by respondents to be the
best tools for achieving peace and stability with breakaway regions. This should continue,
they say, and should be backed by international and local communities, and also supported
financially, as peace-building policy implementation is expensive and requires knowledge,
patience and careful planning including calculated and well-elaborated reconciliation plans
49 Interview with Gori Focus Group 50 Focus Group interviews 51Focus Group interviews; IGOs; Women’s NGOs
27
and strategies. The newgovernmentoptingfor soft power and the use ofneutral language
when talking about the existing conflicts was approved by all of those interviewed: “On the
anniversary of the 2008 war, the speech of the Ministry of Defence was entirely built on
peace terminology.”One of the respondentsalso added that“it was dedicated to peace and
reconciliation and there was no threat, no implication on territorial integrity or recovering
lost territories; this neutral language is an important sign for those on the other side of the
ABL and works in an extremely positive way in peace-building efforts’’.52
The focus group meetings showed that there is an unprecedented drive, enthusiasm and
belief among IDPs that they will return back to their villages and towns, the places from
which they were once ousted from. Their everyday work is motivated by a focus on long-
term peace and developmental issues, and that tangible peace outcomes will arrive and this
will happen only through persistent reconciliation and confidence building measures,
through constant dialogue and cooperation activities with those on the other side of the ABL. 53
The women’s NGOs, especially from Georgia proper, have been involved in this business for
a long time and they are extremely valuable when it comes to promoting confidence building
initiatives having implemented joint projects with their colleagues from Abkhazia and South
Ossetia women’s organisations for many years. The focus group representatives think that it
is important to have more women mediators and women diplomats leading the negotiations
and peace dialogue and taking part in conflict management issues as well as participating in
decision-making processes at all levels54.
Most of the NGOs interviewed consider it very important that, in addition to GID and IPRM,
a new format is created. They are convinced that an alternative – third – format is required
where civil society will be fully involved. They believe it must be an international
mechanism where civil societies of all four parties involved (Georgian, Abkhazian, South
Ossetian and Russian) should participate alongside international mediators. According to
respondents, this mechanism will complement the existing mechanisms and will add a more
52 Interview with Women’s NGO 53Gori and Kutaisi Focus Group interviews 54Focus Group meetings
28
effective conflict resolution platform which will involve all parties concerned including the
civil society representatives55.
According to many of those interviewed, an active role should be given to local
governments/municipalities that are located across the ABL. It is important to teach these
entities to be peace builders, provide skills to lead dialogue, facilitate contact between
divided societies, and establish cooperation with similar institutions on the other sides of
ABL. In addition, many respondents underline the need for local governments/municipalities
to participate at the level of IPRM or even the Geneva talks in order to carry on negotiations
and take back to their communities the peace, reconciliation and development messages and
plans. Many also believe that peace negotiations should go to a lower/grassroots level with
P2P diplomacy applied.56
The interviewees believe that confidence building will take place when common security
problems and challenges are identified and addressed together, such as environmental and
cultural issuess, e.g. implementing joint projects on fighting locusts and fall webworm
(Hyphantriacunea)57 or restoring old traditional Abkhazian houses. There are cases of
cooperation in economic and educational fields as well, such as those concerning power
distribution. A village in the Samegrelo region receives electricity from Abkhazia and pays
electricity bills to the Abkhazia power distribution services. In addition, a school located
beyond the ABL in the village of Nabakevi with children from the village of Khurcha in the
Samegrelo region crossing a checkpoint on the River Enguri every day to attend classes.58
Gaps and Challenges
In the process of discussions, the following gaps and challenges emerged as impediments to
effective confidence building initiatives and P2P diplomacy:
Russia was named as the number one factor impeding the reconciliation process as many in
the focus groups have underlined that Russia is part of the conflict but can also become a
55 Interview with Women’s NGOs 56 Interview with IGOs; Women’s NGOs 57The plague of the fall webworm has inflicted a great deal of losses on the population of Kolkheti. By
purchasing necessary equipment and pesticides, the group contributed to the improvement of the living of up to
100 families in a community on the other bank of the River Enguri 58Interview with Women’s NGO
29
peace agent. So far, it has been playing a negative role isolating the breakaway regions as
much as possible from Georgia. The Abkhazia and South Ossetia populations fear that Russia
may react negatively if they are caught attempting to get closer to Georgia. On the other
hand, respondents are strongly convinced that if there is the will from Russia, this country
can play a positive role as well in resolving existing conflicts.59
The second factor named is the political will of both Georgia and the breakaway regions –
the interviewees underscored that if, at the highest level, all sides take a decision to manage
the existing conflicts through peaceful means, then re-establishing trust and confidence,
personal contacts and business ties may become much easier and peace may become a more
achievable outcome. However, some respondents believe that even if negotiations at the
highest levelend positively there will always be a psychological barrier to overcome,
especially on the side of breakaway regions as propaganda creating the image of Georgia as
an enemy and adversary is prominent, which may significantly hinder the
confidencebuilding process. Nevertheless, the focus group members, especially from Gori,
are certain that mostOssetians are longing to re-establish ties with Georgians and return to
kind neighbourly relations. Contrary to the Gori focus group representatives, the Zugdidi
focus group members (mainly IDPs from Abkhazia) believe that although Abkhazians are not
happy with the Russians(especially Russian soldiers), this does not mean that they welcome
reconciliation with Georgians.The readiness to cooperate is only expressed in terms of
business partnership whilecooperation regardingother activities should not be expected.60
59 Focus Group meetings 60ZugdidiFocus Group interview
30
Many of those interviewed consider justice a challenge for
the breakaway regions, specifically the attitude of the
local de facto administration of Abkhazia and South
Ossetia towilfully punish everyone that shows tolerance
to reconciliation and cooperation with Georgians.
International organizations are considered instrumental
incurbing the aggression of the local de facto
administration of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The
respondents believe that these organizations should put
even more powerful mechanisms in place so that
international rules and regulations are observed in
Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and citizens of breakaway
regions have the opportunity to enjoy the full right of free
movement, freedom of expression and freedom of choice
and have the right to enjoy the benefits of humanitarian
aid and developmental programs that benefit their
communities.61“If somebody has a new idea, it should be
tolerated, not objected against - now it’s hard to give it
the daylight to introduce it to the public, they are taking a
lot of abuse-it’s about freedom of speech’’ says one of the
respondents and continues:“More inclusive societies are
achievable through openness and you have to stand up for
freedom of expression; connections, information, fertile
ground for democratization, non-discriminative
environment are needed – there should be more diverse
views, e.g. on women’s issues, then less violation within
the families and subsequently in the societies; in short,
peace is achievable only through democratic means."62
One more challenge for the reconciliation with
Abkhazians and South Ossetians is that there is no such
environment where that solution is imaginable. There is
61 Interviews with Women’s NGOs 62 Interview with INGO
‘’The reconciliation will only take place
when both parties in conflict will
acknowledge their mistakes - why this
war happened, who was involved who
was to blame, who generally plans war
mechanisms, who wins economically
and politically and who loses. If people
know that they are deceived as
persons and citizens; that all this
happens at their expense, at the
expense of their families and friends
and relatives who get killed and
wounded, and their households get
ruined and destroyed for nothing -
both sides will understand that those
who win the war in fact are losers too,
as moral responsibilities are higher
than political ones. As an
ethnographer, as a linguist, as a
humanist, I have deep compassion
and sympathy for Abkhazians and
South Ossetians, because these are
small and very valuable Caucasian
ethnic groups with wonderful cultures,
languages, traditions – these people
are deceived, they cannot reach
harmony and development in the
condition they are currently in. These
small ethnic groups have no other
perspectives of development than
peace and democracy. The peace
objectives should not perish for
political motivation, the peace should
be obtained for humane purposes – to
live in dignity and harmony.”
Interview with Marina Tabukashvili, the
leader of NGO - ‘Taso Foundation’
31
no common approach to conflict resolution, no conflict analysis or mechanisms defined so
that conflict management is possiblethereforeno plan for reconciliation and confidence
building with Georgia proper exists at this moment which hinders any positive process.63
During the interviews, most of the respondents underscored the need for the Georgian
governmentto adhere to its peace-buildingrhetoric and use neutral communiqué, and
alsofree its policy documents from political implications and prejudices and focus on softer,
proactive, and cooperative actions.If the focus is made on confidence building, then it should
be employedby any politicalpersuasions.For example,the state document on “Engagement
Through Cooperation” which offers excellent entry points to Track II diplomacy and
confidence building initiatives, alsomakes some implications on territorial integrity
whichexasperates those on the other side of ABL64. “The Georgian strategic document
‘Engagement through cooperation’ was written by the Georgian government for (i)
cultivation of their images among international society and (ii) to get money.’Overall it was a
positive document, but then a contradictory document – the Law on Occupied Territories
ruined everything, as on the one hand they had this document for cooperation and on the
other hand the law was restricting many activities; and both documents were in the hands of
one person, the State Minister of Reintegration. It showed how complex the situation was.
On paper it looked nice, but they did not take into consideration that there was not a
security issue but a problem of trust. Everyone in Abkhazia thought that it was a trap’’.65
Thus, the challenge, and at the same time the opportunity, is to have a neutral state policy
document with a more people-cantered tone that will be free from any political connotations
and presuppositions. However, many think that state strategies will only work if “the
environment remains as permissive as possible, while at the same time remaining
depoliticized." Furthermore, "on Georgian territory, you can plan all your activities, as well
as define indicators, but not on occupied territories, it’s much more difficult to extend the
policy documents’ influence over the breakaway territories”.66In addition, it is believed that
it is important to have peace architecture prepared professionally - how to expand the peace
movement, how to decentralize, how to build democracy and tolerance. As one of the
respondents underlined:“In other countries, the church was apart of this peace architecture.
Here, they are extremely chauvinistic; with the artistic movement, it is the same. Here, they
63 Interviews with Kutaisi and Zugdidi Focus Groups; interview with INGO 64 Interview with women NGOs and INGO 65 Interview with INGO 66 Interviews with Women’s NGOs
32
are carriers of nationalistic ideas. On a strategic level, this is a factor that needs to be
formalized and then accurately implemented”.67
Many in the focus groups consider peace projects to have support from both international
and national organizations which is neither financially nor technically adequate and that the
state policies are also not backed with sufficient financial resources: “Meanwhile, Abkhazian
and South Ossetian defacto governments find all possible means to keep their population in
isolation and keep up the ‘enemy image’ of Georgia and prevent their population from
engaging in any development and joint initiatives that may benefit them all. These efforts of
defacto governments are backed by Russia which tries as much as possible to keep them
under its control”.68The women’s NGOs and focus group members view these factors as
extremely challenging and think an effective solution to the problems is in the hands of the
international community and that they should exert all international tools and mechanisms
to support peace initiatives in Georgia and seek conflict resolution in the entire South
Caucasus region.69
Although there are many internal and external factors impeding peace processes, it was
agreed that all peace-building approaches including CBMs in time will change the nature of
society and transform towards more manageable, peaceful relationships and governance
structures. The respondents stated that this is the core idea of building peace: “The long-term
process of addressing root causes and effects, reconciling differences, normalising relations,
and building institutions that can manage conflict without resorting to violence”.70
RECOMMENDATIONS
These recommendations are primarily intended for the UN Women IAGE Programme, but
also for all of the relevant development actors, NGOs, members of academia as well as
respective government representatives. The recommendations are based on the research
findings and analysis of the collected data. The aim of these recommendations is to
contribute to a comprehensive approach to peace-building in Georgia through confidence
building and P2P diplomacy and women’s involvement in this process. 67Interview with INGO 68 Interviews with Women’s NGO; Focus Group meetings 69Ibid. 70Glossary of Terms for Conflict Management and Peace-building; United States Institute of Peace (USIP) http://glossary.usip.org/resource/peace-building
33
In Georgia’s current context of frozen conflicts, People-to-people diplomacy and all other
CBMs should be considered one of the quickest ways to reach out to the communities in
Abkhazia and South Ossetia, thus it is important to effectively use these mechanisms to
initiate joint projects facilitating the reconstruction of economic, cultural, environmental,
social and societal structures and ties which bring mutual benefits and more effective
peace outcomes for all parties involved;
At present, P2P diplomacy/ Track II diplomacy mainly involves NGO participants, and
this should be diversified and extended to the involvement of other groups such as
influential academics, scientists, journalists, artists, religious leaders, youth groups,
professional groups (such as teachers, doctors, journalists)who can interact with their
counterparts with similar professional interests and encourage new thinking that can
inform the official peace process. It is important to diversify the landscape as at present
we are witnessing one and the same organizations being invited in various formats of
P2P, which reduces the chance of increased participation and effective dissemination of
information and experience;
Given the multiple internal and external factors, it is recommended to keep applying
both Track I and Track II diplomacy within a strategic framework for peace. Moreover, it
is important not to abandon multi-track diplomacy and try to operate along several tracks
simultaneously, including official and unofficial conflict resolution efforts71;
Among CBMs, economic relations were named the most effective mechanism for
rapprochement and re-establishing old ties. The Ergneti market, a tested provider of
economic relations, was strongly propagated among respondents. The establishment of
common markets/free economic zones across ABLs with both South Ossetia and
Abkhazia, is considered to foster economic cooperation, strengthen business ties and
speed up communication between the divided communities;72
71
For many interviewees, peace will not be established if all conflicting parties are not involved in peace-
building process – Georgia proper, its break-away Regions of Abkhazians, South Ossetians and Russia as well;
they consider track I diplomacy will have to play its role and track II diplomacy/ confidence building measures
and all other tracks together should complement each other to reach the end result 72 There are number of papers written by various experts on free economic zones already, so this can be used as resource; also number of pilot projects have been launched by international organisations with small market infrastructure in place, also interesting resource (interview with International Organisation)
34
Infrastructure and transportation is an important mechanism for improved
communication and cooperation including establishing business, cultural and social ties.
This will stimulate interest and desire among all parties involved to become engaged in
this type of exercise;
Educational opportunities/exchange programs abroad are considered to be a good
opportunity for young women and men from all conflicting and breakaway regions to
study together and think together about better solutions for common problems including
resolution of existing conflicts (another opportunity to carry out P2P);
Given the fact that informed citizenry is an important factor for re-establishing trust
between conflicting parties, media role was named decisive in building confidence and
trust, as it could play a constructive role to break stereotypes, change mind-sets and
attitudes, shatter the enemy image of Georgia and show its peace-orientation, therefore it
is recommended that:
Georgian broadcasting in understandable languages covers those breakaway territories
and the messages are informative, peaceful and constructive;
Internet resources and social media are actively and creatively used for P2P
diplomacy initiatives;
ICT development is supported in both Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Computer literacy
is to be increased and youth is provided with personal computers to increase access to
diverse information, access to social media and international broadcasting;
Given that special segments of society, such as women’s NGOs and CBOs, youth groups
and IDPs are considered among the best resources for confidence building and advancing
P2P activities73, it is advised to increase the number and capacities of such groups in
mediation, conflict resolution techniques, etc. so that professional and knowledgeable
peace resources grow, reach a suitable level and then influence systems, societies, and
states of mind;
Grassroots efforts/the role of local NGOs and CBOs with the participation of women
operating across the ABL and beyond have been evaluated very positively – thus an
increase of cooperation with women’s NGOs from South Ossetia and Abkhazia and
73For e.g. there is this unprecedented drive, enthusiasm and belief among IDPs, that they will return back to their villages and towns and they relentlessly work towards their dreams to come true
35
Georgia proper is recommended. Focus should be on their further capacity development
and engagement of younger women in confidence building and P2P diplomacy processes;
The role of local governments, especially those working in the districts and villages
located across the ABL, should increase their capacity and knowledge in confidence
building issues. They should be included in at least local-level dialogue and negotiations
frameworks such as Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM)to increase
their credibility and effectiveness in cross-border cooperation efforts;
Creation of a new informal framework for dialogue and negotiations (in addition to the
existing Geneva and IPRM formats), mediated by the international community, where
civil society representatives will be present from all conflicting parties (Georgian,
Abkhazian, South Ossetian and Russian) is recommended by many women’s NGOs. The
mechanism is seen as an additional and effective conflict resolution mechanism with a
strong voice and ownership of local civil society representatives;
The importance of women’s role in P2P and confidence building efforts has been
underlined as one of the main factors for achieving effective peace results as women are
considered to be the most efficient peacemaking actors and peace beneficiaries and the
integration of gender issues in conflict management and peace building processes at all
levels is the key to the effectiveness and the accountability of the ongoing peace
processes;
Women’s organizations working on Track II diplomacy are keen to actively participate in
the elaboration and implementation process of all state documents on peace-building,
including NAP for UNSCR 1325, so this resource should be utilized effectively by the
government as the organizations come with a long history of active engagement in P2P
and confidence building initiatives, they have extensive capacities, knowledge and
experience;
Forward-thinking security and peace experts, professional international and local
organizations, grassroots peace movement members, including women professionals
should be activated as much as possible as outstanding professional competencies are
required to lead peace processes;
The Georgian Government’s peace-building track, where all attention is given to peaceful
means of conflict resolution should continue and be backed by the international
community, including development actors as this is the only way to achieve positive
peace and long-term development for the country including its breakaway regions. It is
36
also advised that the Georgian Government continues using neutral communiqué and
clears its policy documents from political implications and prejudices and focuses more
on soft, proactive, and cooperative actions;74
A coherent donor aid and peace development policy (systematic, strategic, and holistic) is
required for attaining best peace results which should be developed in partnership with
the Georgian Government and civil society. It is advised that all policies and plans be
gender mainstreamed and women’s needs and their role are taken into consideration at
all levels and in all sectors, including peace-building;
A contextual and comprehensive conflict analysis from a gender perspective should be
conducted regularly in order to evaluate whether the understanding of the conflict is still
valid, as conflicts are fluid and continually changing and conflict analysis commands a
better grasp of the situation for evaluation and better peace planning for problem
resolutions;
Confidence building programmes should be structured around common security
challenges such as environmental issues (e.g. sea and still water pollution, land
degradation, deforestation and plant diseases) or societal security challenges (e.g.
minority issues, migration, depopulation, women’s rights/domestic violence and
children’s rights);
A clear and convincing definition of peace is required to be agreed with active
participation of women. This calls for a reconciling of the competing needs and concerns
of all parties involved;
The assessment of the available peace building capacity, such as human resources,
institutional capacities, peace infrastructure, as well as gaps, is necessary to ensure
effective national peace planning and implementation. This also entails mobilising
civilian expertise on peace-building and establishing a roster of peace and security experts
including women experts;75
74Based on the interview analysis, it is assumed, that more neutral document with more people-cantered
implications and less political connotations with strongly defined peace-building methodology including CBMs
and public diplomacy could make the rapprochement environment more promising and conducive 75One interesting example from EU can be exerted here: EU under its mediation support capacity and
Instrument for Stability (IfS) framework plans to ”mobilise and consolidate civilian expertise on peace-building
issues’’ and further in its recommendations for operation support the document says that “ the benefits and
37
It is recommended to enhance methodologies for formal and informal peace education
that will foster a culture of dialogue and peaceful handling of conflicts through
institutionalisation of such curricula in educational systems so that students at high
schools, colleges and universities can major in peace, conflict resolution and security
studies;
International documents, resolutions and conventions, as well as strategies and plans,
need to be applied for all parties involved so that international standards and values, such
as freedom, justice, democracy, equal participation and engagement, peace, security and
sustainable development help attain the end goals (UNSCR 1325 and its follow up
resolutions on Women, Peace and Security and NAPs for the implementation of these
resolutions are excellent tools to move toward these goals);
On a rather general note, based on the abovementioned, the development of a coherent
peace plan/multi-levelled, multi-sectoral strategy is advised that will take into
consideration all aspects discussed above (such as conflict analysis, peace-building
capacities, win-win approach, agreed terms and rhetoric, application of CBMs or P2P
diplomacy or multi-track diplomacy) and will focus on synergy between peace-building
efforts in diverse domains, at different system levels and layers of the conflict;
When working on the peace process in general, and on peace strategy and programmes
implementation in particular, risk mitigation measures are vital to avoid intensification of
the conflict or creating harmful situations for participants, so the “Do No Harm’’
approach should be incorporated into all activities throughout the application;
The win-win approach to problem-solving76 will significantly contribute to confidence
building and conflict resolution. The idea that all parties may satisfy their interests with a
mutually beneficial resolution of existing problems, for example creating a mutually
beneficial sense of interdependence between all the parties involved is a credible
mechanism for peace outcomes;
“Democracies do not fight wars with one another’’ – peace is achievable only through
democracy77:efforts aimed at establishing democratic systems in Georgia proper as well as
feasibility of establishing a roster of experts in mediation process and related thematic areas, will be explored”
p.10; Concept on Strengthening EU Mediation and Dialogue Capacities; Council of The European Union;
Brussels, 10 November 2009
76Interview with International Organisation 77The message from the interviewees
38
in the breakaway regions will lay the basis for societal transformation conducive to peace
objectives and outcomes.78
78 ‘It is recommended to embed the peace building into institutions that ‘’reinforce and sustain the process…
Sustainable peace is seen (a) as the result of a reconciliation of competing values, interests and needs, such as
freedom, justice, affluence, security, truth, mercy and dignity, and (b) as flourishing best in a consolidated
democratic environment’; Architectural Considerations and Principles; Peace building Architecture by Luc Reychler; http://www.gmu.edu/programs/icar/pcs/LR83PCS.htm/
39
APPENDIX 1
List of used literature
A New Global Partnership: Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economies Through
Sustainable Development; The Report of the High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the
Post-2015 Development Agenda
http://www.beyond2015.org/sites/default/files/HLPReport.pdf
Architectural Considerations and Principles; Peace building Architecture by Luc Reychler;
http://www.gmu.edu/programs/icar/pcs/LR83PCS.htm/
Baseline Study; Women Connect Across Conflicts: Building Accountability for
Implementation of UNSCR 1325, 1820, 1888, 1889 in Georgia; 27 February 2012
Concept on Strengthening EU Mediation and Dialogue Capacities; Council of the European
Union; Brussels, 10 November 2009
Confidence Building in the Arms Control Process: A Transformation View (James Macintosh
(Ottawa, Canada: Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Arms Control and
Disarmament Studies Number 2, 1996. JX 1974.M32 1996)
‘’Conducting Track II Peace Making’’; Heidi Burgess and Guy Burgess; Published: December
2010; 1 http://www.usip.org/publications/conducting-track-ii-peace-making
Civil society actors’ capacity needs assessment in the area of evidence-based advocacy and
gender mainstreaming into social and healthcare policies/UN Women IAGE Programme;
Needs assessment Report; 2013, November; Prepared by ARC (Applied Research Company)
for UN women
Defining track one and a half diplomacy: its complementary and the analysis of a factors that
facilitate its success, Jeffrey Mapendere, 2001
OSCE Guide on Non-military Confidence-Building Measures
(CBMs);http://www.osce.org/cpc/91082
Glossary of Terms for Conflict Management and Peace-building; United States Institute of
Peace (USIP); http://glossary.usip.org/resource/peace-building
Overview of EC Assistance to People Affected by Conflict in Georgia; EU Delegation to
Georgia; May 2010
‘Peace-building 2.0 Mapping the Boundaries on an Expanding Field’; Alliance for Peace-
building; 2012; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confidence_and_security-building_measures
Peace-building; by Michelle Maiese; Beyond Intractability; 2003-2012 The Beyond
Intractability Project, The Conflict Information Consortium, University of Colorado;
http://www.beyondintractability.org/contributors/michelle-maiese
Review of the Swedish Development Cooperation within the Breakaway Region of
Abkhazia, Georgia, 2011-2013; SIDA
40
Resolution of the Georgian Parliament On approval of 2012-2015 National Action Plan for
implementation of the UN Security Council Resolutions ## 1325, 1820, 1888, 1889 and 1960
on “Women, Peace and Security”;
http://www.peacewomen.org/assets/file/georgia_napdec_27_2011.pdf
Strengthening women’s capacity for peace building in the South Caucasus region –lessons for
policy and practice, Care International; May 2013
UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict Dataset (The Department of Peace and Conflict Research at
Uppsala University); http://www.pcr.uu.se/digitalAssets/167/167200_version_history_v4-
2013.pdf
What are non-military CBMs, Chapter 1, CBMs a conceptual framework; OSCE Guide on
Non-military Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs) published in 2012, is available at
http://www.osce.org/cpc/91082
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaesong_Industrial_Region
http://www.peacewomen.org/security_council_monitor/about-women-peace-and-security-
agenda
http://www.smr.gov.ge/docs/doc204.pdf
http://www.smr.gov.ge/index.php?lng=eng
http://www.internationalrelations.com/wars-in-progress/
http://www.unpbf.org/application-guidelines/what-is-peace-building/
http://www.un.org/en/sc/repertoire/8992/Chapter%208/GENERAL%20ISSUES/Item%2029_
Agenda%20for%20peace_.pdf
41
APPENDIX 2
The detailed work plan and project methodology
Introduction
The scope of the present work and the objectives have been formulated in the TOR and the
milestones provided by the UN-Women IAGEP Programme. The main objective is to
facilitate the discussions about confidence building and P2P diplomacy programs that
involve women, analyse past experience and come up with a new vision and strategy for
engagement and joint actions.
To address the goal of the study, the researcher presents below the methodology and the
detailed work plan that will support the exploratory and descriptive nature of the research.
The chapters below discuss the overall project design and the data collection and data
analysis methodology used to collect sufficient information to answer the project’s research
questions.
1. METHODOLOGY
The detailed work-plan and project methodology are elaborated according to the TOR and
the milestones provided by the IAGEP Programme. The basic approach to the assignment
consists of three main phases, and encompasses several methodological stages. The following
methodology79 has been chosen to apply in order to achieve the set goals:
Evaluation framework. The evaluation framework will determines the objective, target
group, will identify key and periphery stakeholders, as well as the general environment of
the evaluation and social norms that are relevant to the evaluation objective. Understanding
of these factors is necessary to determine the specific methodology and approach of the
assessment.
Collect data. This will be done qualitatively through interviews, focus groups, observations,
and desk-top reviews and analysis of collected data.
Use evaluation findings. This is related to the initial purpose of the evaluation, either
learning or accountability. In the case of learning, the data should be processed into reports,
presentations or action plans that lead to a change in behaviour within your target groups. In
terms of accountability, the data should be analysed and presented to the concerned parties
79’How to Decide on an Evaluation Framework’, Cindy Banyai, http://www.ehow.com/how_8120688_decide-
evaluation-framework.html#ixzz2jUAxfhku
42
The evaluation framework
The objective of the study is to facilitate the discussions about confidence building and P2P
diplomacy programs that (1) involve women to analyse experience of past, what has worked
and what has not and (2) come up with a new vision and strategy for engagement and joint
activities.
The target groups are national governmental and non-governmental organizations,
international organization including donor organization. The key stakeholders are the Office
of the State Minister of Georgia for Reintegration responsible for the implementation of the
State Strategy on Occupied Territories - Engagement through Cooperation and Action Plan
for Engagement and for the coordination of the ongoing works regarding peace building,
confidence building and people-to people initiatives; Parliamentary Gender Council
responsible for the implantation (including monitoring and evaluation) of the NAP for
UNSCR 1325; Local Self-Government bodies of the Districts/villages adjacent to the conflict-
divided lines; also major donor organizations and implementing agencies such as: EU-UNDP
(COBERM programme); UN-Women; USAID; SIDA; Swiss International Development
Agency; number of international and local non-governmental organizations implementing
the projects on confidence building and P2P diplomacy that involve women80. Periphery
stakeholders are other respective Ministries, Departments, and most importantly, the local
population, IDPs, youth groups and others that are involved or effected by in peace building
processes.
The general environment for the evaluation and the social norm is conducive in a way that
the Georgian population is ready for reconciliation and rapprochement and restoring ties
with conflict-torn societies; the new government’s policy in terms of conflict management
and peace-building is solely positive and is for multi-track diplomacy, favouring confidence-
building and P2P initiatives and women’s involvement in these initiatives. On the latter, the
Government has a specially tailored document to consider women’s issues in peace building
and security sphere (NAP for the implementation of UNSCR’s on Women, Peace and
Security). The donor organizations are also supportive in this aspect and local organizations
ready to participate at all levels.
However, it is not very much clear what the people at the other side of conflict divided lines
think. There are self-proclaimed governments’ statements against restoring the ties with the
Georgia proper; however no opinion polls, studies or assessments are made about the local
populations’ attitude towards the need of conflict management through reconciliation and.
80Although the names of key organizations working on the topic in question is known, the final list of the
organizations will have been identified after meeting the representative of the Office of the State Minister of
Georgia for Reintegration leading the coordination works in the Office
43
The planned Skype conference with the NGOs from Abkhazia and South Ossetia81 may give
more clear ideas on these issues and some suggestions also may appear, although we should
not expect these organizations give the exact tools for the resolution of existing problems.
The specific methodology
Stemming from above, the specific methodology thus will focus on two major standard
approaches:
Qualitative evaluation - collecting data though interviews, focus groups, observations, and
desk-top reviews of existing/filed documents and analysis of collected data.
Evaluation findings used for both purposes: learning and accountability. The data will be
processed into Final Report and presentation will be organized for the major stakeholders. In
addition, the data will be analysed and presented to the concerned parties.
Qualitative evaluation
Based on the evaluation framework the data will be collected through:
(i) Desk-top review of existing/filed documents, reports, evaluation forms, etc. that is
expected to obtain from the international and local organization implementing (having
implemented) the respective projects and initiatives; donors providing financial support to
these organizations; Government that is coordinating such organizations/ activities.
(ii) Interviews that will be carried on with the State representatives and key Donor
organizations.
(iii) Focus groups which will be organized with the local NGOs and self-Government
representatives.
(iv) Observations and final analysis of collected data that will be performed in the last phase
and come out as the Final Report with the recommendations for further activities.
The following methods for data collection will be used such as: records reviews, interviews,
focus group, paper questionnaires, email communication, and observations. Data source will
be identified and carefully assessed the possibility to where the data will be accessed
(Ministries, local governments, NGOs, Donors, IOs). NGOs are more open to provide the
data, often more accurate and also provide data disaggregated by sex. Location of data
collection should be also identified: where the data will be collected, e.g. in the place of work
or via email, during the group discussion or others. For the data collection number of
activities will be performed such as interviews with Government/state officials; Meetings
with international donor community representatives; focus groups with NGOs. Interview
81 Names of the organizations will be provided by UN –Women Programme
44
and focus groups guides will be designed accordingly. Discussions will centre on peace-
building aspects and women’s issues, role of women in attaining peace and reconciliation,
challenges and perspectives in this direction. Beyond the evaluation questions, it is suggested
to use a questionnaire survey when making especially in focus groups. The specially tailored
questionnaire, as the research instrument will be designed to use in focus groups.
The interviews and focus group discussions will be carried out in three thematic areas to
shed light on the assumptions and understandings of those interviewed about (i) the
Political, Societal, Social and Economic Climate for confidence building and P2P initiatives;
(ii) Donor and Government Policies and projects in this direction; (iii) Grassroots
Efforts/local NGOs and local governments and their approaches towards past experience and
future perspectives for confidence building and P2P initiatives and on the concept and
importance of women’s participation in this process; how they integrate the peace building
aspects into their work and what are the challenges and gaps to mainstream gender in their
current works/programmes/policies.
In order to facilitate the focus group to analyse experience of past and come up with a new
vision and strategy for engagement and joint actions, the focus areas of the discussion will be broadened and structured as follows: (i) societal issues - human aspects of the conflicts –
physical and moral aspects of war and peace; communication and personal contacts;
Common human factors favourable for P2P relations: common land-common history-
common destiny/common culture and traditions/cultural
interaction/multiculturalism/protection of cultural heritage and religious monuments; (ii)
political aspects – how strong is the political perceptions in preventing from conflict
management and peace building. (iii) Common security challenges: traditional security
challenges - war vs. peace; political challenges -democratic values/ democracy and justice vs.
injustice and human rights violation; free media and democratic institutions; common
environmental security challenges - sea and water pollution; land degradation, forestry,
decrease of agricultural production; (iv) Practical factors that may bring people closer:
incentives/privileges/benefits such as social and health care benefits, increased pensions;
educational opportunities; economic opportunities/trade and joint economic
activities/economic production/employment opportunities/income generation.
2. THE WORK PLAN
This detailed work plan is elaborated based on the evaluation framework and methodology
presented above and closely observes the milestones that have been outlined by the UN-
Women IAGEP Programme:
1. Elaboration of a detailed work plan and project methodology - 4 November 2013
45
2. Submission of minutes on three conducted roundtable consultations on confidence
building and people to people diplomacy - 22 November 2013
3. Submission of minutes on two conducted roundtables and Skype consultations - 9
December 2013
4. Final report and package of recommendations prepared and presented with detailed
description of opportunities and challenges of the past experience, lessons learned and
recommendations for future activities in the field of confidence building and P2P
diplomacy that involve women – 13 December 2013
Below come the detail of each activity that is bind with above given evaluation framework
and methodology and is reflected in the Detailed Work Plan attached to this document as
Annex 1.
Milestone 1 -The evaluation framework and project methodology
4 days are allocated to elaborate methodology and develop the evaluation framework. This
document includes in itself the methodology and evaluation framework, thus this work may
be considered as completed. The Work plan reflects all milestones including #1.
Milestone 2 and 3 - Discussions on confidence building and P2P diplomacy
The consultation meetings and Skype discussions will be performed according to the TOR
and in accordance with the elaborated methodology. Close liaison with the Programme
Manager and the team, regular exchange of the information, meetings and online
communication will be required to ensure effective scheduling of these meetings, and to
ensure access to the appropriate respondents.
Based on the proposed methodology, in order the meetings are effective and the important
information is extracted it is suggested instead of 2 group meetings in Tbilisi, organise face-
to-face meetings with the representatives of key NGOs implementing projects on women’s
participation in confidence building and P2P initiatives, also organize interviews with the
State representatives and Donors organizations - this will give opportunity to extract more
detailed and concrete information from the respondents.
Thus the following activities are proposed to follow:
1. Preparation stage –identify the persons and organizations for the interview and group
meetings, develop letter to inform about the project objectives and meeting intention;
contact respondents for the appointments; prepare agenda for the meetings, prepare
respective questions/ and questionnaire for the interviews and group meetings;
identify the focus areas of the discussion.
46
2. Data Collection - organise interviews, email communication, group meetings and
Skype conferences; prepare minutes and notes
3. Analyses of the data collected from the interviews (notes) and group meetings
(minutes, questionnaire) – each time analyse the data obtained during the meetings
and interviews and include them in the minutes to submit to UN-Women.
In order, the Data Collection is carried out effectively the following actions should be taken:
1. Interviews with the State representatives: (i) the Office of the State Minister of
Georgia for Reintegration and (ii) the representative of the Government of Abkhazia,
Head of educational and Cultural Department
2. Interviews with the representatives of Donor organizations and implementing
agencies: (i) UN-Women programmes; (ii) EU-UNDP COBERM programme;
(iii)others;
3. Interviews with the international and local organizations: (i) KvinnatilKvinna; (ii)
CARE; Women’s organizations
4. Focus Group meetings with local NGOs: (i) one Gori focus group meeting; (iii) one
Kutaisi focus group meeting; (iv) one Zugdidi focus group meeting (in the regions, it
will be possible have mixed groups, i.e. invite NGOs and local self-government
representatives who have their local concerns and problems regarding these issues,
and respectively may have ideas on local problem solutions etc.).
5. Skype conferences: 2 Skype communications with the NGO representatives from
Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Milestone 4 - Final reporting and package of recommendations
The 4th milestone includes Final report and package of recommendations prepared and
presented with detailed description of opportunities and challenges of the past experience,
lessons learned and recommendations for future activities in the field of confidence building
and P2P diplomacy that involve women. This phase will be an intensive interaction with the
UN Women staff in order to allow for open and comprehensive discussion of the analysis of
the findings, and the development of the report.
Review the past and ongoing projects and initiatives
According to the TOR, the review of the ongoing and already finalized work82, analysis of
the past experience and lessons learned should have been performed at the first stage,
82TOR: Review past and existing programmes and major initiatives aimed at confidence building and P2P
diplomacy that have involved / targeted women, as well as assessments/evaluations/reports related to these
programmes
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however in the milestones chart, it is put in the 4th Milestones which is logical, as the time
will need to obtain reports, evaluations and other relevant documents from the organizations
that have been working for many years on the topic in question (the collection of the
required information should start as early as possible).
In order to Review the past and ongoing projects and initiatives aimed at confidence building
and P2P diplomacy that have involved/targeted women, number of activities should be
followed:
1. Contact The Office of the State Minister of Georgia for Reintegration that is
responsible for the management and coordination of the information related to the
issue in question in order the necessary information on ongoing and already
performed work is provided from the official sources
2. Contact major donor organizations that have been or are currently financing the
related projects - they may have respective reports and final evaluation documents at
hand
3. Contact respective international and national organizations implementing the projects
related above mentioned topics; organizations will be asked to send their reports or
briefs about their past activities and the outputs, lessons learnt and best practices. 4. Proceed with the desk-review of the obtained data on the past and ongoing projects
and initiatives aimed at confidence building and P2P diplomacy that involve women.
The evaluation will be part of the final document –Final Report (4th milestone).
5. The collection of the information and relevant documents will require time; therefore
the data collection activities will start as early as possible (at the initial stage of the
project implementation).
As outlined in the 4th milestone the obtained data will be reviewed and analysed in the last
stage of the project implementation. This means that assessment phase will be split into two phases: 1. Data collection coinciding with the timeframe of the 2nd and 3rd milestones of the project;
2. Desk-review and analysis of the ongoing and already performed work - the last stage of
the project - 4th Milestone. Close liaison with the Programme Manager and the team will be
needed to ensure effective collection of materials for the desk-review.
The Final Report
The Final Report will be developed based on (i) the results from the desk-review/ assessment
of the past and ongoing work, (ii) analysis of the findings from the interviews, group
meetings, Skype conference (iii) analysis of other available information, observation, others.
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The Final Report will illustrate the current status quo of confidence building and P2P
initiatives in the country y that involve women and based on the analysis, will identify
opportunities and challenges of the past experience and lessons learned and map potential
entry points and elaborate on the recommendations for future activities to accelerate the
process that is conducive to women’s increased and effective participation in confidence
building and P2P diplomacy.
The Final Report will include:
1. The analysis of the discussions and interviews from the meetings and Skype
conversations/and information obtained through the questionnaire.
2. The analysis of the reports, evaluation papers, briefs of the ongoing and past work in
the field of confidence building and P2P initiatives that involve women; identified
best practices, lessons learned, challenges and future perspectives
3. Recommendations on future activities in the field of confidence building and P2P
diplomacy that involve women will be provided
The Final reporting and package of recommendations will include the following activities:
1. A thorough documentary review/desktop research will be conducted. The
comprehensive set of documents to be reviewed will be obtained during the course of
the project implementation through enquiry, Matrix, Coordination body of the Office
of the State Minister of Reintegration.
2. A thorough review of data from interviews and focus group meetings will be
performed
3. Analysis of ongoing works and works already performed will be made; detailed
description of opportunities and challenges of the past experience, best practices, gaps
and lessons learned will be performed; recommendations for future activities in the
field of confidence building and P2P diplomacy that involve women will be provided
4. Presentation of key findings of the consultations and the Final Report to the wider
audience including the decision makers, representatives of international
organizations, the donor, UN agencies and civil society organizations will be
performed.
The Final Report will be developed as the final outcome of the documents review/assessment
combining the outcomes of the analysis of the meetings and Skype conversations. The report
will illustrate the current status quo of women’s involvement in confidence-building and
P2P initiatives and will include recommendations to accelerate the process that is conducive
to development of peace building agenda in the country with the active participation of
women and young girls. The document will serve as a vision paper to give a basic framework
for future action for UN Women IAGEP programme to elaborate a new strategy, a
49
comprehensive approach to women’s effective engagement in peace-building process of
Georgia.
APPENDIX 3
Interview Questions for local NGOs/sample
Interview Questions
50
Date: xxxx 2013
Name of the Respondent:
Name of the Organisation:
Introduction
In 2013, UN Women with the financial support of EU started the project - “Innovative
Action for Gender Equality in Georgia” (IAGE). The overall objective of IAGE is to adopt and
implement relevant policies and legislation to address specific healthcare, social, and
economic needs of women from excluded groups in Georgia, while the specific objective is to
support women’s initiatives aimed at confidence building and social stability through
addressing healthcare, social, and economic needs of national minority, imprisoned, IDP and
conflict affected women and women living in remote mountainous areas in Georgia.
Based on the project objectives, in order to facilitate the discussions about confidence
building and P2P diplomacy programs that involve women, it was decided to perform the
study (i) to analyse experience of the past, best practices, lessons learned and existing
challenges (what has worked and what has not) and (2) come up with a new vision and
strategy for engagement and joint activities confidence building and P2P diplomacy
programs that involve women.
A. Brief history of the Organization:
(i) What are the organization’s goals and objectives, where it operates, who are
the target groups?
(ii) What projects/ programmes the organization is implementing on confidence
building and P2P diplomacy that involve women?
(iii) What are the goals and objectives of these projects?
(iv) Where the project is implemented –Georgia proper, across the conflict-divide-
lines, occupied territories, third countries? Time frame, who are/were the
beneficiaries?
(v) Has the organization been implementing the similar project in the past 5-10
years, when and where in particular (Georgia proper, across the conflict-
divided-lines, occupied territories, third countries), what was the project
about? Was it about conferences, trainings, roundtable meetings of other
activities?
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(vi) What were the results, what were the best practices, lessons learned and
challenges?
(vii) Is there any possibility to get the reports or evaluation documents on these
projects/activities? (it is purely for the current assessment purposes only N.L.)
(viii) With whom the organization is cooperating? Donors, Government,
international organizations, national organizations?
(ix) Does the organization cooperate with organizations from Abkhazia and South
Ossetia, Russia?
B. Organization and its relations with the Government/participation in state strategies,
policies, action plans:
1. Does the organization cooperate with the Government, Parliament, Local self-
government bodies during the implementation of these projects? (PLS, name it)
2. Does the organization participate in the implementation of national documents, such
as for e.g. NAP for UNSCRs on WPS? What it does in particular - implementing the
NAP or monitoring as well the implementation? Does the organization use this NAP
as the strategy document to be followed by all stakeholders or does the organization
have its own defined goals and objectives outlined in particular projects on women’s
participation in peace building and P2P initiatives.
3. New Government underlines the need of conflict management through reconciliation
and confidence building and is planning to develop new strategy on that issue. Does
the organization plan to participate in the elaboration process, will they advise on
gender sensitive policies? What type of participation will it be – consultative, regular
advising, participating in special commissions, councils, and coordination meetings?
C. Conflict management through confidence building and P2P initiatives and women’s
participation in it:
1. Do Track II diplomacy/P2P initiatives work, what worked and what did not, what are
the benefits and what are the lessons learned and challenges for these activities? What
was women’s role in it?
1. Beyond P2P initiatives, what confidence building tools and mechanisms should be
applied/ or will work in this reality and context for reconciliation and confidence
building?
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(i) Economic relations -Trade and freedom of movement; agribusiness development; joint
business activities; special economic free zones across the conflict-divided lines (ii) Education and Culture and Environmental issues -Access to education; those with
secondary education in Abkhazia and South Ossetia have the opportunity to continue higher education in Georgia proper (scholarships, grants) or have access to vocational training, others; opportunity to participateinjointcultural projects; protection of cultural heritage
(iii) Health care and social benefits – those living in Abkhazia and South Ossetia are
covered by Georgian health care policies, have the same social benefits as those living in Georgia proper, other benefits (pensions??)
(iv) Infrastructure and transportation,
(v) Administrative measures (status free documents, passports, others)
(vi) Others
Other Comments:
Recommendations:
APPENDIX 4
Interviews and Focus Group Discussions
Government of Georgia
Name of respondent Organization/Position of respondent Place of interview Date of
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interview
Mr. NodarTangiashvili
Ms. Tina Loluashvili
Head of the Department for
Cooperation of International
Organisations and Legal
Provision; Office of the State
Minister of Georgia for
Reintegration
Expert, Civil Integration
Department; Office of the State
Minister of Georgia for
Reintegration
Office of the
State Chancellery
of Georgia
7.11.2013
14:00
David Badzagua Head of Educational and Cultural
Department, Government of
Abkhazia
Email exchange 15.11.2013
Donor and international organizations
Name of respondent and
position
Organization/Position of respondent Place of interview Date of
interview
KhatunaKunchulia; UN
Women/ IAGEProgramme
Manager
UN Women Georgia Office of UN
Women (Tbilisi,
Radiani st.17)
6.11.2013
Tamar Tavartkiladze, UN
Women/ WEPD Project
Manager
UN Women Georgia Office of UN
Women (Tbilisi,
Radiani st.17)
25.11.2013
Irina Liczek, Project
Manager,
EU-UNDP Programme -
Confidence Building Early
Response Mechanism
(COBERM),
COBERM Office;
Mirtskhulava
Street, Tbilisi
6.11.2013,
15:00
Anthony Foreman,
Programme Manager
CARE International in the
Caucasus
CARE
International in
the Caucasus
Office, 37,
Tsagareli Street
13.11.2013
17:00
Sara Laginder, Coordinator
South Caucasus
Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation Skype and email
exchange
14.11.2013
Local Non-governmental Organizations
Name of respondent Organization/Position of Place of interview Date of
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respondent interview
MananaMebuke Union of War-disabled Persons
and Wives of Perished Warriors
Office of UN
Women (Tbilisi,
Radiani st.17)
8.11.2013
15:00
Julia Kharashvili
IDP Women’s association
Consent/Head of assoc.
Office of UN
Women (Tbilisi,
Radiani st.17)
8.11.2013
16:00
EleneRusetskaya Women’s Information Centre
(WIC)
Email exchange
Nana Berekashvili ICCN Office of UN
Women (Tbilisi,
Radiani st.17)
14.11.2013
16:00
BekaBajelidze IWPR Office of UN
Women (Tbilisi,
Radiani st.17)
8.11.2013
17:00
David Liklikadze, Journalist
Regional Correspondent of the
Agency “Interpressnews’’, radio
‘‘Palitra’’ and radio “Old City’’
(city of Kutaisi)
Email exchange
Marina Tabukashvili “Taso” foundation/Head of the
Fund
Office of “Taso”
foundation. 15
Tabukashvili St.
7.12.2013
15:00
Gori Focus Group Meeting
Name of respondent Organization/Position of
respondent
Place of interview Date of
interview
NatiaTushishvili Women’s Club Civic Engagement
Center (Gori,
Stalin st.16)
26.11.2013
11h00-
13.h30
MarikaZakharashvili Women’s Club
Nino Sekhniashvili Association of Prisoners and
Former Prisoners
NailiMelanashvili Sukhishvili University
Dali Kakitashvili Women and Development
MegiAbalaki Women and Development
Inga Mikeladze Women and Development
TamtaKhubuluri Women and Development
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VerikoKhutsishvili Women and Development
MaguliMamukashvili Women and Development
Nazi Beruashvili UN - Women; Women and
Development
Inga Eshmakurashvili Future Initiative
NelliDvalishvili Journalist; Journal‚ “Kartlosi”
Lela Dilebashvili Journalist; Journal‚ “Kartlosi”
KhatunaKhatashvili Political Party „Free Democrats“
MananaTarashvili Journalist
PhatiBukhrikidze Women and Development
Kutaisi Focus Group Meeting
MananaLeshkasheli Fund “Sukhumi“ Office of Fund
Sukhumi(Mgaloblis
hvili St. 6, Kutaisi)
26.11.2013
17h00-
19h00
LaliShengelia Fund “Sukhumi“
Nana Jikhia Fund “Sukhumi“
KhatunaGogua Fund “Sukhumi“
Roland Kopaliani AkakiTsereteli State University
AllaGamakharia Association „Peaceful and
Active Caucasus“
Larisa Svengali Fund “Sukhumi“
MeriGvazabia Association „Peaceful and
Active Caucasus“
GiorgiJugheli Association „Peaceful and
Active Caucasus“
Zugdidi Focus Group Meeting
IruzaKakava Social Enterprise- “Enguri“ Office of
Association Imedi
(Rustaveli St. 49,
Zugdidi)
27.11.20131
1h00-
113h00
NanuliTodua #12 School of Abkhazia, Georgia
KhatunaTsanava Housewife
TsiuriBuava Pensioner
KhatiaMirtskhulava IDP from Abkhazia, Georgia
Elmira Mirtskhulava NGO “Dea“
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Anna Emukhvari NGO “Saunje“
NatiaKakhiani Policlinics for IDPs
Emma Kikalia Policlinics for IDPs
TutanaGoginava Association “Imedi“
Leila Kursua Association “Imedi“