German Ambassador and CARE deliver aid to Shida Kartli's vulnerable

On November 26 German Ambassador to Georgia HE Dr. Patricia Flor, together with Shida Kartli Governor Lado Vardzelashvili and Jonathan Puddifoot, Country Director of CARE International in the Caucasus, visited the village of Kvarkheti in the Gori municipality) to officially hand over firewood procured by CARE International in the Caucasus with German financial assistance.

CARE International in the Caucasus has been granted 50,000 Euros from the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Georgia to ensure basic living conditions are provided for those affected by the conflict between Georgia and the Russian Federation.

“More than a year after the end of hostilities firewood for heating and cooking purposes remains the main need of the rural population in the adjacent area. Due to its high price and lack of access to the forests where the local population have traditionally fetched firewood from, many rural families are at risk during the winter season,” said the German Ambassador.

The project envisages the distribution of firewood to 334 households in three villages in the area adjacent to South Ossetia, where access to forests has been cut off following the August 2008 war. Each household in the target villages (Kvakheti, Phabrikis Dasakhleba and Satburis Dasakhleba) will receive 3 cubic metres of firewood. 3 cubic metres of firewood will also be distributed to village clubs (of 5,500 households) in eight further villages (Nikozi, Tkviavi, Mejvriskhevi, Kitsnisi, Dzvera, Shavshvebi, Khidistavi, Akhalkhiza) of the Gori Municipality. The project is being implemented from 15 November to 31 December 2009 (1.5 months).

“Following the armed conflict almost all the families in the adjacent area remain equally vulnerable. In response to this situation CARE and UNHCR have undertaken blanket distributions of firewood to all households in the target villages and this approach has been warmly welcomed,” said Jonathan Puddifoot.

During the post-emergency situation CARE assisted tens of thousands of people who had returned after short-term displacement to find destroyed or damaged houses and ruined crops. CARE built 192 one-warm-room cottages and winterised rooms in 12 villages in the Gori and Kareli municipalities, and with funding from the German Ministry of Foeign Affairs supplied them with firewood, tools and hygiene, kitchen and sleeping kits. Most of these villages also received assistance through other CARE projects in the form of animal feed, agricultural and veterinary consultations, and newly constructed water channels for livestock.