Rapid Needs Assessment of Internally Displaced Women

1
Rapid Needs Assessment of Internally Displaced
Women

• Institute for Policy Studies
• First Findings and Recommendations DRAFT
• September 30, 2008

2
This Assessment was carried out by the Institute
for Policy Studies (IPS) with financial and
technical support of UNIFEM

• The findings and recommendations expressed in
  this Assessment are those of Institute for Policy
  Studies, and do not necessarily represent views
  of UNIFEM.

3
Aim

• To contribute to accurate understanding of the
  needs of internally displaced persons allowing
  for better targeted assistance capable of
  producing equal outcomes for women, girls, boys,
  and men.

4
Objectives of the Assessment

• to provide a snapshot of socio-economic
  conditions of persons, especially women,
  displaced as a result of August events
• to assess womens engagement into decision-making
  to include their needs and issues in the design
  and management of the collective centres/camps as
  well as their access to humanitarian aid and
  services, with an eye on their special needs
  (reproductive health, GBV)
• to provide findings and recommendations of the
  assessment to UN, international, and local NGOs
  and government representatives to further
  elaborate their interventions not only in a short
  run of the humanitarian crisis but also in a
  longer run, at a recovery stage.

5
Guiding Frameworks and Tools

• CEDAW
• UN SC Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security
  1325 1820
• IASC materials on gender in humanitarian action
• WHO and UN Action Against Sexual Violence in
  Conflict guidelines and other tools.

6
Assessment Methodology

• Quantitative component survey
• 1144 face-to-face interviews with IDPs residing
  in collective
• centers in Tbilisi, Gori, and Kutaisi
• The sample of the respondents corresponded to age
  and
• sex distribution of the population of Georgia
• Only one person per room/tent was interviewed
• 47.1 men and 52.9 women were questioned.
• Age groups 18-24 - 17.4 55-64 - 20.7
• 25-44 - 45.1 65 gt16.8

7
Assessment Methodology

• Qualitative component
• 15 discussions with the groups of IDPs in
  collective centers (men, women and mixed sex)
• 30 in-depth interviews with representatives of
  International organizations, government, local
  NGOs
• Study was carried out through 5-29 September,
  2008
• This presentation includes predominantly the
  findings of the survey and discussions with IDPs

8
Education Level of IDPs

• Majority of interviewed IDPs has secondary
  education.
• More women (25.8) than men (21.6) have higher
• (university) education.

9
Demographic Data

• 97.0 of respondents are
• Georgian, 2.2 are Osetian, and
• 0.8 are of other ethnicity.
• 9.3 have polyethnic families,
• mostly Georgian and Ossetian.
• On average families comprise of 4
• members (range 1-10). In total
• 1144 respondents named 5083
• family members.
• Among them
• Children up to 5 - 8.1
• Children between 5-18 -19.6
• Adults 18-65 - 65.1
• Persons older than 65 - 9.5

10
War Experience

• 89.6 of respondents has been exposed to bombing
  (92 of men and 87 of women)
• 67.8 to military actions (70 of men and 66 of
  women)
• 50.0 have witnessed death or wounding (66 of
  men and 34 of women)
• More men (10.2 and 16.0) than women (4.7 and
  7.9) experienced physical and verbal abuse.
• Most often abusers were
• 41.7 estimated behavior of Ossetian civilians as
  friendly, 24.3
• as neutral and 34.0 as hostile.

Ossetian boeviks (79 cases) Ossetian civilians (38 cases)
Russians (41 cases) Cossacks (29 cases)
11
Kidnapping and GBV

• 19.5 - reported having information about
  kidnapping
• 6.3 - reported having information about sexual
  violence against women. Out of these 70
  respondents, 21.4 said they had information
  about cases of rape, 32.8 - group rape,14.3 -
  rape attempt,31. - did not specify kind of
  abuse)
• 1.0 - reported witnessing rape
• 1.6 - reported witnessing torture.

12
Hostility and Friendliness to IDPs
13
Leaving Conflict Area

• Majority of respondents (83.9) left during the
  military actions (7-12 August), 10.5 left after
  the open confrontation was over, only 5.6 left
  before the conflict began
• 68.7 of respondents left home directed by their
  own conviction
• 50.1 of respondents that did not get any
  assistance leaving their homes.

14
Situation at Places of Permanent Residence

• 13.7 does not have information about the
  condition of their houses
• 87.4 point that their harvest and 87.5 that
  their orchards are completely destroyed. 71.2
  reports that their domestic animals have been
  slaughtered or taken away
• 25.8 reports having family members, 29 of
  relatives and 42.1 of neighbors left in the
  places of permanent residence
• Those who have information about their houses,
  report that they are

15
Current State and Needs

• 88.2 of IDPs are registered with authorities.
  The biggest share of respondents are registered
  in Kutaisi (93.4), followed by Tbilisi (90,1),
  and Gori (85.0)
• Monetary support from the state is available for
  very limited number of respondents (13.7)
• Lack of cash is identified by IDPs as one of the
  most urgent problems. They do not have
  information on possibilities of getting
  entitlements and compensations for their lost
  property
• The condition of getting assistance only in case
  of being present at collective center during
  distribution process, and not having information
  about the schedule of these distributions
  restricts IDPs mobility, and attendance of
  schools by children.

16
Shelter

• On average, 6 persons share a room. More people
  share room / tent in
• Gori M10.6), than in Tbilisi (M4.3) or Kutaisi
  (M3.4).
• Assessment of shelter conditions
• Good 7.4 Moderate 58.8 Poor 33.9
• Lock of rooms are functioning - 63.8
• Lack private space to get dressed - 85.7
• The top priority need is having a private room
  for a family - 17.7
• of respondents who do not have

17
Water and Sanitation

• Respondents have pointed out that
• 17.8 - there are mice, cockroaches, and rats
  in the building
• 47.3 - there is an insufficient number of
  functioning water taps
• 74.6 - has permanent water supply
• 13.7 - get water on schedule
• 9.6 - get water occasionally
• 27.3 - name access to water as a priority need
• 85 - do not have access to warm water
• 87.7 - do not have a possibility to take a
  shower
• 51.6 - point that the number of restrooms is
  not enough
• 46.8 - assess conditions of the restrooms
  as bad
• 67.8 - there are no separate restrooms for men
  and women (Tbilisi 42.3 Gori 19.1, Kutaisi
  19.4)
• 71.0 - lock inside restrooms are functioning,
  electricity provided
• 10.1 - (14.2 - women, 6.0- men), feel
  insecure going to restrooms after dark
• 21.9 - name improvement of
  conditions/increase number of restrooms as a
  priority need

18
Food

• Respondents have pointed out that
• 61.7 - do not have enough food
• 85.9 - of Tbilisi IDPs point at food deficiency,
  compared to 58.8 in Kutaisi and 11.3 in Gori
• 55.9 - evaluate food quality as neither bad nor
  good, 17.5 evaluate it as bad and 26.6 as
  good
• 54.7 - point that almost never have a hot meal.
  Hot meal is more available for the respondents
  in Gori - 96.4, in Kutaisi - 62.2 or Tbilisi
  - 31.4
• 1.7 - had a chance to take dairy product and
  13.5 to take fruits, 28.9 to take vegetables
  and 47.6 to take meat during a week preceding
  the survey. The best situation is in Gori and
  the worst in Kutaisi
• 84.8 - prefers to receive the products and cook
  for the family
• 11.3 - prefers to be served prepared meals

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Non-food Items
Most Requested Non-food Items

• Most pressing needs - cloths and shoes - 70.8
• 88.1 does not have enough cloths (Kutais79
  Gori 71.9, Tbilisi 56.9)
• 72.5 does not have enough shoes (Tbilisi 88.5,
  Gori 88.6 Kutaisi 85.4)
• Underclothes is much demanded, especially by
  women.

20
Needs of Pregnant Women
5.8 of respondents reported having a pregnant
family member. Below are listed shortages
experienced by the pregnant women
21
Childrens Needs

• 58.6 of respondents have children under the age
  of 18
• 34.5 of respondents have children between 2-5
• 58 of respondents have children under 2
• 78.5 of children do not have textbooks and
  school supplies while only 1.6 have
• 63.2 of respondents know which school their
  children will attend, 18.3 do not know and
  18.5 do not have school age children
• 44.0 of respondents children have been
  examined by doctors, 25.8 were consulted by a
  psychologist, 3,6 had been in touch with a
  social workers. In Tbilisi access to examination
  and consultations have been the lowest and in
  Kutaisi the highest.
• 58.5 report having a playing ground in the
  vicinity of collective center. It is the most
  available in Gori and the least available in
  Tbilisi.
• Most Urgent Needs of Children

22
Health And Wellbeing

• 13.4 - of respondents had a disabled person as a
  family member, out of these 175 persons 32.4 -
  women, 67.6 -men
• 87.5 of women and 79.5 of men stressed that
  they need medicines for family members
• Examined by doctors Consultation by
  psychologists
• Women - 62.7, men - 46.1 Women -35.3.
  men- 24.5
• 30.4 of women think that men drink more alcohol
  and 34.1 of men think that they drink less
  alcohol after displacement
• During the displacement 3.6 of men and 8.6 of
  women reported witnessing family conflicts
• IDPs Self-evaluation of Health Condition as Bad

23
Economic Condition

• IDPs assessment of their families economic
  conditions before the conflict
• 21.7 - well-off
• 67.7 - medium affluence
• 10.9 - poor Main Sources
  of Income

24
Economic Condition

• Impoverishment of displaced persons is obvious
• They lost their property and the main source of
  income and subsistence harvest and domestic
  animals
• Portion of households with monthly income of more
  than GEL200 decreased from 59.1 to 13.0
• 14.7 of the respondents pointed at having no
  income at all
• 92.1 of respondent wants to continue the
  activities they pursued before displacement,
  38.3 expressed desire to be retrained, 39.3
  wants to acquire a new profession
• 60.8 of men and 39.2 of women want to go abroad
  for work
• 56.0 of men and 44.0 of women show interest in
  taking loans to start/develop small businesses
• 79.3 of males and 20.7 females are legal owners
  of the left behind houses from 1011 respondents
  who answered the relevant question.

25
Access to information

• 64.6 - did not receive information on
  assistance
• 72.4 - did not receive information on
  resettlement
• 87.5 - did not receive information on return
• Respondents in Kutaisi are the most and in
  Tbilisi the least informed on assistance and
  shelter
• Respondents from Gori are the most and from
  Tbilisi the least informed on return
• Source of Information

26
Access to Information

• 77.4 - has a mobile phone
• 23.8 - does not have a possibility to use it
• More persons in Gori (19.1), than in Kutaisi
  (17.5) or Tbilisi (14.0) do not have an access
  to telephone
• 63.0 - can watch TV. More people in Kutaisi
  (87.6), than in Gori (77.5) and Tbilisi (49.7)
  have such possibility
• 20.5 think that women, and 18.1 that men are
  better informed on ongoing political events,
  while the majority 61.4 points that there is no
  gender difference in this respect

27
Management

• 68.4 - thinks that the distribution of the
  assistance is mostly fair. Respondents in
  Kutaisi point to least injustice (6.2) and Gori
  respondents the most (16.1), with Tbilisi in
  between (15.6).
• 18.9 - pointed that their family members ever
  participated in distribution. Participation of
  IDPs in the distribution of assistance is low
  in all regions.
• 10.9 - pointed that they were consulted on
  their relocation preferences (30.0 Kutaisi,
  34.9 in Gori, 5.2 in Tbilisi).
• 12 - of IDPs were consulted on aid
  distribution. Best situation is in Kutaisi -30,
  the worst in Tbilisi - 5, with Gori in between
  -18.
• 67.1 - of respondents had one elected
  representative. Among those elected 62.6 were
  male, 37.4 - female. 8.0 of respondents
  pointed that had two persons, one male and one
  female.
• 5.2 - of respondents reported having committee
  of IDPs

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Recommended Actions

• 1. Policy Measures
• Advocate with the government for speeding up the
  process of granting legal status to all IDPs who
  cannot return to their respective homes, which
  will be paired with relevant entitlements and
  benefits. It is critical that the assistance is
  bound to individual IDPs and rather than their
  presence in the Collective Centres during the
  distribution process
• As the main source of income was selling of
  agricultural products that the big majority of
  IDPs lost due to August events, it is critical to
  provide them with one-time compensations
• Advocate with the government and provide support
  to the government to implement Domestic Violence
  Law of 2006 and Action Plan providing
  victims/survivors of domestic violence (including
  sexual violence suffered during the conflict),
  with shelters, crises and rehabilitation centres
  and a hotline

29
Recommended Actions

• 1. Policy Measures
• Start a dialogue with the government for the
  elaboration of the Gender Equality Law providing
  for the establishment of a sustainable national
  gender equality mechanism responsible for
  mainstreaming gender equality principles in state
  programmes, as well as national coordination of
  gender equality policies
• Advocate with the National Bank of Georgia to
  appeal to private banks for considering writing
  off loans and/or suspending accrual of the
  interest on the loans disbursed to the IDPs The
  National Bank may encourage private banks through
  certain incentives e.g. offer beneficial
  provision levels for such non-performing loans
• Follow up on the commitment made by the Ministry
  of Education and Science in relation to
  cancellation of tuition fees for displaced
  students.

30
Recommended Actions

• 2. Measures on the Level of Institutions
• Shelter / space arrangements in Collective
  Centres
• To aim at locating only one family per room to
  meet minimal privacy needs of IDPs
• In each medium and big size collective centre,
  allocate a space for 1. pupils to do their
  homework 2. kindergarten run by IDPs 3.
  help/information desk officer 4. cooking.
• Water and sanitation
• Increase the number and improve the conditions of
  restrooms, make sure that there are separate
  restrooms for women and men in every collective
  centre
• Ensure that access to water is provided in every
  collective centre
• Provide possibilities for washing and bathing.

31
Recommended Actions

• Food
• Provide balanced diet for children under the age
  of 5, and nutritious diets for pregnant women and
  lactating mothers
• Provide vegetables, fruits and dairy products
  especially to children, pregnant, and lactating
  women and elderly
• Provide food to returnees in the buffer zones
• In planning rehabilitation and finding durable
  solutions provide IDP families with land for
  cultivation.
• Non-food items
• Expedite the provision of beds to everyone,
  including mattresses, pillows, blankets, and
  linens also baby carriages, diapers, chamber
  pots, and toys
• Speed up the provision of winter clothes and
  shoes. In addition to the provision of
  undergarments, socks, tights, and slippers
• Provide with minimal facilities for cooking in
  the collective centres.

32
Recommended Actions

• Health
• Organize sufficient number of mobile teams of
  doctors and psychologists (family doctors,
  gynaecologists, and psychologists) visiting the
  collective centres, buffer zone and other
  conflict affected villages (as soon as security
  situation allows)
• Attend to the psychological state of displaced
  persons through various outreach strategies e.g.
  create a helpline with anonymous psychological
  counselling service in cooperation with local
  NGOs, establish and support functioning of
  various groups for psychological rehabilitation,
  separately targeting women, girls, men, and boys
• Promote healthy life-style, provide information
  on nutrition of children, people with special
  needs (pregnant and lactating mothers,
  chronically ill) and adults
• Provide regularly and in prescribed quantities
  medication to chronically ill
• Provide with wheel-chairs the disabled persons.

33
Recommended Actions

• Protection
• Organize and support functioning of interagency
  (including NGOs) mobile teams of three/four
  persons that will visit collective centres,
  buffer zone and other conflict affected areas to
  observe human rights situation in the camps and
  report back to relevant government structures
• Ensure recruitment of women among the deployed
  security forces in the buffer zone and other
  conflict affected areas, in addition ensure that
  police officers, both women and men, receive
  trainings in effective response to gender based
  violence (including domestic violence)
• Ensure that gender balance is observed while
  selecting persons serving as providers of
  information or other services to IDPs
• Provide IDPs with legal counselling in relation
  to their liabilities towards banks, in cases of
  domestic violence, property restitution issues,
  etc
• Return should be encouraged only after warranting
  high security conditions, including operation of
  Georgian police and demining of the territory
• Study the needs of IDPs living in private
  dwelling, also study the needs of their host
  families to design and provide relevant support.

34
Recommended Actions

• Access to Information
• Support creation of an information bank on
  central level in the Ministry of Refugees and
  Accommodation on the existing / planned
  assistance initiatives
• Create information/help desks in all collective
  centres, working in close collaboration with the
  MRA information bank, and having at least one
  information officer (desirably an IDP) who would
  be equipped with relevant information on type,
  amount, timing, and criteria for receiving
  assistance, including the names of contact
  persons for respective assistance or services for
  IDPs to refer further
• Strengthen national gender equality mechanism
  (Gender Equality Council under the Speaker of the
  Parliament) through supporting its newly
  established Gender Resource Centre in Gori
  (GRCG), aimed at the provision of information
  pertaining to relevant services offered by state
  and non-state actors (through hotline, which will
  be based on information database), gender
  mainstreaming and coordination of gender-related
  initiatives in humanitarian and recovery
  activities

35
Recommended Actions

• Access to Information
• Advocate with the government that IDPs are
  provided with information regarding realistic
  prospects of return and resettlement, as well as
  the amount and type of compensation, including
  other material aid that they can expect
• Provide information to the population of affected
  zones, with special programs aimed at children as
  well as women and men on threats of landmines
• Develop communication strategy in a way to ensure
  that messages are understandable for the majority
  of people who have only secondary education

36
Recommended Actions

• Economic Condition
• Support establishment of a kindergarten type
  facilities in the collective centres employing
  predominantly IDPs, which would allow IDP women
  to take part in capacity building initiatives
  that will be offered at an early recovery stage,
  as well as to engage in economic activities
• Provide the possibility of generating income,
  especially to longer term IDPs targeting both
  women and men through their capacity building and
  vocational trainings as well as provision of
  micro credit
• Advocate with the government that IDPs located in
  Tbilisi are provided with monthly tickets for
  transportation
• Involve IDPs in rehabilitation process to avoid
  creating in them feeling of helplessness,
  dependence and to generate income.

37
Recommended Actions

• 3. Community Level Measures
• Inform IDPs about available health,
  psychological, legal and other services
• Increase awareness of families on health-related
  risks and hygiene, targeting both women and men
  
• Raise the awareness of IDPs with regard to
  domestic violence and respective protection
  measures as foreseen by the Domestic Violence
  Law, as well as on the exacerbated potential for
  human trafficking
• Strengthen the capacities of women to voice their
  priorities, enhance the empowerment and economic
  reintegration of IDPs and other conflict affected
  women (heads of households, single mothers, and
  widows) through small-scale business, including
  agri-business and skills building

38
Recommended Actions

• 3. Community Level Measures
• Support initiatives of displaced and conflict
  affected women to track funds allocated for
  meeting their needs and participate in the
  post-conflict recovery
• Support peace activism, confidence building and
  people-to-people diplomacy initiatives through
  joint projects across ceasefire lines for
  youngsters, women and men on detrimental effects
  of conflicts, conflict prevention, resolution
  skills, and womens rights drawing on CEDAW, SCR
  1325 and 1820
• Strengthen womens groups to continuously monitor
  and document human rights concerns of displaced
  and other conflict affected women, as well as of
  women living in the conflict zones, thereby
  creating an effective mechanism for dialogue
  between women across ceasefire lines and relevant
  decision-makers to address documented human
  rights concerns.

39
Recommended Actions

• Management of Collective Centers
• Advocate and support increased participation of
  IDP women and men in the management of collective
  centres through elected IDP committees (having
  quotas of at least 40 percent representation of
  one sex)
• Strengthen the capacity of elected committees
  jointly with a group of IDPs, and develop their
  general ToR to ensure that these committees
• - advocates for increased transparency and
  fairness in aid distribution
• - ensures the communication flow between IDPs
  and state structures
• - Increases participation of IDPs in decision
  making concerning
• return, resettlement, and assistance issues.
  
•  

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Thank you!!!