Civil, political and social integration of national minorities remains to be one of the acute problems standing in the way of Georgia’s democratic development. Despite a number of projects and initiatives implemented in the direction throughout the past decades no significant advance has been noted in terms of integration and involvement of minorities.
Poor knowledge of the national language, regional isolation, problems with the access to public services, marginalization of certain groups, access to education, political and social involvement of small ethnic groups, problems with the retention of cultural and linguistic identity still present significant obstacles that get in the way of the democratic development of the country. The problem is further aggravated by the fact that national minorities form a significant part of the population. According to the statistics, they account for 16% of the total population, which indicates the need for urgent resolution of the above mentioned problems.
On December 19, the Analytical Center for Interethnic Cooperation and Consultations (ACICC) published the results of the survey evaluating the needs of national minority community organizations.
The study reflects the problems faced by the organizations working on ethnic minority issues and offers recommendations on how to increase the influence of these organizations on the public and environment.
As part of the research, ACICC evaluated the condition of 26 community organizations, their strengths, weaknesses and their needs. It came up with a package of recommendations for state institutions and local and international donors.
‘Political will is critical for harmonic cohabitation between ethnic groups in Georgia. In the development of these relationship, the government should view community organizations as partners and make decisions as a result of active consultations with them, and this survey will help them do that’, said Agit Mirzoev, the ACICC director.
The presentation of the survey results will be attended by experts working on civil integration issues, representatives of community organizations, government agencies, international and donor organizations.
The project was implemented with the support from the Open Society Georgia Foundation.
See the full version of the survey:.