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The Conflict
Georgia
is one of fifteen successor states of the Soviet Union.
Now an independent country, it has been struggling to
build a democratic society in the face of two civil wars
and two ethno-political wars. In 1992-1993, there was
armed conflict between the Georgians and the Abkhaz who
seek independence from Georgia. This war resulted in thousands
of deaths, tens of thousands of refugees, and ruined economies.
To date a resolution has not been found. Russian forces
guard the border between the two sides while a settlement
is negotiated.
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Action Evaluation Methodology
This method has been crucial to our
successes. It has helped us chart our goals and plans as
we go along, kept us on track, pushed us to keep our
promises to each other, and signaled us to switch gears when
necessary. Action Evaluation is more than an effective
process to articulate goals and gather data systematizing what
is normally done in the design and implementation of conflict
resolution processes. The methodology enables
participants to recognize the motivations, values and
interests necessary to negotiate consensus on shared goals so
as to promote reflexive evaluation among key stakeholders as
they move forward. For more information about the
methodology see Aria Group
website
.
Project
Publications
Conference, June 1-4, 2000
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Civil
Society Development
This
project facilitates a constructive dialogue and interaction
between Georgian and Abkhaz representatives of nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs). It promotes skills and structures
in the nongovernmental sectors, conducive to developing
safe, civil and stable society. Our assumption is that
NGOs are crucial to an effective process of reconciliation
at the community level, and are far more effective in
promoting and maintaining genuine peace than reliance
on coercive, police-oriented approaches. NGOs can be mini-models
of self-governance and peaceful negotiation for common
interests. These efforts have been funded by the Winston
Foundation for World Peace and the University of California,
Irvine.
Bulletin of Abkhaz NGOs
(Sukhum(i))
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Promoting
Black Sea Environmental Cooperation
A
focus on environmental cooperation provides a perspective
on the interconnectedness of the parties and can assist
in confidence building among these parties, who, in turn,
can influence public opinion and decision-makers who are
directly involved in the peace process. The environmental
issues chosen for this project relate to concerns about
the condition of the Black Sea. These activities have
been supported by the University of California's Institute
on Global Conflict and Cooperation, UC Irvine, and a variety
of individual donors, including Sol Price and Harold Price.
Activities
February 1998--Black Sea Forum at UC Irvine, with Georgian,
Abkhaz and US environmental experts. They planned Abkhaz-Georgian
cooperation, with US facilitation, to tackle urgent environmental
problems in the Black Sea.
September 1997--The Abkhaz and Georgian leaders of the
March forums met in Sochi to discuss next steps with the
US Program Director. The meeting led to an agreement to
hold a US-Georgian-Abkhaz Black Sea forum at UC Irvine
in February 1998.
March 1997--Parallel Abkhaz and Georgian Black Sea forums
held in Tbilisi and Sukhum(i). Black Sea scientists and
nongovernmental organizations in both cities identified
problems that require urgent attention and discussed the
feasibility of Georgian- Abkhaz cooperation on these issues,
together with US counterparts.
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