Free Legal Consultations and Awareness to Kvemo Kartli Residents

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Status: Completed

Full Activity Title: Providing Legal Consultancy Services and Educational Outreach to Marneuli, Bolnisi and Dmanisi Residents

Location: Kvemo Kartli Region

Activity Dates: May, 2006 - March, 2010

Source of Funding: OSCE-HCNM, CIDA

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Project Abstract

Kvemo Kartli area, one of administrative units of Georgia, is heavily populated by ethnic Azeries. Problems related to land ownership, information availability and custom services are common in the region, resulting into deteriorated relationship between local population and governmental agencies. Tension usually escalates when rights of ethnical minorities are affected. Unresolved economic and legal disputes produce biased attitudes and tend to be structured as ethnical issues.

The goal of the project is to provide legal consultancy to the local population, inform them on existing pressing issues and area-specific problems and find the ways for problem resolution.

APLR/OSCE-HCNM joint office, Marneuli Consultative Centre has been set up to ensure implementation of the set targets. The Centre is staffed by qualified lawyers who speak Azeri and thus facilitating communication with locals. Regular office hours are allocated for consultation services when interested individuals as well as organizations and private companies operating in the region can make enquires on their problems.

Twice a week mobile team visits local villages to raise public awareness of ethnical minorities, identify specific concerns and issues addressed by the local residents that can become a topic for discussion at the roundtable meetings. The letter are organized in Marneuli Consultative Centre on monthly bases, where local communities and governmental officials are brought together to discuss a specific problem or issue and seek ways for resolution. This approach bridges the gap between the government and the people.

A free-of-charge mobile hotline is available for local communities to report any complaints, problems or violations and solicit feedback and advice. Flyers, Landowner Magazine, local TV and newspaper are widely used for information dissemination.

The project facilitates further integration of ethnical minorities into local society as well as to raise awareness of Kvemo Kartli Azeri population on available legal procedures for resolving their problems.