Collective centres

We are working with our local partner organisations to meet the immediate needs of people in collective centres (public buildings such as schools) where internally displaced people are now residing.

Our work is currently concentrated in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. However, our teams plan to visit villages north of Gori to assess and respond to people's needs once we are able to gain access.

Photo: Marie Cacace

Providing healthcare

Oxfam partner the Welfare Foundation has been examining patients and prescribing and distributing drugs to the most vulnerable people.

"Our doctors working in Gori and the Adjara region have had to flee to internally displaced centres in Tbilisi. But they will resume their work providing free consulations in the coming days. This support is vital as hospitals in Tbilisi are overstretched with the influx of refugees," explains Simon, programme manager of the Welfare Foundation.

Photo: REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko (RUSSIA), courtesy of alertnet.org

Post-traumatic stress

Oxfam partner Genesis has opened a clinic in Tbilisi for free consultations, outpatient surgery and follow-up care for those that have been wounded. Their teams of doctors are also issuing medicine in displaced people's centres.

"People need psychotherapy treatment, we have seen scores of people that are suffering from anxiety and post traumatic stress due to the conflict. Stress can create new illnesses or render existing conditions more acute, so we are giving referrals to these people so that they can get the medical attention they need. We are also sending psychotherapists to centres where people are now staying."

Georgi Lyapin, a doctor working with Genesis.

Photo: Marie Cacace

Transport for displaced people

Transport to hospitals for the displaced is difficult, and people often don't know where they can get treatment. Many hospitals are now only accepting the most severe cases. To respond to this, Oxfam partner Tagadgoma is providing displaced people with the transport needed to go to Genesis' medical centre and to hospitals to receive the treatment they need.

Tanadgoma has also provided people affected by the conflict with food and hygiene kits, as well as distributing bed linen.

Photo: Marie Cacace

Protecting people's rights

"Many displaced people do not know how to register, nor do they know of their rights. We are working with the national authorities in the registration of all internally displaced people, as well as collecting information on their urgent needs. We are giving legal aid and providing legal representation to people affected," says Besarion Boxasvili, programme manager for Oxfam partner the Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA).

GYLA have also provided food, water and hygiene kits to those in need of assistance living in displaced people's centres in Tbilisi. They are one of the only national NGOs involved in the United Nations protection group.

Photo: Marie Cacace

Oxfam in action

Oxfam has been providing blankets to displaced people residing in collective centres such as schools and other public buildings. As per their request, we have also given the Ministry of Health US$30,000 worth of medical supplies and drugs. Over the coming days we will be distributing other non-food items such as hygiene kits and household items.

The International Telecommunications Centre, the Civil Society Institute, the Young Economists, and the Georgian Young Lawyers Association are some of our partners working with us to assess people's needs and to distribute items.

Learn more about Oxfam's response

Photo: Marie Cacace