Georgien
Background
On the 8th August 2008, a Georgian military operation against South Ossetia led to open warfare between Georgia and their Russian neighbours. This culminated in the occupation of the province by the Russians, the partial destruction of its capital, Ts’khinvali, air strikes and the flight of part of its population towards Tbilisi. South Ossetia remained inaccessible to humanitarian aid workers during the conflict and the weeks that followed.
Emergency aid to the population displaced by the conflict
»ACTIVITIES
MdM took action on 8 August, with support from its local networks, and a team of four people was in place by 10 August to evaluate the situation and provide appropriate support for the displaced population in Tbilisi.
An analysis of the situation showed that Georgian civil society had mobilised on a large scale to provide aid to the some 60,000 newly displaced people. In addition, the health authorities responded rapidly to meet the emergency needs.
MdM supported this mobilisation, by providing a local NGO with human resources, equipment and finance, allowing them to scale up provision of free mobile medical consultations in the places where the displaced persons were gathered. In addition, our intervention has built up the medical-surgical response capacity of the town hospitals by providing a surgical kit and an emergency medical kit.
»OUTLOOK
At the end of this one-off operation, the emergency needs were reduced, but other structural health needs were confirmed. One person stayed in place until the end of the year to monitor the situation, facilitating the arrival of exploratory missions, and preparing the way for a future long term intervention in the country.