25.06.2009 USAID and APLR Promote Registration of IDP Property Rights

GORI, Georgia – on June  24 the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and APLR  hosted a public awareness event for Gori Consultation Center for IDP Property Registration.

The Center works to resolve land/property claims for people affected by the Georgian-Russian conflict of August, 2008. The Center is creating  database for property within the administrative borders of South Ossetia that was abandoned during last summer’s conflict in an effort to recover data that was lost when registration offices in Kurta and Eredvi were destroyed. The Center provides assistance to IDPs to document land ownership, register the land in the national database and provide documentation of the claim. In addition, the Center’s staff is currently surveying and mapping property transferred to IDPs by the Georgian Government in order to title these properties to IDPs.

The Consultation Center for IDPs is funded by USAID as part of the $1 billion dollar pledge to the Georgian people. The Center is operated by the Association for Protection of Landowners’ Rights having multi-year experience of partnership with the USAID. 

Within the frame of USAID assistance properties (houses and residential and/or agricultural land parcels) transferred to 1,172 IDP households have been already titled and more 1,088 households are pending titles to such properties in the nearest future. Within the course of current year properties transferred to additional 4,207 IDP households throughout Georgia are also to be titled.

Joakim Parker, Acting Mission Director for USAID/ Caucasus, David Giorgadze, APLR Director, Zurab Chinchilakashvili, Deputy Governor of Shida Kartli, Jaba Ebanoidze, Deputy Minister of Justice, Beka Toria, Deputy Minister for Refugees and Accommodation, Sergo Tsikarishvili, Chair of National Agency of Public Registry, representatives of local authorities and beneficiaries participated in the event. They praised highly the Center’s activities and stressed the special importance of proposed consequences.

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