Demetre Tavdadebuli ("Disabled Veterans")

Mission:
The Alliance "Demetre Tavdadebuli" provides economic assistance to families of veterans killed in war and invalid veterans living in Georgia; offers free-of-charge medical and legal advise; facilitate social and psychological adaptation; provide vocational training with the purpose of subsequent employment; organizes cultural and recreational activities; and, most importantly, facilitates the implementation of "Peaceful Caucasus" concept and supports restoration the territorial integrity of Georgia.

Information on the Alliance:
Georgian Alliance of invalids and Veterans "Demetre Tavdadebuli" is a non-governmental organization, registered by the Ministry of Justice on August 14, 1997 (certificate # 03087).

The founders of the Alliance are veterans disabled in wars for Georgia's territorial integrity and independence. Jemal Arkania has been elected chairman of the Alliance.

The Alliance unites invalids and veterans living in Tbilisi and families of the combatants killed in war, who make up 2% of the Georgian population.

Activities:

• implementation of UN Resolution # 48/96 on standard rules ensuring equal opportunities for the handicapped adopted at the UN General Assembly on December 20, 1993;
• providing social and economic assistance, medical service, legislative information, psychological adaptation for active social engagement, and protection of rights of invalids and Veterans and families of warriors killed in war;
• supervision over children of invalid warriors and warriors killed in war;
• providing vocational training for invalids and Veterans and family members of the warriors killed in war with the purpose of their consequent employment.

Goals:

To facilitate and actually participate in: the implementation of the political and diplomatic concept of the peaceful Caucasus;

Combat against ethnic conflicts, aggressive ethnic separatism and genocide; insurance of peaceful and dignified coexistence of the Caucasus Peoples; restoration of the territorial integrity of Georgia. To attain the above goals, the Alliance is actively cooperating with governmental, as well as numerous non-governmental organizations, the state Chancellery and Georgian Parliament, Foreign Embassies accredited in Georgia, Georgian and foreign associations of invalid warriors, Veterans and invalids, Georgian Federation of children, U.S. donor organization "Counterpart Foundation", British international organization "OXFAM", and others. The Alliance is a member of the Coordination Council of the non-governmental organizations of Georgian invalids.

President of the Georgian Foundation of Science Revival "Intellect", academician of the International Academy of Information and Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Georgia, Doctor of Science, Professor, Guram Chachanidze is the chief advisor-consultant of the Alliance.

Alongside other services, a Women's Department, founded and chaired by Mrs. Manana Mebuke is functioning within the Alliance. The Department unites spouses of invalids and veterans and those killed in war. The Department gives a great attention to charity know how.

The Alliance plans to hold numerous domestic and international theoretical and practical conferences, meetings, workshops and symposia, which would facilitate implementation of the idea of the "Peaceful Caucasus" and restoration of the territorial integrity of Georgia. The Alliance has already carried a global-scale work in this direction. In particular, an all Caucasus theoretical-practical conference of invalid veterans, "Peaceful Caucasus," was held on May 22-23, 1998 in Tbilisi. The conference materials were published as a book with numerous copies in Georgian and Russian languages. The conference participants adopted an address to representative of the UN Coordination Council on the Settlement of the Georgian-Abkhaz Conflict, Liviu Bota.

At the theoretical-practical conference in Tbilisi the idea of holding an all Caucasus congress of invalids and veterans was formed. An all Caucasus Congress of invalid veterans, "Peaceful Caucasus," was held on September 12-13, 1998. They supported the idea of "Peaceful Caucasus", territorial integrity of Georgia and combating against ethnic conflicts and separatist movements.

The congress approved the Coordination Council of the all Caucasus associations of invalids of war. Chairman of the Alliance "Demetre Tavdadebuli", Jemal Arkania, was unanimously elected chairman of the Council.

Last updated:    January 1999

A print version of much of the information contained in this NIS Third Sector Organizations section can be found in the The Post-Soviet Handbook (Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1999).

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