Georgia©Corbis

Too Many Eggs in the Same Basket

In August 2008, conflict between Georgia and Russia over the autonomous region of South Ossetia forced 158,000 to abandon their homes and rely upon humanitarian aid. The conflict sparked a huge response for Georgia from donor countries: far greater than one might expect for a middle-income country with a functioning government, and beyond the needs contained in the joint needs assessment. While interviewees felt donors generally did well funding the initial emergency response, especially food and shelter, donors need to do more to support a more holistic, longer-term approach. Many sectors such as health, water and sanitation were underfunded, and needs remain related to restoring the livelihoods of IDPs and the recovery phase. Humanitarian organisations also pointed to the lack of safe access to South Ossetia as a major failure of the response and felt donors could have dedicated greater diplomatic efforts to ensure access.