On June 10, Elene Tevdoradze, Deputy State Minister of Georgia for Reintegration visited the village Shaumiani, Marneuli district, where she got familiar with the social condition of the local population on the site. Elene Tevdoradze also visited the families from Tskhinvali region, which were affected by the war of August and resettled in the village Shaumiani. She heard the problems faced by the population and promised them to assist in addressing them.

On June 8 Temuri Yakobashvili, Vice-Premier and State Minister of Georgia for Reintegration met with the masters and 4^th year students of the specialty of Public Administration of the Technical University of Georgia.

T. Yakobashvili made a brief overview of the situation in the occupied territories and provided the etymology of conflicts on the territory of Georgia. He delivered a short theoretical course regarding internal and external conflicts, described the associated risks and threats, and identified the ways and methods for conflict resolution.

The audience was interested in wide spectrum of issues: resolving the internal and external problems faced by the government; further role played by the international missions in conflict resolution; economic condition of the country; dialogue of the government with the opposition, and the ways out of the present situation.  

At the end of the meeting, T. Yakobashvili emphasized the geo-political role of Georgia from the regional and world perspective.

On June 4-5, Deputy State Minister of Georgia for Reintegration Elene Tevdoradze had a duty trip to Samtskhe-Javakheti region, namely to Akhaltsikhe and Ninotsminda districts, where the citizens of Georgia of Armenian nationality are compactly residing. During the visit Elene Tevdoradze met with the administrations of Akhalkalaki (Gamgebeli Nair Iritian) and Ninotsminda (Gamgebeli Suren Mosoian) districts and villages, also with the representatives of NGOs, and got familiar with the problems of the population on the site.

The Deputy State Minister visited the schools and hospitals of Javakheti, also had a meeting with doctors and teachers. The doctors of the region referred to the problems in healthcare sector and wished to have more attention from the government. Armenian schools in the villages lack the textbooks and teachers of the Georgian language; neither do they have a library. However, there are also the schools equipped with computers.

Elene Tevdoradze visited the women’s monastery in the village Poka and an orphanage in Ninotsminda, which is under the guardianship of the Georgian Church, also the Amaghleba (Ascension) Temple in Akhalkalaki.

On June 1, Elene Tevdoradze, Deputy State Minister of Georgia for Reintegration participated in the event ‘We All Are the Children of Georgia’ arranged in Rustavi for celebrating the International Children’s Day.

 

3 students from Georgian schools, 28 students from Azeri schools and 32 students from Russian schools participated in the concert organized by the Georgian secondary school #17. Performances shown at the concert exposed the cultural heritage of multinational Georgia.

 

Governor of Kvemo Kartli David Kirkitadze, Mayor of Rustavi Mamuka Chikovani and Savalan Mirzoev, advisor to the State Minister for Reintegration also participated in school activities.

 

On May 29 Temuri Yakobashvili, Vice-Premier and State Minister for Reintegration met with the 3 and 4 year students of the journalism faculty of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi University. The meeting was conducted in the form of a discussion.

T. Yakobashvili provided a brief overview of the conflicts in the territory of Georgia, and especially of the war of August. He informed the students about the situation created in conflict zones and the ways out of this situation.

Temuri Yakobashvili gave a demographic picture of Georgia to the students, and laid emphasis on Abkhazia and South Ossetia. According to his information, currently 40-45 thousand ethnic Abkhazians live in Abkhazia, 6-7 thousand in Ajara, and about 300 thousand in Turkey. 30 thousand Abkhazians left the territory of Abkhazia because of the war. As for South Ossetia, there were 120 thousand Ossetians living in Georgia before, though currently about 37 thousand live in Georgia and about 15 thousand people - in Tskhinvali.

Temuri Yakobashvili also pointed out the role of journalism in the contemporary world during peaceful and hostility periods, and emphasized the significance of proper usage of terminology by journalists. He provided particular examples about how the terminology introduced by the journalists can not only affect a particular event, but also remain in the history. According to the statement of the minister, a journalist should not only obtain materials, but also thoroughly study the topic he is covering, as far as journalism is occupying more and more important place in various fields, especially in diplomacy in the contemporary world. The minister also referred to the topic of an information war in the modern world, when cyber-facilities are used together with the media.

During the discussion the students got especially interested in the issue of territorial integrity of Georgia, about what preventive measures the Government took for preventing the war of August. There were also questions asked concerning the steps made by the government in regards to the occupied territories and about the perspectives of future relationships with Abkhazian and Ossetian people.