GEORGIA: Strengthening European partnerships for crisis prevention and response: Civil society peace-building roundtables

The overall objective of this project, funded under the Instrument for Stability and implemented together with the Georgian International Center on Conflict and Negotiation, was to contribute to an improved ability among EU institutions to anticipate and respond to situations of crisis by facilitating a partnership between these institutions and Georgian civil society actors specialised in the fields of conflict prevention, crisis management and peace building. For this purpose, the project supported the cooperation of EU institutions with specialised civil society actors for peace-building in Georgia. Round table discussions have been organised between civil society actors, including representatives of vulnerable groups particularly affected by conflict. Representatives of EU institutions have been involved in the round table discussions, which resulted in a set of recommendations to EU institutions on how to support peace-building in Georgia.

Specific objectives of the project were:

• Strengthen involvement of Georgian civil society actors in shaping EU strategies on crisis prevention and response;
• Facilitate the provision of policy-oriented research to EU institutions on issues relating to conflict prevention, crisis management, and peace building in Georgia;
• Build partnerships between EU institutions and Georgian specialised civil society actors in the above fields and strengthen the network between civil society actors themselves;
• Facilitate a dialogue between the EU and Georgian specialised civil society actors with a view to increased cooperation on early warning and specifically on people-centred early warning systems;
• Raise awareness among national, regional and international actors engaged in conflict prevention and peace building in Georgia about the requisite environment for and the role of non-state actors in peace-building initiatives.