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Hanna Sjödin, August, 2020

Participatory

communication for a

culture of peace in a

post-conflict context

A study of communication in the aftermath of the

Abkhaz-Georgian armed conflict

Communication for Development One-year master

15 Credits Spring 2020

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Abstract

This study aims at researching how a sustainable culture of peace can be built through civic

engagement in the Abkhaz-Georgian post conflict context. It does so by learning from locally based NGOs, working for a culture of peace in areas affected by the Abkhaz-Georgian armed conflict which occurred 1993 to 1994. The studied NGOs work for different components within a Culture of Peace such as; women’s rights, peace building, social and economic development, democratic participations and human rights. In order to answer the research question following sub questions are answered:

 What can we learn from the experiences of the studied organizations’ participatory communication for social change?

 How has the culture of communication in the Abkhaz-Georgian post conflict context been affecting the participatory communication for social change for the different organizations?

The method to collect data to the research has been through a field study in Abkhazia and outside its border on the Georgian side, in the city Zugdidi which is the closest city to the Abkhazian border. Participatory observations and interviews with representatives from the different organizations working for a culture of peace were conducted during two and a half months. The theoretical framework used for the study consists of three theories. The first is the theory of “Culture of

Peace”, used to analyze how the studied NGOs are working for a culture of peace. The second is the theory “participatory communication for social change” which is used to analyze the work of the studied organizations in order to know how they work for sustainable civic engagement. Lastly, the theory used to look at how the Abkhaz-Georgian post-conflict context is affecting the

communication, is the theory “culture of communication”. The findings of the research present solutions of how to practice participatory communication to build a culture of peace in a post-conflict context. However, the research also discovers how certain public values and views in a post-conflict context can hinder effective work through participatory communication as well as ways of overcoming these challenges.

Keywords: Communication for development, participatory communication, social change, civic engagement, culture of peace, peace building, post-conflict, communication culture, Abkhazia, Georgia

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Acknowledgements

I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all people contributing to this study. The experiences and the people I have met throughout the field study conducted for this research impacted me deeply and taught me lessons for the rest of my life.

I am particularly grateful for the warm and lovely hospitality I received throughout my fieldwork; for the assistance, time and warmth people gave me everywhere I arrived. I would like to offer my special thanks to all the respondents of the interviews, for sharing your experiences, wisdom and stories. I would not have been able to do this without them, the host-organizations, my host

families, the interpreters, and the people constantly earnestly assisting me on the field. For the sake of anonymity those names will not be mentioned here. My great appreciation also goes to Dr. Minna Lundgren, researcher in sociology at Mid Sweden University who put me in contact with the host-organization from the beginning, and has been an invaluable support throughout the study. I also wish to acknowledge the help provided by Dr. Marta Lindvert, researcher in women’s entrepreneurship, as well as the support from Johanna Arkåsen, former representative for Kvinna till Kvinna in the areas I visited. My sincere appreciation also goes to my supervisor Josepha Wessels, who has helped me to find ways and solutions to conduct this study, as well as providing good encouragement and support. Lastly, I would like to thank Malmö Universitet for giving me the opportunity to study Communication for Development, and the important teaching it have been giving me through this master’s program.

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Table of Contents

Abstract ... 2 Acknowledgements ... 3 Table of Contents ... 4 1. Introduction ... 5

2. Putting the research in the context of previous literature ... 10

3. Theoretical/Conceptual Framework ... 14

3.1 Culture of peace ... 14

3.2 Participatory communication for social change adapted to the work of the organizations ... 16

3.3 Culture of communication ... 20

4. Methodology ... 25

4.1 Field study ... 27

4.1.1 Participatory observation ... 28

4.1.2 Semi-structured interviews ... 29

5. The studied organizations ... 32

6. Analysis ... 35

6.1 Applying the organizations’ work to a Culture of Peace ... 35

6.2 How the organizations work with participatory communication for social change, and what we can learn from their experiences... 37

6.2.1 Inform ... 38

6.2.2 Involve ... 42

6.2.3 Collaborate ... 45

6.3 What the culture of communication looks like in the Abkhaz- Georgian post conflict context ... 48

6.3.1 Views about family and gender norms ... 48

6.3.2 Political and public views of NGOs ... 51

6.3.3 Views about ethnicities ... 53

6.3.4 Discussing solutions through the theory of culture of communication ... 56

7. Conclusion ... 59

8. References ... 62

Table of figures Figure 1 : Map of Georgia with Abkhazia………....5

Figure 3: Research strategy ……….………..…..9

Figure 3: Table of culture of peace……….... 15

Figure 4: IAP2 Spectrum of Public Participation……….………..………19

Figure 5: IAP2 Spectrum of Public Participation explained in detail ………...…20

Figure 6: Map of Abkhazia and its rayony (districts), and Zugdidi on the other side of the border ……...………..25

Figure 7: The studied organizations ………...……….……...…34

Figure 8: Table of The organizations applied to culture of peace………...………...…36

Figure 9: dialogue of the components in participatory communication for social change ……….………...…37

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1. Introduction

“No one should experience war like we did. I want it to be peace everywhere, people to be generous, kind and open. This is what I can tell you, this is what I want everyone to understand, because when it is war people can’t develop and go further” (Sofia, interview, in Abkhazia, 12/2019)

It was after the collapse of Soviet Union, which made the entire Caucasus region political and economically unstable, that an armed conflict occurred during a 13 months period in Abkhazia in 1993 and 1994 in between Georgian and Abkhazian (with support from other Caucasus regions) forces (Accord, 1999). The Abkhazian side fought for independence and the Georgian side fought to keep Abkhazia under its governance. The Georgian and

Abkhazians refer to different historical phases in their argument for the status of Abkhazia, and there is not much common ground for resolution (Stewart, 2003). International

organizations, non-governmental organizations and individual states all failed to reach a resolution (Accord 1999). The war left around 10.000 to 15.000 people dead and at least 8.000 wounded (Greenberg Research, ICRC, 1999). Around 250,000 people escaped from Abkhazia, almost half of the population. Among these most of them were Georgians and Mingrelians (an ethnicity often connected to the Georgian side) (Accord, 1999). Today

Figure 1 : Map of Georgia with Abkhazia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_recognition_of_Abkhazia_and_South_O ssetia#/media/File:Georgia,_Ossetia,_Russia_and_Abkhazia_(en).svg

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about 45.000 to 60.000 Georgians have returned to the district in the southeast of Abkhazia which was mainly populated by Georgians and Mingrelians before the war. The rest of the people who fled are mainly living as internally displaced persons within Georgia, the majority of them in the city of Zugdidi, just south of the border to Abkhazia, and some live in other parts of the former Soviet Union. Abkhazia is now a de facto independent state, but only recognized as a sovereign state by Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Syria, and Nauru. Consequently, the former administrative boundary line between Georgia and Abkhazia is now a de facto state border, controlled by the Abkhazian and Russian forces, and is an obstacle for those who wish to return to Abkhazia (Lundgren, 2016). Since the war

Abkhazia has suffered from isolation and extended the economic and political ties with the Russian Federation (Stewart, 2003). Civic freedom of expression is lessened and

questionable (Freedom House, 2018). The brutal nature of the war left wounds from ethnic sweep operations, terror, expulsions, looting and rapes inflicted on the other ethnic group. Personal experiences of ethnically based violence lead to cycles of retribution and

separation of Georgian and Abkhaz people who earlier had lived peacefully together. The loss of trust between the Abkhaz and Georgians is still a major obstacle for both official negotiations and reconciliations on the ground (Stewart 2003).

This study aims at researching how a sustainable culture of peace can be built in a post conflict context like this through participatory communication.

“Peace… is not only the absence of war, peace also implies transformations capable of minimizing social inequalities…, and a concept of a culture of peace as an alternative to cultural violence.” (Vicente 2015 p.1). Furthermore, building a Culture of Peace includes working for tolerance, disarmament, sustainable economic and social development, democratic participation, gender equality, freedom of expression, and respect of human rights (Wick, 2014).

Most of the work using different communication tools in post-conflict reconciliation and reconstruction are carried out by NGOs, who are funded by different donors (N.N, 2011). Therefore this paper is researching how nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), who are working for any of the components of culture of peace, can communicate to engage civic society for sustainable reconstruction in a post conflict context. It will do so through

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learning from locally based NGOs, with local staff, operating in areas affected by the Abkhazian-Georgian armed conflict. The studied organizations work for different

components within a Culture of Peace such as women’s rights, peace building, social and economic development, democratic participations and human rights.

Media and communication interventions used for development in post conflict contexts today often lack focus of making a deeper and longer impact (Kalathil et al., 2008). Further, most research about communication in post-conflict stabilization and reconstruction

process are made as an afterthought, rather than looking at communication processes in post conflict reconstruction for a long term development (Kalathil et al., 2008). To address this gap this research will focus on communication specifically for sustainable post-conflict reconstruction.

In order to make a deeper more sustainable impact, the cornerstone of communication for social change is to create a conceptual ground built on civic engagement to position

citizen’s needs, rights and responsibilities, where local knowledge is the focus Tufte (2017) notes. Moreover, to reach a sustainable social change, all action and all change have to come from the people, because they are the key to change, according to Clammer (2012). Consequently, the research question for this study is:

How can NGOs communicate to create a culture of peace through civic engagement in the Abkhaz-Georgian post conflict context?

The theory “culture of peace” will define how the studied organizations are contributing to a culture of peace. The theory that represents civic engagement and a bottom up approach in this study is participatory communication for social change; it will be used as a lens when analyzing what we can learn from the studied organizations work. Furthermore, the theory used to analyze how the Abkhaz-Georgian post-conflict context is affecting the communication is “culture of communication”. Subsequently, the theoretical frameworks for this study consist of these three theories; 1) Culture of Peace, 2) Participatory

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Subsequently, in order to answer the question “How NGO’s can communicate to create a culture of peace through civic engagement in the Abkhaz-Georgian post conflict context” following sub questions will be asked:

What can we learn from the experiences of the studied organizations’

participatory,+ communication for social change?

How has the culture of communication in the Abkhaz-Georgian post conflict

context, been affecting the participatory communication for social change for the different organizations?

The method to collect data to this research has been through a field study in Abkhazia and outside its border on the Georgian side, in the city Zugdidi which is the closest city to the Abkhazian border. Interviews and field work with different organizations operating in the affected areas of the Abkhazian-Georgian war was conducted.

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What can we learn from the experiences of the studied organizations’ participatory communication for social

change? - Will be answered by

analyzing the studied organizations' work through

the theory of participatory commuincation How has the culture of

communication been effecting the participatory communication for social change for the different

organizations?

- Will be answered by analyzing the Abkhaz-Gerogian post conflict

context through the theory of culture of communication

How NGOs can

communicate to create a

culture of peace through

civic engagement in the

Abkhaz-Georgian post

conflict context

How are the the studied organizations' work relevant in

building a a culture of peace? - Will be answered by caterizing the work of the organizations through the theory "culture of peace"

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2. Putting the research in the context of

previous literature

Following chapter will examine previous research related to the present study, and by that argue for the study’s relevance.

Kalathil et al (2008) argue that the area of media and communication of post conflict reconstruction and development is relatively under-examined. Still, almost all post-conflict interventions rely on different aspects of communication (2008, Kalathil et al). The lack of investigation in the fundamental component in peace building, in the broader context of post-conflict environments, can potentially lead to missed opportunities and negative

outcomes, they explain. Kalathil et al.’s (2008) volume highlights the very important role of media and communication in post-conflict contexts in enabling citizens to engage in

dialogue, serve as platforms for debates, and facilitate poverty reductions and development (Kalathil et al, 2008).This shows a research gap within this area, and opens up for a study on how a more sustainable culture of peace can be build in a post-conflict context, as the present study aims at.

Furthermore, the field Communication for Peace is closely connected to my research question, a new and emergent field which points out how communication can be used to incite and escalate violence, but also to mitigate and prevent violence (N.N 2011).

Moreover, from the field of peace studies we can draw many parallels and bring knowledge and understanding to the purpose of this research. The field emphasizes a move from a top-down hierarchical approach to more inclusive, interactive tools through information, in similarity to what the present study is researching. It also emphasizes that empowerment creates better opportunities for a greater self-sufficiency of communities of crisis and conflict, where free communication and information flows are essential (N.N. 2011, p.4). In similarity, Vicente (2015) explains that to reach actions towards peace it is important that the communication comes from bottom up, from the grassroots and the civil society, in order to achieve a sustainable transformation. This in turn, can be achieved through

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relevance of a research on how participatory communication for social change can be used for a culture of peace in a post conflict context, as the present research does. However, the need for free communication and information flows in creating greater self-sufficiency of communities of crisis and conflict, demonstrates a problem in contexts where free flow of information and communication is not assured, as in the Abkhaz-Georgian post conflict context. This adds another aspect of relevance of researching how communication in a context like this can be used for empowerment and a culture of peace.

In her article Baú (2016) tries to see the connections between participatory communication and civic engagement with post-conflict peace. In similarity to the present study, she is looking at how a communication for development approach can engage citizens in

strengthening the peace building and reconstruction process in the end of the violence. Her focus lies in looking at a how a more bottom up process, based on dialogue and inclusivity, can create a peace building process that can start from the community. With this she wants to bring together notions of peace building, citizen engagement and communication for development, in similarity to the present study (2016, p.348). In conclusion, her article demonstrates that Communication for Development can play an important role in

facilitating participation in peace building, and through the implementation of participatory communication and media activities (2016, p.355). With that being said, the similar focus of the present study “participatory communication for a culture of peace in a post conflict context” is also highly relevant for the field of Communication for Development.

Baú (2016) further notes that the disconnection between citizens and political leadership as well as the lack of communication and access to information in post-conflict environments, especially among certain groups, can hinder a stable peace building. Concerning the

disconnection between citizens and different groups in the Abkhaz-Georgian post conflict context, this is also adoptable to the present study. Baú (2016) continues to explain that it is crucial to amplify citizens’ voices in peace building, citizens’ engagement, and in

participatory governance, such as the organizations that will be studied in the present research is doing. Moreover, Baú (2016) notes that participatory communication and customized use of media and technology can create platforms for citizens to be the agents in the national reconstruction. She also claims that too often peace-building is focusing on

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only escaping the conflict, rather than focusing on a long-term establishment of addressing the roots of the conflict. Here, the citizens have a crucial role in a reconstruction process. It argues that when individuals participate in decision making they begin to identify

themselves with the role of being a citizen and are more prone to think in terms of public good, and is most likely to succeed if it engages all groups in the society, she notes (Bau, 2016). With this being said, the importance of studying how participatory communication can be practiced in post conflict contexts, like the present study, does is verified, since it builds on citizens’ engagement. One way of building this type of reconstruction process in a post-conflict can be by building peace with local capacities and through social structures that are already in place (Bau, 2017). This can be done through addressing informal institutions and community representatives; so that new institutions based on a bottom up and community oriented values and traditions can participate in the process (Bau, 2017). This shows the relevance of the present study which researches locally based NGOs in particular, consisting of local employees, who know the social structures that are already in place in the context they work in. These people within the studied organizations can

therefore be looked at as the addressed community representatives in informal institutions (their NGOs), which can contribute to the long term establishment of peace building, based on a community oriented value.

Furthermore Baú (2016) says that one very important component in the reconstruction process is that the state can provide its citizens services and accountability which they demand. Here, free flow of communication plays a big role so that communities can analyze and articulate their needs, as well as becoming aware of their rights and create a public dialogue. This however, points at the very problem of a reconstruction process in a post-conflict context like the present studied Abkhaz-Georgian context, since it does not assure any of the above components. With this being said, in the studied post-conflict context of the present research, the state(s) cannot always provide its citizens services and accountability which they demand, due to the political situation (Kolstø & Blakkisrud, 2008). Neither can a free flow of communication always be assured.

The literature presented above is all adaptable to the present study, however it does not address the challenge of how participatory communication for development can be applied

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at a place that lack common understanding and ground due to different point of views after a conflict. How can people share a conceptual ground in places where people are

segregated and have different perceptions of reality and needs? How can participatory communication for peace be carried out when freedom of speech, a free press and the right to freely participate in political debates and decision-making is not assured? In conclusion, these questions open up for the research question of the present study.

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As mentioned in the introduction, the data collected will be analyzed through three different theories used for the theoretical framework of this research. These theories are; 1) Culture of Peace, 2) Participatory Communication for Social Change, and 3) Culture of

Communication.

3.1 Culture of peace

The concept of a culture of peace was established year 1989, during the International Congress on Peace in the Minds of Men, by UNESCO (UN General Assembly 1997). Since then, the concept has grown in to a global movement on many levels all around the world, through participation of the civil society (Wick, 2014). Baú (2016) notes that peace can be built through many different approaches which include promoting the integration of

competing or marginalized groups within the society, providing equitable access to political decision-making , social networks, economic resources and information, and rebuilding trust between communities. The interests of the minority need to be protected (Bau, 2016). In correlation, Vicente (2015) writes that peace studies are no longer only defining peace as absence of war, peace also includes a change capable of minimizing social inequalities and a concept of a culture of peace as an alternative to cultural violence. Looking at the cause of inequalities in society is an important aspect to peace building, he says. Equality enhances a peaceful co-existence (Vicente, 2015 p.3).This can be looked at as an extended view of peace studies, which also includes unjust social and economic structures. In the present research this extended view of peace studies will be defined as a “culture of peace”. This also includes information in peace building where choices are based on equitable

participation of the people involved. When Vicente (2015) talk about active peace and communication from a multidimensional perspective, he says that focus is more on the social, economic and political structure of a society in order to reach a peace building process. The culture of peace encompasses, as stated in the UN resolution A/RES/52/13: “a set of values, attitudes, modes of behavior and ways of life that reject violence and prevent conflicts by tackling their root causes to solve problems through dialogue and negotiation among individuals, groups and nations” (UN, 1997). There are 7 action areas to work

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within to enhance a “culture of peace”. These 7 areas of action will be adapted to the studied organizations in this research, and are presented as following:

The action area Description

1. Foster a culture of peace through education

Promoting educational curricula, promote values, attitudes and behaviors of a culture of peace, such as peaceful conflict-resolution, dialogue, consensus-building and active non-violence.

2. Promote sustainable economic and social development

Promote sustainable economic and social development, by reducing economic and social inequalities, by working for social justice, special support to groups with special needs, environmental sustainability, and poverty reduction

3. Ensure equality between women and men

Work for equality between women and men, through full participation of women in economic, social and political decision making, eliminating of all discrimination and violence against women, and support women in need

4. Foster democratic participation Foster democratic principles, practices and participation in all sectors of society, a transparent and accountable governance and administration, the combat against terrorism, organized crime, and corruption

5. Advance solidarity tolerance and understanding

Advance understanding, tolerance and solidarity to diminish war and violent conflicts. We need to transform enemy images with understanding, tolerance and solidarity among all peoples and cultures. Learning from our differences, through dialogue and the exchange of information

6. Support participatory communication and the free flow of information and knowledge

Work for freedom of information and communication. The sharing of information and knowledge are indispensable for a culture of peace. Measures need to be taken to address the issue of violence in media, including new information and communication technologies

7. Promote international peace and security

Work for disarmament internationally and promote efforts in negotiation of peaceful settlements, human security, and elimination of production and traffic of weapons, post-conflict initiatives

Figure 3: Table of culture of peace

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3.2 Participatory communication for social change adapted to the work of the organizations

One way of creating a sustainable social change is through participatory communication for development (Tufte, 2017). This will be used as the theoretical framework in my research when analyzing how the NGOs are working for development in a post conflict context. There are many different approaches to participatory communication for development. Cadiz (2015) definition will be the predominant in the present study. She defines participatory communication for development by summarizing different theoretical approaches and notes that it should involve the people in the community so that they feel ownership of the projects; so that it truly addresses their needs from their own perspective. Through doing this it becomes sustainable she says. Participatory communication for Development can be seen as “a planned activity, based on the one hand a participatory processes”, and on the other hand on media and interpersonal communication. This facilitates a dialogue among different stakeholders about development problem or goals, Cadiz adds (2015, p.146). Over all, the community has to be the point of departure. Self-management is the most developed form of participation, where participation is possible in the decision-making regarding selection procedures, planning and media content, she says. Participatory communication for empowerment is therefore closely related to the definition of participatory communication for development as well (Cadiz, 2015).

Further, Manyozo (2012) defines the participatory and communication approach as if it aims at reaching a community based engagement communication and a dialogic notion. He notes that the idea with the participatory and communication approach is to make

development emerge from below, in a bottom up way, where the indigenous knowledge is of high value. The object of the approach can be seen as a ‘cyclical’ communication, where the reflecting, evaluation, planning and rethinking involves everyone, in this way the decision-making is suppose to be inclusive for everyone (Manyozo, 2011 p.18ff).

Tufte (2017) explains that participation in processes of change has been approached from many different perspectives thought the years. Historically participation has not been tied specifically to development cooperation, but to different visions of citizens’ engagement for social and structural change (Tufte, 2017, p.60). The theory of participation related to

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decision-making and democracy can be found in literature already in the 18th century (Baú, 2016 p.352). Later, in the second half of the 19th century, Henry Main’s notion of

participation in civic life gained more importance. He argued that if people had the

opportunity to participate in decision-making they would be more inclined to think in terms of the public good and identify themselves with the role of being a citizen (Bau, 2016 p.352). During the 1990 and the new millennium there was a particularly strong focus on participation in governance, such as policy processes and as a means to enhance public sector accountability (Tufte, 2017 p.62). Tufte (2017) argues that the many different discourses on participation that evolved during the 1990 created the dominant discourse on participation today. This discourse includes a rights-based approach to participation in political perspectives and changed power-relations. During this time even the field of Commuincation for Dvelopment was shifting more and more from a one way

communication where “imposing predetermined polices on the poor” (Mudgal, 2015 p.113) towards a more bottom up planning. The new approach today is more participatory,

inclusive and takes the indigenous knowledge into account better (Mudgal, 2015 p.113). Tufte (2017) further explains that today, the notions of participatory communication in social change can be associated with two locations of action; participatory communication in development projects, and community based participatory communication. The former is more tied to development projects and associated with more system-driven communicative-driven processes. The latter is more associated with informal citizen initiatives and the field of community media. In this research the focus will be on communication in development projects.

The baseline in different approaches within social change processes are different

discussions around voice and agency as well as activism and empowerment, Tufte (2017) argues. When it comes to participatory communication in development in particular, Cadiz (2015) notes that it can happen on many different levels; community/local level,

international, national, as well as an organizational and project management level. In this research it will be looked at organizational and project management level.

Cadiz (2015) also points out that the model of participatory communication for

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thinkers about education and dialogue and was active in the late twentieth century. His concern was that traditionally pedagogy was oppressive and dehumanizing, and therefore worked to develop pedagogy that could liberate the “oppressed”. One of his most famous books is “Pedagogy of the oppressed” 1970 (Fraire, 1970). A quote of Freire summarizes the importance of participatory communication well:

“As groups begin to see themselves and their society from their own perspective and become aware of their potentialities, hopelessness is replaced by hope. Society now reveals itself as something unfinished, it is not a given but a challenge. This new critical optimism leads to a strong sense of social responsibility and of engagement in the task of

transforming society” (Freaire, 1970).

Cadiz (2015) summarizes how Fraire’s characteristics for participatory communication inform us about the most important characteristics within participatory communication for development. These are as following: 1) Communication between equals; the equality between the change agent and the development partner. 2) Problem-posing; a problem-posing dialogue drawing from the learner’s and people’s knowledge and experiences, rather than presenting solutions to development problems. 3) Praxis, a cycle of action and

reflection; adopting people’s experiences, and drawing analysis from theories and generalizations from lessons learned through reflections. 4) Conscientizing; a process of applying critical consciousness in a dialogue, where development partners and the participants grow in an understanding for the human, social and development process. 5) “The five values; in order to make it a true dialogue” which have to be applied. These values are; love, humility, hope, faith in development partners capability, and critical thinking.

There are different approaches in trying to conceptualize participation in to different levels. One of the more famous models of participation is Sherry Arnstein’s ladder of participation (Arnstain, 1969). A more recent model used for practitioners of participation based on Arnstain’s ladder is the “spectrum of public participation”, presented below, and conceptualized by the international association of public participation (IAP2). In the

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and empower. The highest level you can have is if you have applied all of them. This model will later be used in the analysis of the studied organizations’ work.

Following each level is explained more in detailed, as noted by Stuart (2017); Figure 4: IAP2 Spectrum of Public Participation

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Inform: This first level of the spectrum is in fact not “participatory communication” since it only involves a one way communication. However, it still needs to be within the spectrum of participatory communication since it providing information for the community is an important foundation within participatory communication. It aims at trying to inform the public what they need to fully understand about the project or decision to reach their own conclusion.

Involve: The level of “involve” is focusing on the community’s involvement in the project/program throughout the whole process. It does imply that issues that are raised should be taken in to account, but it does not necessary include that it is the public who is making the decisions. At this level the decisions are still generally made by the organization or department.

Consult: The level of “Consult” focuses on feedback from the public, and can be looked at as the basic minimum for public input to a decision. It mainly includes communication from the public to the agency, so mostly one way communication, but still involves some aspects of two way communication. This feedback usually includes ideas, plans, options or issues. This can be made through surveys, focus groups, public meetings, for example. This level is useful in the beginning of a participatory communication process, for example in order to get feedback on a draft plan in the beginning of the planning process.

Collaborate: The level of Collaborate is including the public in the decision making a lot more. It promises to incorporate advice and recommendation to the maximum extent possible. It is an interactive two-way process throughout the program. Here it is important to create trust and a genuine engagement in between the community and the agency.

Empower: This level implies a bottom up process where the decision-making is in the hand of the public. It requires that those affected by decisions can have input into the process as well as interaction and engagement. It is meant to “implement what you decide”, but the

responsibility for the decision can still be within in the agency as long as it is respecting the inputs from the public. However, less significant decisions about minor issues can still be made by the agency. The way empower is used in this spectrum is not the same as empowerment.

3.3 Culture of communication

The theory culture of communication will be used in the analysis, in order to understand the cultural mechanisms that affect the studied organizations’ communication with the

beneficiaries.

Figure 5: IAP2 Spectrum of Public Participation explained in detail

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Communication as it is - is an extremely complex process with plenty of influencing factors of the interpretation of the information carriers. Social relationships, power structures, standards value etc, play a crucial role (Boeren, 1994, p5). A large part of social

manifestations, such as communication, are based on beliefs and values (Vicente, 2015). “Interpersonal communication involves social relationships between people. Factors of power, control and dependency are inherent in social relationships, and most relationships are characterized by a certain inequality defined by differences in knowledge, wealth, position etc “(Boeren 1992, p.46).

There are many theories and models trying to explain the process of how a message is produced, disseminated, and interpreted. One of the most predominant on the field is Stuart Hall’s (1980) famous model of “encoding and decoding”. In short, it explains how the audience members are coding (interpreting) the message differently depending on what makes sense for them, based on a number of things such as connotations, social contexts, history. There are different degrees of understanding and misunderstanding in the

communicative exchange which depends on the degrees of relations and equivalence established between the sender and the receiver. This in turn depends on identity or non identity in how the sender and receiver “code” the message, and how the message is interrupted. Misunderstandings are happening when there is a lack of “equivalence” between the sides (Hall, 1980). A lot more could be said around Stuart Hall’s model and other attempts to approach different communication models. However, in this theoretical framework, the focus will be on how the culture, such as values, believes, social context, and shared views, is affecting the communication between the sender and the receiver. This will be defined as “Culture of communication”, and will mainly be based on Boeren’s text from 1994 called “In other words:… the cultural dimension of communication for

development”. Even though it was 26 years since Boeren wrote this text, it is still very relevant today and reminds of the important aspect of the culture within communications. The theory is relevant for this research since it is easily applicable in trying to identify the context of the Abkhaz-Georgian post conflict, and what affect the communication in that specific culture. Boeren (1994) writes about the importance in taking the Culture of Communication in to account as a big influencer within the field of communication for development. He states; “the development agent and producer of communication materials

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had to take into account the social and cultural interests of the intended beneficiaries, and had to be sensitive to the cultural dimensions of development and communication. In fact, people's culture had to be mobilized to let development succeed, and communication for development needed to reinforce the cultural identity, local values, and knowledge of people as an avenue to their active participation” (Boeren, 1994, p.2)

Hence, as communicating for social change, and in this case social change for peace

building, is aiming to change the way people look at things, the way they do things, and the way they relate to each other and the world around them, this can be a highly sensitive process (Boeren 1994, p2). The cultural conditions, the psychological aspects of

communication processes and the pedagogic requirements of adult education are therefore crucial to take in to regard when looking at communication for social change (Boeren 1994, p3). This goes in line with Vicente’s (2015) notes, that in order to make a structural change through creating a type of culture, we also have to remember that this culture still

sometimes disagree with other more traditional cultures practiced by other parts of the population. Therefore, we have to learn to accept different cultures Vicente (2015)

explains. Vicente (2015) further explains that we have to remember that different groups of people wants to see different type of changes and that no change have been created before that has not been based from peoples previous experiences and history. However, what we cannot accept in working with communication for peace is parts of those cultures who do not accept otherness as legitimate and valid, he continues. This is not an easy task, since confronting these points of views of individuals and collective positions also can include conflict. In these situations, communication can be a tool to diminish the disagreements of members of different communities (Vicente, 2015).

Interestingly, Boeren (1994) wrote this in the era when the Soviet Union was breaking up, and as the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict was going on. He writes how the end of the cold war gave hope to a long lasting peace, but how it turned out to be differently. Instead there was an outbreak of civil wars, nationalistic feelings, and open racism. Even though many of these conflicts were influenced by economic interests, most of them still came out as ethnic conflicts. He explains that time as if “groups were claiming to be from the same origin cling together to fight the ‘others’ who, in their view, assaulted, discriminated and

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mistreated them…. A man… As a social animal he fights for the interests of his groups, for political and economic gains, but most importantly, for his cultural identity” (Boeren 1994, p.54).

With this being said, Boeren (1994) points out how cultural identity and shared ideas, customs, religious principles, and values regulates and define the relationships within the group and the outside world. Assaulting the culture of people can be more serious than economic threats or physical assaults because it hits on people’s very existence – and the direction and purpose of a groups life can have the feeling of being threatened.

Subsequently, it is crucial to take this aspect in to communication and how it can be interrelated.

Culture is directly related to values, a human intervention shared by members of a group, which determine how people consider the purpose of human existence and their relations to the environment and the world around them. However, it is important to remember that value systems are rarely consistent or homogeneous (Boeren, 1994, p.61ff). Value conflicts usually occur in between different ethnic, cultural, social, political, or economic groups, as well as between individuals. Nationally, value conflict are usually based on different political views, such as democracy vs. totalitarianism, capitalism versus communism, religious principles vs. economic models, majority rule vs. minority sensitivity etc. These types of different value oriented conflicts can also happen in between different groups or cultures. Values determine our lives in most matters and are responsible for practices from anything from women’s inferior position in big parts of the world, racism, nationalism or exploitation, but also for social justice, equality, tolerance, peace and development. (Boeren, 1994, p.61ff). This all is important to take in to account when it comes to

communication, considering acceptance or rejection of information and new ideas depends on values and culture (Boeren, 1994, p.63).

One way values is demonstrated in cultures within communications is through “taboos”, meaning things, practices or ideas that are avoided or prohibited by a social custom. These taboos can vary from anything from sexuality, political matters, and deceases etc. Culture and values also define the status of different roles in society. Roles are another variable to take in to account when it comes to looking at effective communication. These different

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roles determine the communication patterns between people through codified rules. Who is saying what can be as determine as what is being said. Statuses within the community can bring either limitations or privileges when it comes to how the influential communication is, depending on public expectations and societal norm. These roles are mainly defined by age, gender and status around the world, and can also be depending on age, occupation or ethnics (Boeren, 1994).

In conclusion, Boeren (1994) points out that the most effective communication happens in-between people who have a lot in common and have some degree of mutual understanding. If the shared background is not there, one or both parties in communication should take the responsibility to increase the level of mutual understanding, which requires an open mind, a sincere interest for the others, and a common language (Boeren, 1994 p 53). With other words, in communication the participants need a common interpretation of the ideas or messages that are being exchanged (Boeren, 1994 p.26). In similarity Vicente (2015) notes that communication in peace building has to work towards actions which respect local diversity and the plurality of concepts. We need acceptance of interdependence, and a tolerance towards the diversity of social, ethnic, cultural and religious views, he says (Vicente, 2015).

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4. Methodology

As mentioned in the introduction, the method to collect data to this research has been through a field study in Abkhazia and outside its border on the Georgian side, in the city (municipality) Zugdidi which is the closest city to the Abkhazian border. Zugdidi is also the closest city to the only crossing point from Georgia to Abkhazia, which is highly restricted by border guards and three checkpoints. One Georgian checkpoint on the Georgian side, who defines the border as it is an administrative boundary line (which share the view with the majority of the world), and two checkpoints on the Abkhazian side; one accompanied by Abkhazian authorities and one by Russian border guards; these defines the border as an international border. This study refrains from any political opinion about Abkhazia’s status of recognition, and aims at presenting the data as neutral as possible.

During the field study interviews with different representatives for locally based NGOs, working for some kind of culture of peace, was conducted on both sides of the border. What all the visited places, and the contexts the studied organizations work in, have in common is that they all have been affected by the Georgian/Abkhazian conflict.

Figure 6: Map of Abkhazia and its rayony (districts), and Zugdidi on the other side of the border

Source: Map drafted by the authors from multiple sources. (O'Loughlin, et al., 2011)

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Furthermore, the studied organization’s also have in common is that they are all working for a culture of peace in different ways and they all are locally based non-governmental organizations. The people interviewed, who was representing their organizations, all had in common that they were women, and all of them originating from any of the areas affected by the Abkhaz-Georgian conflict. Through the interviews with these women I got

information about the organizations they worked with, but I also got information which was not representative for the organization, but represented them privately. Nevertheless, this information was also relevant for the present study. The organizations will be presented in detail in next chapter “studied organizations”.

Participatory observation of these organizations’ work and contexts was also conducted. Due to security reason and in order to treat the shared information confidently, names of the organizations and the staff interviewed will be left out. The organizations names will be exchanged by numbers and the staff’s names will be exchanged by other names. In order to not being able to track the information to certain organizations based on location, the location of the organizations will not be mentioned more distinctively than “Zugdidi” or “Abkhazia”. Nevertheless, the Zugdidi municipality consist of 105.500 people (with 43.000 of those living in the city Zugdidi), and 48 administrative units (Zudgdidi

Municipality City Hall, 2019). Abkhazia exist of 215.500 people and 7 “rayony”, districts (Kolstø & Blakkisrud, 2008). The political and social contexts and conditions look different at different places, and depending on what ‘people group’ you belong to. With that being said, the people interviewed and the different areas within this post-conflict context do not constitute a homogenous group. Even though it would have been relevant to take the locations and people groups in to account more, this will not be done in this research. Furthermore, the purpose of this study is not to compare the different areas or people groups, even though the political and social conditions vary at different places, within different ethnic groups, regions, and the different sides of the Abkhazian border. Rather, the purpose is to find general potential mechanisms that affect the communication for a culture of peace that can occur in a post-conflict context like this one. With this being said, this study will present examples of such mechanisms, and these examples might not always represent all of the regions studied, or all of the organizations and beneficiaries.

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4.1 Field study

Field study is a type of long participatory observation study. Participant observation, ethnography and fieldwork are often used conversely and they all include living and working among people for a longer period of time to be able to see patterns and learn how people and communities are understanding “their world” (Delamont, 2012). Fieldwork is a tool that helps us describe the various, and often conflicting, perspectives and worldviews in a community (Given, 2008). A field study is not aiming at deciding who is right and wrong, it just helps to describe and portray the situation on the field (Given, 2008).

According to Hammersly & Atkinson (1995) a field study can take place in a wide variety of types of settings, what’s important is that the setting is relevant to the nature of the relationship to the people that the study want to research (1995). Seen from an ethnographic explanation, a field study should seek to understand the world view, social context and culture from the people on the field’s own perspective (Denscombe, 1998). However, since there are strict rules around what a proper ethnographic method is, which are not followed in detail in this research, and since anthropologists claim that they are the only ones who can use the true ethnographic methods, I choose to say that this research is “inspired by ethnographic methods” (Delamont, 2012).

As a conflict consists of many different points of views and as described above “conflicting perspectives in a community”, conducting a field work notably was an adaptable method in this present study in order to grasp all different perspectives of the post-conflict context. Since the present study’s research question is not searching to know who is right or wrong, it merely wants to describe and portray the situation on the field; a field study for this research was suitable. In addition, it is hard to find articles and studies around this specific context after the war, knowing there are many different views that both political sides manipulate history for their own purposes and use a variety of arguments based on different historical phases (Stewart, 2003). Hence, it was reasonable to learn from the field and the people there, to try to understand how the organizations perceive their work of

communication for social change.

During my field study I visited Zugdidi and Abkhazia for two and a half months. I lived and worked both inside Abkhazia, and in Zugdidi. All together one and a half of those

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months were inside Abkhazia, and one was outside. In Abkhazia I lived with a half ethnically Abkhaz and half ethnically Mingrelian family, and in Zugdidi I lived with a Georgian woman who was internally displaced after the war from Abkhazia. I had one host organization on each side of the border, both of them working for women’s rights and peace building. These two organizations I call the “gatekeepers”, and they helped me to get in contact with other relevant organizations for my research.

4.1.1 Participatory observation

When conducting participatory observation, the researcher is seeking to collect data, in the “real context”, why it involves field studies (Denscombe, 1998). Participatory observation is used to get in to situations to understand the culture and processes of the studied groups (Denscombe, 1998). Saying participant observation does not necessary mean that the participant is actually helping out in the work, it rather means that the person is watching the people doing the work to learn how they do it, as well as interact with them while they are doing it (Delamont, 2012). When doing participatory observation it is important to remember that as an observer, we interpret and perceive things differently based on aspects such as earlier experiences, the level of familiarity, current mode etc. (Denscombe, 1998). The way I conducted participatory observation during my field studies was that I took field notes and wrote about what I learned and experienced every day, while the memories were still fresh. Most of the days, in both Abkhazia and Zugdidi, I was following the work my ‘gatekeepers’ were doing. I participated in meetings, campaigns, projects and their

everyday work life in their offices. These organizations also helped me to organize visits to other organizations working for a culture of peace in the aftermath of the

Abkhazian/Georgian conflict.

To make things unfold even more and grasp the situation more deeply, it would have helped to stay on the field a longer period of time; however this was not an option for me with my timeframe. Also, it would have been of huge benefit if I would have had greater knowledge of Russian and Georgian and the other languages that were spoken within the context (for example Mingrilian). However, I did learn to communicate the basics and most of the time people helped me to translate and interpret the situation I was in. Of course this gave less objective views, since the interpretations’ subjective understanding was

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unavoidable. I did spend time with different organizations representing different ethnicities in different areas of the case, but the time was not equally distributed since my

“gatekeepers” constituted my main bases. It can further be discussed if I can say that I represent all views and ethnicities within the case equally since I spent different much time with different groups.

4.1.2 Semi-structured interviews

The method of interviewing is an interaction between the interviewer and an interviewee, or a group. Interviews typically serve the researcher’s already set theme by answering the questions the interviewer already has prepared (Given, 2008). There is usually a distinction between standardized interviews and non-standardized interviews. Interviews with high standardization have already preset questions and are usually connected to quantitative studies. In interviews with low standardization only the theme of the questions are preset and the questions asked during the interview are asked in order to clarify and deepen the earlier answers of the respondent. The later is usually used for qualitative studies

(Eljertsson, 2005). Semi-structured interviews, as used in this research, have a preset structure, themes and questions, but the interview is flexible and the interviewee is free to elaborate and develop his/her ideas during the interview (Denscombe, 1998). As an interview is a social interaction and the communication between the interviewer and the interviewee the main concern is to make sure that the responder gets his/her voice

understood correctly. By doing interviews the interviewer is going in to the interviewee’s world and private experiences, therefore it has to be remembered what consequences the interview could have for the respondents (Birch et al. n.d). This is not always an easy task, especially not when a translator is needed. Since the interviewer is in a position of power through the organizational control, it is very important that a special kind of sensitivity takes place in an interview (Birch et a n.dl.).

The reason for choosing semi-structured interviews to collect data for this research was to get to know things more in detail about my already set theme; participatory communication in the post-conflict context. I considered only doing participatory observation of the

organizations’ work for the period I was on the field would not give me as much detailed information as doing interviews, and hearing the point of views of the staff in the

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organizations. The people working with the organizations have experiences from working with communication in the context they work in, and can grasp a reality covering a much longer time than I could have done the short time I was there. I see it as a way of getting under the surface of what is visible, each person from the organizations in this context, carry a lot of information. In addition data collection through interviews made it possible for me to get information from many different organizations within the context, rather than only the perspective of the organizations I joined for participatory observation through the field work. By doing interviews I could target the questions and get direct information connected the organizations’ level of participatory communication for development, I could look in to what challenges they have had, and what they have seen been the most effective type of communication to reach out to their beneficiaries.

In total I conducted thirteen interviews. Ten of the interviews were with representatives from the different NGOs working for a culture of peace, in the different locations. 4 of them were located in Zugdidi, and 6 of them in different regions of Abkhazia. They will all be described in detail in the next chapter “the studied organizations”. The rest of the three interviews were made as reference interviews, in order to understand the context the studied organizations are working in better. Two of those were beneficiaries of some of the

organizations, one was an older woman in Abkhazia, and one was a middle aged active civic community member in her village within the Zugdidi municipality, just next to the border to Abkhazia. The third reference interview was made with the Deputy Mayor of the Zugdidi municipality. Since my interviews were all semi-structured they had some structure and pre set questions, but I still left space for spontaneous information from the

interviewees (Ejlertsson, 2005). With this being said, my interview guide was based on questions that gave me the insights of how the organizations were working through “participatory communication for social change”, and what challenges, experiences and knowledge they have in using these to reach civic engagement in their context. All interviews but one were recorded and transcribed. The one that was not recorded was instead memorized by taking notes through the interview. The reason for that was that the person interviewed preferred to not being recorded. I mainly conducted individual

interviews. However one of the interviews was in a group of four people from the

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were all gathered to meet me, and I considered it to be a good way to get out more information about their work by including all of them to answer my questions. In my research some interviews required a translator, why I had to take in to account that some translation can have been misunderstood. Therefore I had to try to capture the whole context of what the person was saying. I had to put extra effort in perusing to understand the person correct, rather than listening to some specific words, and to look at the idea behind the words. However, some of the interviewees spoke English, and no translator was needed. Even in these cases I had to remember that English was never the respondent’s native language and that some language barriers could occur. With this being said, as an interviewer in a new cultural context, I had to be prepared for the complexities that could occur, as well as trying to understand the significant cultural communication behind their actual wor

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5. The studied organizations

In this chapter the studied organizations will be presented more in detail based on the interviews with the representatives of each organization. Both the organizations’ names and the interviewees’ names have been treated confidentially for security reason.

Organization 1

Person interviewed: Anna, employee, age 30-40 Type of organization: Locally Founded Location: Zugdidi

Organization 1 is a locally founded organization that works for women’s rights and to support internally displaced people from Abkhazia. One of their missions is to promote women’s participation in conflict resolution and peace building processes, as well as to involve women in politics and to enhance their influence politically. The organization also provides psychological aid and lawyers to women who are in need and are working against gender based violence. Besides this they teach about reproductive health, human rights and other skills, such as entrepreneurial and computer skills in the IDP communities. The woman interviewed is an employee since many years back at organization 1. She became an internal displaced person in Zugdidi after the Abkhazia/Georgian armed conflict. She spoke English well so the interview was conducted in English.

Organization 2

Person interviewed: Maria, employee, age 40-50 Location: Zugdidi

Organization 2 is an internationally founded organization working for issues related to refugees and internal displaced persons. The focus in this study will be on their field office in Zugdidi. They work within a numbers of sectors, covering mostly internally displaced people and their communities within Georgia, to promote social and economical development. For example they build shelter and small scale infrastructure and access to community service. They promote economic recovery, such as self-reliance, small –business, rural development as well as vocational and educational training. The organizations also provide protection as well as legal and aid assistance as well as working for capacity building and civil society support. The person interviewed for this organization grew up in Georgia and is in between 40 and 50 years old. She has a long background in different development and human rights organizations, and is now an employee at Organization 2 since a few years back. She spoke English well so the interview was conducted in English.

Organization 3

Person interviewed: Julia, head of office, age 45-55 Location: Zugdidi

Organization 3 is an international founded humanitarian organization. They work for protecting lives and dignity of victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence and provide them with assistance. The focus in this study will be on the work of their Georgian national office located in Zugdidi. Their main

responsibility is to cover all of Georgia and to do analysis around political situations, for protection, and for finding missing people. They create “family missing programs” for Georgia and update people about the humanitarian law. They work multidisciplinary to clarify the fate and loss of people missing after the armed conflict, and to provide answers to the families about their missed ones. They also help people to communicate between the different sides of the Abkhazian border as well as questioning documents that makes it hard for people to cross the borders. The person interviewed left Abkhazia during the war and became an internal displaced person in Georgia. She has a background of working with other international organizations but has worked for Organization 3 for 5 years. She spoke English so the interview was conducted in English. She wished to not be recorded; therefore it was memorized by taking notes instead.

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Organization 4

Person interviewed: Alina, head of office, age 50-60 Location: Zugdidi.

Organization 4 is located in Zugdidi and is aiming to provide free locations for democratic dialogues among citizens. It is operating as a neutral space and is gathering different sectors, actors, as well as the citizens to spread public information and create dialogues. It was locally founded as a response to the lack of free spaces to meet and discuss for opposition parties and the need for a neutral space to do that. The organization is working to facilitate discussions around different topics and issues of the society, and to encourage to meetings/dialogues of local and international importance. The organization is also working to advocate issues of different importance on municipality level. They work to support civic initiatives by communicating with various public and private entities as well as

mobilizing civic activists and media. The organization even operates as a media-center during the elections. The person interviewed for grew up in Zugdidi and has a background of working in many different international organizations.

Organization 5

Person interviewed: Anastasia, program coordinator, age 25-35 Location: Abkhazia

Organization 5 is a locally founded organization located in Abkhazia. The Organization aims at working for development and equal rights for women and men, providing opportunities and empowerment to women and girls. They work with protection and providing lawyers for women, helping to find working opportunities for survivors of domestic violence, as well as trying to facilitate economical independency for these people. The organization is also works to promote human rights and equal services through implementing different project including; cultural activities, awareness raising, educational activities, such as trainings, seminars, workshops for youths, women groups etc. as well as working for healthcare and information consultation to promote societal equality. They also work for peace building through youth camps across nationalities and to build dialogues around the war. The person interviewed is left Abkhazia to live on the Georgian side as an internal displaced person due to the war, but was able to return about 10 years ago. Since then she has been working with Organization 5.

Organization 6

Person interviewed: Olga, project coordinator, age: 25-35 Location: Abkhazia

Organization 6 is a locally founded women’s rights organization in Abkhazia. They are working to protect women from gender based violence and to raise awareness about women’s rights. They aim at providing psychological and consultant aid, as well as providing lawyers to women in need. They also facilitate economic self sustainable alternatives for women, as well as working through campaigns and advocacy to raise awareness about women’s rights. The person interviewed had been an employee for four years in the organization and grew up in Abkhazia. She did not speak English, therefore a translator was needed to conduct the interview.

Organization 7

Person interviewed: 4 people from the organization; Tanya, Klaudia, Magda, Martina, employees and manager, Tanya’s age 50-60, Klaudia, Magda and Martina’s age 20-35

Location: Abkhazia

Organization 7 is a locally founded organization working for women’s rights, social and economic development, and to support people with disabilities. The organization also works to provide better opportunities of healthcare for people with deceases such as diabetics. Moreover, they provide trainings and education on reproductive health and women’s rights. Besides this, they work through youth camps to build understanding and peace. The interview for this organization was conducted in a group, they all grew up in the area they worked in. The manager spoke English and therefore translated for the rest of the women.

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Organization 8

Person interviewed: Daria, program manager and founder, age 40-50 Location: Abkhazia.

Organization 8 is a locally founded organization in Abkhazia; working to publish media content in order to promote civic engagement, and to consult other organizations. The organization is aiming at spreading awareness about opportunities in taking initiatives for social change and self governance. This is done through spreading media content, working with workshops where they raise dialogues around different societal issue as well as trying to encourage civil initiatives. The person interviewed grew up in Abkhazia but has a dual citizenship through her mother in Ukraine. She has a background in technology and computer administration and has worked for different NGOs for over 20 years, as well was for transparent elections in Abkhazia. She spoke English so the interview was conducted in English.

Organization 9

Person interviewed: Sofia, founder, age 50-60 Location: Abkhazia.

Organization 9 is a locally founded organization in Abkhazia aiming to work for youths and social development such as aid for disabled people. Their work to activate youths and to provide them with training and education. They also work for civil education in general, and to develop general skills that can be used in society, as well as working with education around conflicts. This is done through conducting different activities, projects and cooperation, based on the interests of the youths. The organization was founded to fill up gaps in society that the government could not cover after the war. The person interviewed has a background as a teacher and working in schools. The person did not speak English and the interview was conducted with the help of a translator.

Organization 10

Person interviewed: Karolina, employee, age 20-30 Location: Abkhazia.

Organization 10 is working to prevent political and social violence and to achieve sustainable peace through conflict transformation. It is an international organization but with local project offices. They aim at building knowledge, skills and resources in a shared process of reflective learning, and works with local partners. Their work includes workshops and interviews to build understanding and a widening perspective for different sides of the conflict. They exchange interviews of people who have been affected by the war, so that people have an opportunity to listen to each other’s voices and learn from each other. The interviews they conduct are recorded and presented at workshops where people listen to the interviews in groups. After that, the groups have a dialogue about the experiences that are shared in the interviews, and discuss the scenarios. The person interviewed work within different projects run by organization 10. She grew up in Abkhazia where she has been living her whole life and works in other projects for other NGOs in Abkhazia as well, including projects for organization 5. Besides this she is a university student, studying law. She spoke English well and the interview was conducted in English.

Figure

Figure 1 : Map of Georgia with Abkhazia
Figure 2: Research strategy
Figure 3: Table of culture of peace
Figure 4: IAP2 Spectrum of Public Participation
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References

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