Description

In southern Georgia, people in Bolajuri lived in fear. For years, their irrigation system had been damaged, and villagers remained apprehensive while waiting for the cropping season. For a community dependant on agricultural products, the situation was alarming, and something had to be done about it.

Another challenge was that the people of Bolajuri were not as involved and willing to take action as a community. There was a lack of understanding about the importance to stand up for their own needs, which widened the gap between the village and the local government. After years struggling with irrigation problems, community members felt hopeless toward receiving any help, especially from the government.

The first step taken toward establishing a dialogue between the community and the local government was made through training of Community Initiative Group (CIG) members in Samtskhe-Javakheti ADP and representatives of the local government in an advocacy approach called Citizen Voice and Action (CVA).

“When World Vision representatives came to us and explained that they were going to change our attitude and wanted to encourage us to be active in solving our problems with the help of government, we received this information very sceptically, we thought it was wasting time, that we would not achieve anything,” said Lela Qimadze, Bolajuri CIG member.

CVA equips people with the tools to research their local government’s commitments and compare those to reality. The goal is to understand what the community has rights to, work collaboratively with the local government and other stakeholders, and then demand change.

Trainings and learning events first were conducted for CIG members, who passed on information to community residents through larger community meetings, which is common practice in ADP area. The CVA project coordinator with the support of ADP staff members also instructed community members on the CVA approach. CIG members supported them in carrying on the initiative by arranging problem identification meetings and facilitating the steps of the process.

“CVA trainings showed us our rights that we have to be more active in solving our problems,” said Nino Kimadze, a CIG member.

Along with villagers, 26 local government staff members received training in CVA.

“Making community members more active, helping them in advocating for a certain issue, simplified our work too. The letter we received from the community was directed to the right people, the problem was well explained. This simplified our work and helped us support them,” said Arsen Balakhashvili, Deputy Head of Adigeni Municipality.

CVA proved to be an effective plan of action to bring about change and reestablish the communication channel between citizens and their local government. In interface meetings, Bolajuri community members were able to outline the problems that they were facing with irrigation and identify practical steps to solve them.

The lack of resources posed another obstacle on the road towards resolution, but local government representatives were willing to work with the community. They suggested that Bolajuri utilized funds from the Rural Development Program that had been created by the President of Georgia. Community members and the local government reached an agreement and sufficient funds (about US$21,000.00) were allocated for restoration of the irrigation system.

After eight months of hard work, the people of Bolajuri acquired their much needed irrigation system. More than the equipment itself, they were able to contemplate the product that was attained from their own joint effort. Through the empowerment that CVA has brought to these Georgian villagers, they have been encouraged to seek more development to their community. In addition, their relationship with the local government has improved. Getting proper irrigation for their crops has opened the way for citizenship to be one of the strongest tools in the hands of the people in Bolajuri.