Comment Central: "In the time of Covid, Georgia works for peace"

Georgia is continuing to invest in peace efforts across artificial divides of the occupation lines separating two of its regions from the rest of the country, even as the struggle with the pandemic continues, the country's Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality Ketevan Tsikhelashvili writes in a piece for Comment Central.

Providing a perspective on the Georgian government's work against COVID-19 with regard to the occupied Abkhazia And Tskhinvali (South Ossetia), the minister explains the challenges of dealing with the outbreak while having no meaningful access to the regions.

Locked behind 100 km razor wire fences built as physical divides, both are largely isolated from the rest of Georgia. These circumstances added significant complexity and difficulty to the challenge of protecting local populations from COVID-1" - Ketevan Tsikhelashvili

While the government-controlled territory has seen only 13 deaths from the pandemic, new reported cases of COVID-19 have been imported from across the northern border with Russia, the official notes.

Determined to work against the complications, Tsikhelashvili writes her government's efforts included translation and dissemination of World Health Organisation-approved recommendations, national guidelines and protocols in Abkhazian and Ossetian languages. Diagnosis and treatment at facilities on the Georgian-controlled territory are also mentioned as examples of efforts in the realm of the occupation.

Tsikhelashvili also outlines new initiatives by her government with relation to Abkhazia and Tskhinvali, including parliament-approved "flexible and status-neutral instruments" for trade and education, private contributions and investment in "peace, cooperation and reconciliation".

Read the full story here: commentcentral.co.uk