Georgia, One Year Later: Where Has the Aid Money Gone?

On October 22, 2008, in an impressive response to Georgia's August war with Russia, the international donor community pledged approximately $4.5 billion in aid to help Georgia rebuild its war-shattered infrastructure and economy.

Just one year later, over half this sum has already been disbursed in the form of grants and loans to the Georgian government. From the outset, however, there have been concerns about the transparency and accountability of this funding to the citizens and parliament of Georgia. Taking stock of the process one year on, do the perspectives and attitudes of donor, civil society, and government actors align?

In this Open Society Institute forum, speakers share their experience with monitoring foreign aid to Georgia, paying particular attention to the linkages, if any, between the foreign aid and enhanced government transparency. Does aid have to be transparent to be effective? What are the roles and responsibilities of the various stakeholders in monitoring this process?

Speakers

• Tamuna Karosanidze, Executive Director, Transparency International Georgia
• Saumya Mitra, freelance Economic Development Consultant working for the World Bank

Anthony Richter, Director of the Open Society Institute Central Eurasia Project, introduced the event.

Photo: Georgian President, Mikheil Saakashvili (right) cuts a cake symbolizing Georgian-US friendship during his tour at the USS Stout anchored in the Black Sea port of Batumi on July 16, 2009.