Call for Donor Conference Transparency

Transparency International (TI) called on October 21 for the publication of a needs assessment report, based on which international donors will decide on the allocation of funds for Georgia at a conference in Brussels on October 22.

The European Commission and the World Bank (WB) will co-chair a donors’ conference for Georgia at ministerial level on October 22 in Brussels to raise funds for reconstruction of infrastructure damaged in the August war.

A World Bank-led needs assessment mission in September drew up a report defining the most urgent needs for post-war recovery. The World Bank said in a press release last week the mission estimated that Georgia would need EUR 2.38 billion over the next three years in budget support, social sector support and for infrastructure development.

“Despite the centrality of the Joint Needs Assessment to the future of Georgia, its contents remain secret at the request of the Georgian government,” TI Georgia said in a statement. “For example, it is unclear how 700 million dollars out of the nearly one billion dollars earmarked for “social sector needs” will be spent. While TI Georgia understands that some limited sections of the Joint Needs Assessment may involve private sector data that should remain confidential at this point in time, this should not apply to the document as a whole.”

It said that the donors’ conference itself was taking place “behind closed doors.”

“Despite repeated requests, no Georgian representatives apart from the government’s small team, and no independent international observers, will be allowed to follow conference proceedings,” the group said.

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