World Vision begins relief efforts in Georgia

As the conflict in South Ossetia continues, Christian humanitarian agency World Vision began providing emergency assistance today to displaced civilians -- most of them women and children -- who managed to flee to Georgia's capital, Tbilisi.

"Our staff have been hearing some truly heartbreaking stories -- children who got out but their parents didn't, for example," said David Womble, World Vision's national director in Georgia.

World Vision is providing essential food including canned meat with vegetables, pasta, canned fish, vegetable oil and iodised salt, along with emergency items such as bars of soap, toilet paper, wet wipes, towels, bed sheets and large woolen blankets to some 170 people, mainly women and children, who escaped the violence in Gori and villages in South Ossetia.

The agency's relief team met one 36-year-old mother who escaped the violence from Gori with her two children: "I have seen war, but what I saw today was terrible. I haven't seen anything like that in my life. I was shocked. What are we going to do now?" she told World Vision staff.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has declared a 15-day "state of war" as clashes continue in South Ossetia and against military targets in Georgia.

World Vision is working with the United Nation's World Food Programme, and will continue to coordinate closely with the UN and other organisations as more people flee southward toward the Georgian capital.

"UN agencies and NGOs will meet tomorrow [Sunday] to discuss the increasing humanitarian crisis and how the humanitarian actors can coordinate an effective response," explained Womble.

Other World Vision operations in Georgia, as well as its projects in Abkhazia, have been suspended for the time being, as all efforts are now focused on the humanitarian relief effort.

More than 2,000 displaced people are currently being served at eight Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) locations identified by Georgia's Ministry of Refugees and Accommodation. Three are located in Tbilisi and five in other districts of the country. The number of displaced people is expected to rise as the violence continues.