IRC Helps Rebuild Communities in Northern Caucasus

The International Rescue Committee last week approved grants totaling $58,000 for nine local non-governmental organizations in Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia. They will fund a variety of projects promoting community action and development, human rights, integration, peace-building and tolerance among communities affected by the two wars in the Russian republic of Chechnya.

“One of our partners, SOS Salvation, will address ethnic tensions between villages on the Chechen and Dagestan border, which have previously erupted into violence,” said Wendy Guyot, the IRC’s civil society development coordinator for the Northern Caucasus. “Village elders and religious leaders from the Chechen and Dagestani communities will gather in roundtable discussions to find solutions to ongoing tensions and prevent further violence. Young people will also take part in sports events that will build understanding between ethnic groups.”
 
In another project, the non-profit group Save Our Generation will send mobile legal clinics to isolated areas of rural Chechnya to help the parents of disabled children—many of them landmine victims—receive financial support from the government. Another IRC-supported group is helping victims of land mine explosions to reintegrate into their communities and to enroll in after-school programs. The grants are funded by the U.S. State Department.