On August 19, 2008, at the Tbilisi Marriott Hotel presentation of the UN appeal to the donors was held. The aim of the appeal is to mobilize 57 million dollars for urgent humanitarian aid to be extended to Georgia. The aid is designed for helping victims of the conflict (129.000 in number) and will last for six months.
As the United Nations Resident Coordinator and the Resident Representative of UNDP in Georgia, Robert Watkins stated, the amounts received in effect of the appeal will be a supplement to the finances that have already been mobilized by the international organizations.
Additional amounts are needed for purchasing necessary food products, water and sanitary-hygienic means as well as for extending necessary medical aid and for strengthening security.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister of Georgia Vladimer Gurgenidze thanked all donor organizations for their support and expressed the hope that in immediate future this kind of humanitarian aid will no more be needed. "I hope that there will never emerge the circumstances which will compel Georgia's citizens to live in such unbearable conditions", the prime minister asserted.
Press center of the Chancellery of the Government of Georgia