From left to right: PILPG Conflict Resolution Specialist, Kevin Gallagher; PILPG Senior Consultant, Louis Sell; Georgian National Security Secretary, Konstantin Kemularia; PILPG Executive Director, Paul Williams; PILPG Conflict Resolution Specialist, Kristen.
"PILPG has provided the Georgian government with high quality legal analysis and policy advice to assist our government in developing a negotiation strategy. . . . These memoranda have been crucial to increasing our internal knowledge base on issues related to the conflict and to our ability to reply in real time to points raised by the other side.” - From a letter sent by Konstantine Kemularia, National Security Advisor to the President of Georgia, to the U.S. Ambassador to Georgia. | |
In 1992, the region of Abkhazia declared independence from the Republic of Georgia and an armed conflict ensued. Despite a 1994 ceasefire and ongoing negotiations, Georgia and Abkhazia have yet to reach a permanent peace settlement. In hopes that both sides will eventually develop a plan for peace, USAID is supporting a project to advance peace negotiations.
Contracted through the Academy of Educational Development, the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG) provides legal assistance to the government of Georgia. Stationed in the National Security Council offices, PILPG works directly with the Georgian Presidential Advisor on Conflict Settlement Issues and with the National Security Council to advise the Georgian government on comparative state practice, international legal norms, and standards used during similar peace negotiations.
Serving as legal counsel to the Georgian government and building the trust that privileged relationship entails, PILPG has provided the government of Georgia with legal analysis on issues related to negotiation preparations; post-conflict government structures; the return of internally displaced persons to Abkhazia; and devolution of powers.
Working within the Georgian government, PILPG was able to facilitate the ability of the government to see the peace process from a new perspective. Specifically, the government recognized the tactical advantage of taking the lead in the peace process and recently asked PILPG for their assistance in drafting a peace agreement, a key step to moving the peace proc-ess forward.
Even more interesting, PILPG’s approach to peace process support is financially sustainable, with only 20% of PILPG’s annual budget coming from the U.S. government and other private grants. The other 80% is given voluntarily to the organization from more than 60 legal specialists, former diplomats, and ma-jor international law firms. PILPG is providing similar services to the government of Sri Lanka and results there have been promising.
|
