OSCE Mission helps ethnic minorities integrate into Georgian civil society

TBILISI, 5 March 2008 - Seventy three people from ethnic minorities in Georgia's Kvemo Kartli region are improving their Georgian language skills as part of an OSCE-sponsored project aimed at integrating ethnic minorities into civil society.

The participants, who are mostly ethnic Azerbaijani, will join in computer skills and English-language classes as well as civil education lectures along with other Georgian students. The lectures, taking place in the town of Marneuli, include sessions on the rights of ethnic minorities and citizens' obligations.

"We are happy to support this project for the second year. It is helping the local population to overcome barriers to integration caused by the language gap," said Lola Ansede, Democratization Officer of the OSCE Mission to Georgia.

The project is being developed and implemented by the non-governmental organization Union of Azerbaijani Women.

Leila Suleimanova, director of the Union of Azerbaijani Women, said: "This project is of great importance for us. The OSCE is helping us to provide more opportunities to local young people to study the state language, which will not only speed up their integration but also open up more job opportunities and contribute to their further professional development."