This report, written for Oxfam Moscow, looks at the short- and long-term impact of the grain export ban issued by the Russian government during 2010-11.

This research was conducted as part of Private Sector Development in the South Caucasus Program, conducted by GIZ which is, in turn, part of its wider Caucasus Initiative. The principle objective of the study is to inform decision makers about the various barriers to trade and investment between Georgia and Azerbaijan so as to help them reduce these barriers.

This project looked at the Georgian economy and the VET system to identify the existing mismatch between VET provision and labour market need. At the same time, looked at ways in which the government can more effectively ensure coordination of the VET system and the economy on an on-going basis.

The report combines a survey of 22 new settlements and their neighboring communities with an analysis of infrastructure and economic development in each of the settlements and a review of both the government’s and international community IDP projects.

The feasibility analysis involved budgetary analysis of the Agency of Protected Areas, assessment likely increase in operational costs of project components, assessment of tourist potential and service delivery potential for the areas.

Our research aimed to support the development of a new GTZ program by providing an evaluation of the operation of municipal government and local civil society organisations in the three countries of the South Caucasus.

We highlighted four main domains where action could be most clearly directed in order to achieve CARE’s goal of alleviation of economic need and the enhancement of social justice and security amongst poorest rural communities.

The main focus of the evaluation was to assess the strategic direction of UNDP projects in Belarus. This project evaluated the project portfolio against the goals and also the efficacy of their programmatic focus, keeping in mind UNDP’s skill-sets, the structure of the government priorities and the changing international situation.

At the post-war donors conference approximately USD 3 billion of the USD 4.8 billion (at current exchange rates) total pledge took the form of loans. Half of the loan was pledged to the government and the other half was allocated to help support private companies. This policy paper provides a general overview of loan component of the pledge.

This research looked at whether mobile banking system is feasible in Georgia and if it is, if it could be used to facilitate the transfer of international remittances. Using mobile banking for international remittances requires two different elements and this research project was structured to investigate both.