Eastern Europe & former Soviet Union

Example of Oxfam programs

Image: At ADRF’s Mirësia workshop people with and without disabilities work together to make affordable wheelchairs. Credit: Oxfam

Albanian disability rights organization and Dutch energy company build a new wheelchair factory – A simple workshop is changing into a spacious wheelchair factory thanks to a unique form of collaboration. The Dutch energy provider Nuon gave technical assistance and paid for the construction of a factory that was opened on December 3. The Albanian Disability Rights Foundation (ADRF) had organized the construction and involved the authorities in the project. Novib Oxfam Netherlands contributed financially and coached ADRF in the process.

Image: Parandzem Galstyan, a nurse in Arpy, Armenia. Credit: Alex Smailes/Oxfam

Case study of nurse Parandzem Galstyan, from the village of Arpy in Armenia – Parandzem Galstyan has been a nurse in the village of Arpy since 1984. She knows the medical history of each of the families and has watched children grow up and become parents themselves. She was appointed by the state and while she is still the state’s nurse, her role has expanded and developed since Oxfam Great Britain and its partner organization Support to Communities started helping run Arpy’s health clinic in 1999.

Image: Through growing kiwis Image: Murtaz has moved from living below the poverty line to being able to provide for his whole family. Credit: Natela Grigalashvili/Oxfam

Bearing fruit in Georgia – The people of Zugdidi region in Western Georgia have suffered deeply for the turbulences of the post-Soviet decade. Once a rich and prospering area, Zugdidi was devastated by the ethnic conflict between Georgia and the breakaway region of Abkhazia in the early 1990s. n 2002, Oxfam Great Britain in Georgia partnered with the Small Business Development Foundation (SBDF) to assist farmers to grow and market kiwi fruits. The warm climate in Western Georgia is ideal for growing tropical fruits such as kiwis, but growing kiwis was a new idea.

Which Oxfams work in:

Eastern Europe & former Soviet Union	AUS	BEL	CAN	DEU	ESP	GBR	HKG	IRL	NLD	NZL	QC	USA
Albania
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Bosnia Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Georgia
Macedonia (former Yugoslav Rep of)
Republic of Moldova
Russian Federation
Serbia and Montenegro
Tajikstan
Ukraine
Uzbekistan

This information covers the financial year 2005-2006 and refers to areas where Oxfam is involved in one or more of the following: operational programs (development or emergency), working through partners and/or working through another Oxfam affiliate.