CRS History in Georgia

The people of the former Soviet republics of the South Caucasus — Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan — have each experienced significant social and economic difficulties in the post-Soviet transition period. The transition to democracy has been made difficult in all three countries by continuing corruption, a deep-seated culture of dependence, and the sharp drop-off in living standards for most citizens since independence, including very high levels of unemployment.

In 2000, CRS started handing projects over to national partners. This began with the founding of a new independent microfinance institution called MDF-Kamurj, which was created from the merger of CRS' and Save the Children's microfinance programs.

In 2001, the CRS program took significant steps to strengthen its relationships with existing partners, and to start relationships with new partners in the entire South Caucasus region. After several years of planning, CRS launched its outreach program in Azerbaijan in November of that year, then opened an office in Tbilisi, Georgia in 2003. CRS currently has five international and 24 national staff working in three offices in the Caucasus: Yerevan (Armenia), Tbilisi (Georgia) and Baku (Azerbaijan).