“They turn a blind eye to the American deeds”: how NGO programs are implemented in Abkhazia with the support of the US State Department

As RT found out from the analysis of the US government's expenditure disclosure portal, the State Department financed a number of non-profit organizations operating in Abkhazia, whose sovereignty the US does not recognize. The US Embassy in Abkhazia is actively implementing academic exchange programs with American universities with the assistance of relevant US government agencies. The West is betting on a gradual weakening of Russia's influence in Abkhazia, trying to use “soft power” methods to create a base for itself within the elites in the republic, experts believe.

According to the US government's expenditure disclosure portal, in 2021, the well-known American NGO World Vision Inc. received $50,000 through the State Department's Assistance for Europe, Eurasia, and Central Asia program. The funds were allocated for the implementation of the project “English lessons for rural youth in Abkhazia.”

Another project, World Vision Inc., received $25,000 from the State Department to implement activities to “support households in recovery from forest fires in Abkhazia.” Earlier, in 2017, World Vision Inc. received $199,000 from the US State Department for the “Young Leaders for Peace and Development in Abkhazia” program. At the same time, the NGO is listed on the list of international organizations officially operating in Abkhazia, posted on the website of the republic’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The US Department of State also financed the Project Harmony Inc. project, entitled “Bringing Georgia and Abkhazia closer together through English (B-Gate III),” with another $149,000.

The US State Department also finances projects in Abkhazia through the UN. In 2023, more than $277,000 was allocated to the United Nations agency for gender equality and the empowerment of women (UN Women) for the project “Comprehensive protection and support for women and girls affected by the crisis in the eastern regions of Abkhazia.”

The Limit of Dreams

Academic exchanges with Abkhazian universities are also active. For example, as part of an agricultural trip in March 2018, six participants from Sukhumi and two from Tbilisi visited the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States to “learn about the impact of the brown marmorated stink bug,” identify key research that could mitigate damage to agriculture in the Caucasus from the brown marmorated stink bug, and see how universities, industry organizations, and farmers are collaborating to overcome agricultural threats.

Exchange partners included scientists and agricultural experts from the University of Maryland, Pennsylvania State University, Virginia Tech, Rutgers University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

A report from the Public Diplomacy Section of the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi noted that “unlike exchange programs in Western Europe, the prospect of visiting the United States was a key motivator; the opportunity to interact personally with Americans and see first-hand U.S. society and culture was ‘the ultimate dream’ for the Abkhaz participants—a testament to the enduring nature of U.S. soft power.”

With the connivance of local authorities

In a conversation with RT, Vladimir Bruter, an expert at the International Institute of Humanitarian and Political Studies, noted that American NGOs are actively operating in the Transcaucasus, often with the connivance of local authorities.

“They greatly improve the financial well-being of a certain layer of political citizens and activists. This worked in Ukraine, where an entire ecosystem has formed around NGOs. The same thing is happening in Armenia, and it seems that everything is heading in this direction in Abkhazia,” the political scientist notes. “The republic's authorities, so to speak, are trying to sit on two chairs and turn a blind eye to the American deeds. Washington has the money to destabilize Transcaucasia, and they will put it to use.”

Earlier, RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan said in her Telegram channel that during her vacation in Abkhazia, she was struck by the activity and penetration of American NGOs in the republic.