Series of conferences-debates,Tbilissi, October 2004

Preparing the project to “Raise awareness of the Charter in the Caucasus countries” dates back a long time. Drafted in July 2003, the project was accepted early in 2004. I was thus able to prepare a number of meetings during my trip to Tbilisi in March 2004. During the course of my preparation work and correspondence with Edith Sizoo, we made the decision to carry out the project together.

My voluntary involvement in the University of Western Languages and Culture in Tbilisi (where I taught from 1995 to 1997) meant I was able to organise, with Georgian friends, three conference-debates, each to which between 20 and 30 people attended. Apart from these larger meetings, there were also smaller ones with five to eight people, not to mention the many exchanges of a more personal nature.

Throughout the preparation process, I asked myself the following questions :

What can the Charter of Human Responsibilities mean for people marked by poverty, destitution and the gross injustice of their social situation ? Is it enough to come along with a document ? Is there not, once again, the risk of us, the privileged people of the rich world, becoming “lesson-givers” ? How are we able to pass on the principles of responsibility in light of the country’s problems, in a context very different from our own ?

So, when Edith expressed her interest in joining me, I felt a great relief.

These questions remained with me throughout the meeting and they will continue to do so ; I think that is how it should be. We tried to take them into consideration in different ways.

This is an account of several of the meetings. Without attempting to be exhaustive, it highlights the main reactions that the presentation of the Charter incited in 2004.

Ina Ranson