The results of work of the World Abaza Congress for 2023 have been summed up, new tasks have been set.
Alisa Khutaba
On December 25, the WAC office hosted an online meeting of the Chairman of the Supreme Council of the WAC, Mussa Ekzekov, with the teams of the World Abaza Congress and the ANO “Alashara”. The working conversation was attended by the Head of the office of the Chairman of the Supreme Council of the WAC Kan Tania and the Head of information policy and communications Tengiz Tarba. Results of the organizations’ activities in 2023 were summed up at the meeting. In addition, key priorities, prospects and tasks for the next year were discussed. Mussa Ekzekov highly appreciated the work done, the cohesion and hard work of the teams. He congratulated the employees on the upcoming New Year, wished them good health, prosperity and implementation of all their plans.
“The fundamental tasks of our organization are the revival of the ethnocultural unity of the Abaza people, the preservation of national identity, the creation of favorable conditions to facilitate the return of representatives of the Diaspora to their historical homeland. We not only organize exciting events that bring pleasure, but also create programs that are vital for the preservation of language, culture, history, thereby preserving our ethnicity. These programs help preserve the traditions, energy and love for others that should live in each of us. A lot has been done, and there is even more to come!” he emphasized.
Following the online meeting at the WAC office, a working meeting with the head of the Sukhum branch of the WAC, Temur Rekvava, continued. He noted that over the past year the World Abaza Congress has implemented a number of projects aimed at strengthening spiritual and cultural ties, creating sustainable development of civil society, as well as caring for fellow citizens.
“The year was eventful. We can rightfully be proud of the implementation of large projects. It is important to recognize the work of employees from all departments in collaboration to achieve effective work and positive results. For 2023, the action plan was exceeded, our team held 102 events on various projects, more than 50 settlements of Abkhazia took part in the implementation of these projects. More than 5,000 of our citizens are involved,” Rekvava noted.
The heads of departments told in more detail about the results of the work. They presented reports on their activities for 2023, as well as projects for 2024.
CONGRESS STAFF
Today the Sukhum office of the WAC team is a team of 16 employees. Its number increases with the growth in the volume of objectives facing the organization. The team consists of six departments:
- Department of education, social activity and health;
- Department for work with local representative offices;
- Department for youth development and physical culture;
- Information department;
- Secretariat;
- Accounting department.
A separate structure, the Women’s Coordination Council of the WAC, also operates.
ON THE WORK OF THE OSAZ
One of the largest projects of the WAC department for education, social activity and health (OSAZ - ed.) in 2023 was the project for medical examination of students and teachers in rural schools, which was launched in March 2023. According to the head of the department, Izolda Khagba, the goal of the project was to provide comprehensive medical examinations to teachers and students in remote villages for whom access to hospitals is geographically difficult. The inaccessibility of the village of Pskhu was also the main reason that a three-day trip to the village was made to inspect all its residents.
“This is our joint action with the Ministry of Health of Abkhazia, which was first agreed upon with Minister Eduard Butba. Subsequently, we collaborated with Deputy Minister Saida Delba and the chief specialist of the department of medical and preventive care of the ministry, Esma Guniia, who helped us in everything related to providing visits with ultrasound machines, ECG machines, and most importantly specialists: cardiologists, otolaryngologists, neurologists, ophthalmologists, pediatricians, urologists, radiologists. Private centers also helped us - the MedLife laboratory and the Albamed medical center. We thank everyone who helped us in the implementation of this project,” Khagba said.
OSAZ specialist Naur Khishba summed up the results of the project, announcing statistical data on the number of students and teachers examined.
“Since March, we have managed to organize medical examinations for more than 1,500 teachers and students from 19 villages, of which more than 1,200 are students. In total, there are up to 11 thousand rural schoolchildren in Abkhazia. Therefore, we can say that the project covered about 11% of their total number, and this is a very serious indicator. About 80 medical specialists supported us,” Khishba said.
As part of the work of OSAZ, several educational projects were also implemented in 2023: first aid training, pre-medical aid and career guidance training.
“In September 2022, we launched first aid training, pre-medical aid, together with the Ministry of Emergency Situations specialist Indira Amichba. This year, 23 on-site trainings were conducted in schools, at which about 1,000 schoolchildren were told how to provide first aid for fainting, burns, sunstroke, bites, fractures, bruises and bleeding. On a special simulator, children learned techniques for performing indirect cardiac massage and artificial respiration. We consider these trainings useful for children and adults, since the success of further treatment often depends on the ability to provide first aid before the arrival of doctors,” says Izolda Khagba.
According to Naur Khishba, in 2023, 11 visits to schools were made under the Career Guidance project. About 500 children could communicate with qualified specialists in various fields and with students.
“When communicating with schoolchildren, we noticed that high school students do not think about choosing a future profession in advance, many do not have experience discussing this topic with their parents, and they have little information about the most in-demand jobs. In order to fill this gap, we conduct trainings where we talk about a wide selection of professions that are in demand in our country, and offer to talk with people who work in different fields and have several related professions,” said Naur Khishba.
The Parents’ Club of the World Abaza Congress and the head of the Albamed medical center Albina Khodzhava held a meeting on rehabilitation potential of children with mental and speech delays, their social adaptation and education. The conference brought together doctors, speech pathologists, speech therapists, teachers, representatives of social structures and parents.
“Specialists from various fields spoke at the meeting, shared the results of their work, and talked about advanced treatment methods. The conference was attended by doctors who directly work in this field. According to their personal confession, they learned a lot of useful information. The conference also presented advanced treatment methods that are already used in Abkhazia, in particular at the Albamed medical center. But not everyone knows about them,” Khagba noted.
Naur Khishba said that on the eve of the anniversary of the most tragic military operation in the history of the Patriotic War of the People of Abkhazia of 1992-1993 - the “March Offensive” of 1993, the WAC organized a meeting of schoolchildren of the Kharaz Chamagua Gagra Secondary School with the Hero of Abkhazia, the author of the book “We are behind Gumista” Avtandil Gartskiia.
“Schoolchildren were shown the film “We are behind Gumista,” based on the book by Avtandil Gartskiia. The author of the book shared his memories of the military events of March 1992 and answered questions from students. At the end of the meeting, Gartskiia presented his book to all meeting participants,” said Khishba.
ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT FOR WORK WITH LOCAL REPRESENTATIVE OFFICES
The department is actively involved in interaction with regional representative offices. Socially significant projects, actions and events were carried out throughout the year. Thus, at the request of local representative offices, 14 on-site meetings were organized in 2023 to provide targeted assistance: sports equipment, office equipment, national paraphernalia, construction materials, etc. were purchased.
6 trips were organized under the “Aimadara” project (covering more than 350 children)
4 ethnographic lectures in partnership with ASU (covering 125 children)
4 events were held for children with the participation of animators
two new local representative offices of the WAC were opened in the town of Novy Afon and in the village of Khypsta.
“The network of local representative offices is expanding, and the project component is also increasing in quantity and quality. We are pleased with the results of the work done, and we plan to reach a new level next year,” said Dmitry Zhiba, Head of the department for work with local representative offices.
ON THE WORK OF THE DEPARTMENT FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION
A number of projects and actions have been developed and implemented by the Department for youth development and physical culture.
“Working with the younger generation is a priority activity of the department,” noted its head Valery Berzenia.
Therefore, from January to December 2023, the department launched the “Ирӡтәым” project. Famous Abkhazian historians, linguists, ethnographers and ethnologists were involved in its implementation. 10 lectures were held for schoolchildren in the Gudauta region on several topics: “Abkhazian courtyard: traditions and customs”, “Issues of the mentality of ethics and the moral and ethical code of the Abkhazians - Apsuara”, “Ritual songs and their application”, “Abkhazian public diplomacy”, “History of Abkhazian national dance”, “Traditions of Abkhazian horseback riding”, “History of Abkhazia at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century”.
In addition, the department was the organizer of one of the intellectual and entertaining games “Abaza Quiz”, dedicated to the history and culture of Abkhazia. 7 teams took part, one of which was the Congress team.
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Victory and Independence of Abkhazia, the “Letters of War” project was implemented. This is a video of 14 episodes in which WAC officers read letters with stories of military events of 1992-1993. The event-exhibition “The cradle that raised a warrior” was also timed to coincide with the holiday.
In addition, the department became one of the partners in organizing the Football Championship among schoolchildren in the Ochamchira district. 15 teams took part in the tournament. The total number of participants was more than 170 people.
Another project was the organization of master classes on Abkhazian national sports games; they were outdoor events involving high school students. The total coverage of the entire project is more than 200 people.
The ceremonial final of the tournament took place in the Apsny ethnopark. As part of the implementation of the Amazara project, the films “Abkhazian Armor” were presented, which was shown at the GUMa cultural and business platform, as well as the film “Aimtsakiachara”, the presentation of which took place at the WAC office.
The musical project “Аҿар рыбжьы”, which involved more than 130 school-age children from different towns of the republic, became a platform for identifying talented youth. The result of activities in this direction in 2023 was the presentation of four video clips. Details about each activity of the department are available on the official website.
ON THE WORK OF THE INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
The WAC Information department is working to promptly cover the activities of all departments, as well as the entire Congress staff, both on the territory of Abkhazia and abroad. In 2023, more than 570 materials were published in six working languages. 230 publications in text, photo and video format have been added to the event feed on the official website of the Congress. According to Yandex Metrics and Google Analytics for 2023, the portal was visited by more than 168,000 unique users from all over the world. Facebook and Instagram accounts are still actively maintained. Since the middle of the year, their ranks have been joined by Telegram, a channel whose work differs from other social pages of the Congress in its presentation and interaction with users.
“The information is presented in a relaxed blogger format. This promotes more interactive communication with readers. This presentation seems effective to us, and we will develop this direction,” noted WAC Information department specialist Esma Golandziia.
This year, the work of the portal was focused on operational coverage of the activities of the Congress. In addition, the official website of the WAC in the “Personalities” section has been replenished with four essays about prominent representatives of the Abaza Diaspora. We consider an important aspect to be the work of the Information Department of the World Abaza Congress to digitize 19 issues of the journal of the International Association of the Abkhaz-Abaza (Abaza) People (IAAAP) “Abaza”. Digitized publications are collected from the personal archive of the Abkhazian poet, social and political figure, editor-in-chief of the “Abaza” magazine, who was the general secretary of the IAAAP (today WAC) for more than 15 years, Gennady Alamia, as well as the archives of the Center for Abkhaz-Adyg Philology named after Vladimir Ankvab at the Faculty of Philology of ASU and the National Library named after Ivan Papaskir. Website visitors can learn the contents of digitized issues of the magazine in the “Abaza Magazine” section on the official website of the World Abaza Congress.
Moreover, next year we will continue to expand the sections of the website about outstanding figures of our people, to introduce readers from all over the world to the ethnography and culture of the Abaza people.
“We have provided a number of innovations that, we hope, will increase interest in the official page and contribute to its popularization. We are talking about creating new sections, such as “Cinema, Music” and “Abkhazian Names”, as well as replenishing the multimedia section with a series of programs “Living Crafts”, prepared by employees of the information department,” said WAC department specialist Alisa Khutaba.
MASS MEDIA ABOUT US In 2023, the activities of the WAC were covered by various media:
AGTRK – 21 videos;
ABAZA TV – 13 videos;
SPUTNIK – 42 material;
ANO "ALASHARA" - 4 materials; APSNYPRESS – 21 materials;
DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION AND MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS OF THE ASU – 1 material.
PROJECT BY DZHAMBUL INDZHGIA and WAC “Historical Heritage for the Future”.
The project of the World Abaza Congress and Dzhambul Indzhgia “Historical Heritage for the Future” is actively developing. By the end of 2023, 13 out of 30 planned documentaries covering the history of Abkhazia from the Mesolithic era to 1965 were presented on state TV and on the official pages of the Congress. The project received positive feedback from viewers of different age.
“The project fulfills its goals: popularization of the history of Abkhazia in the Abkhaz language, patriotic education of the younger generation using the example of national history, creation of a “digital manual” for teachers of schools and universities on the history of Abkhazia in the format of documentaries, opposition to the Georgian pseudo-historical concept in relation to the history of Abkhazia, introduction of new data into scientific circulation, popularization of historical monuments of Abkhazia. Within the framework of the project, the scope of application of the Abkhaz language is also being expanded,” notes the author of the project, Dzhambul Indzhgia.
The run time of one film is 15-17 minutes. Work on new films will continue in 2024.
ON THE WORK OF THE WOMEN’S COORDINATING COUNCIL AT THE WAC
The Women's Coordination Council of the WAC is also active in preserving and developing the Apsuara code. As part of this program, 17 original television programs from the series “Walking the paths of Apsuara” are posted on the website. In addition, a trip to the town of Ochamchira was organized, where a meeting was held with the heads of educational institutions and public figures of the town and region. Participants discussed the importance of teaching Apsuara in schools.
A meeting was also held in Sukhum with representatives of the education sector of Abkhazia, dedicated to the topic of preserving the Abkhaz language and literature. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Victory and Independence of Abkhazia, meetings were organized with the mothers of those perished in the PWPA and with women participants of the PWPA, and the documentary film “In the wake of living letters” was presented. Constant work is underway to interact with the Women's Council of Abazashta.
WAC Executive Secretary Inar Gitsba told about the work with the Diaspora:
“In 2023, the WAC continued to strengthen interaction with the Abkhaz-Abaza Diaspora living abroad. Thus, according to the protocol on cooperation between the WAC and Abkhazfed, the Chairman of the Supreme Council of the WAC, Mussa Ekzekov, sent detailed information about the results of the organization’s activities over the past five years, as well as plans and projects approved for implementation, to familiarize the members of the board of the Federation of Abkhazian Cultural Centers in Turkey. At the same time, projects involving joint participation in their implementation were presented for consideration by the Federation of Abkhazian Cultural Centers. Members of the Congress team took an active part in events held by the Diaspora public organizations in countries and regions of compact residence of compatriots,” said Inar Gitsba.
“I would also like to note that, by decision of the Chairman of the Supreme Council, the Congress provided humanitarian assistance to victims of the devastating earthquake in the Syrian Arab Republic and Turkey. Work also continued to strengthen ties with representatives of the Diaspora in countries where there are no established regional branches of the Congress. In this regard, I would like to note an example of strengthening cooperation with the Lebanese diaspora. In general, the process of cooperation and interaction with representatives of the Abkhaz-Abaza Diaspora is increasing and strengthening. In 2024, we expect to intensify efforts to achieve the goals set by Mussa Khabalevich to strengthen interaction,” added Gitsba.
FINANCIAL RESULTS
The total budget for 2023 was 25,200,000 rubles, i.e. 1.5 million monthly. The total amount of expenses since 2018 amounted to 115,000,000 rubles, of which 105,000,000 rubles were donations from the Chairman of the WAC Supreme Council Mussa Khabalevich Ekzekov and 10 million donations from a member of the WAC Supreme Council, Chairman of the Moscow Abkhazian Diaspora Beslan Rodionovich Agrba.
At the end of the meeting, the team members expressed their readiness to move forward even more effectively in 2024.
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