Bakgrund: Alla individer innehar grundläggande rättigheter just i egenskap av att vara människa. Rätten till hälsa är en av dessa, och ska bland annat inkludera säker sexuell och reproduktiv hälsa. I den georgiska utbrytarprovinsen Abchazien tillgodoses inte hela befolkningen denna rättighet. Gali-distriktet är beläget nära gränsen till övriga Georgien och anses som ett lågprioriterat område. Kvinnors position beskrivs där extra utsatt, då exempelvis våld i nära relationer är vanligt förekommande. Inom Abchazien finns icke-statliga organisationer som arbetar för att tillgodose människors grundläggande rättigheter. Avangard är en av dessa och arbetar med sexuell och reproduktiv hälsa för kvinnor i Gali-distriktet. Syfte: Studiens syfte var att belysa hur vårdpersonalen på en icke-statlig organisation kan möjliggöra säker sexuell och reproduktiv hälsa för kvinnor i Gali, Abchazien. Metod: Empirisk studie med kvalitativ metod, baserad på deltagande observationer med etnografisk ansats. Materialet har bearbetats genom innehållsanalys, där kategorier samt teman arbetats fram. Resultat: Framkomna fynd presenteras utifrån tre teman med totalt sex inkluderande kategorier: Kompetens – Utbildad personal och Engagemang, Sammanhang - Undervisning i sexuell och reproduktiv hälsa och gynekologisk vård, Resurser – Miljö och Material. Slutsats: Studien belyser hur flertalet komponenter möjliggjorde den sexuella och reproduktiva hälsan. Genom utbildad och lokalt förankrad personal, kunde Avangard bidra till att hälso- och sjukvård samt kunskapsförmedling genomfördes trots vissa hinder. Klinisk betydelse: Denna studie kan bidra till ökad förståelse i hur rättigheter inom sexuell och reproduktiv hälsa kan möjliggöras. Vidare förhoppning är att sjuksköterskan ska reflektera över kvinnors situation världen över, för att kunna bidra till ökad sexuell och reproduktiv hälsa. / Background: Everyone has fundamental rights just of being human. The right to health is one of these, which includes safe sexual and reproductive health. In the Georgian breakaway region Abkhazia, all the people can’t claim the right to health. Gali district, near the border to the rest of Georgia, is considered as a low priority area. Domestic violence is common in the region and women’s positions are described as extra vulnerable. In Abkhazia several non-governmental organizations operates to incorporate people's basic rights. Avangard is one of them, and they’re working with women’s sexual and reproductive health in Gali district. Aim: The aim of this study was to illuminate how the staff of a non-governmental organization incorporate safe sexual and reproductive health for women in Gali, Abkhazia. Method: An empirical study using a qualitative method, based on participant observations with ethnographic approach. The data were processed through content analysis, which ended up in categories and themes. Results: The presented findings are collected in three themes, including total six categories: Competence – Educated staff and Engagement, Context - Training in sexual and reproductive health and gynecological care, Resources - Environment and Materials. Conclusion: The study illuminated how several components incorporated safe sexual and reproductive health. By local and educated staff, Avangard created opportunities that made the work possible, despite some obstacles. Implications for practice: This study may contribute to an increased understanding of how fundamental rights in sexual and reproductive health can be made possible. Furthermore, there is a hope that nurses should reflect on women's situations worldwide, to improve the sexual and reproductive health. / <p>Röda Korsets sjuksköterskeförening stipendium 2013</p>

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The topic of this thesis is a comparation of separatist tendencies of Transnistria in Moldova with Abkhazia in Georgia in the post-Soviet space. From the point of view of separatism in these de facto government departments the focus of this work is not only on the current sate and development. Motives and historical traumas are shown and reflected in today's context because understanding of history is the key for present explanation. It seems that the situation in both areas is similar, but explanations and reasons for secession are in some points different. However, comparation and explanation of the different aspects of the development is the basis to understand the past, present and future state in Transnistria and Abkhazia not only in terms of separatism, but also locally-political, geo-political and socio- economic progress or stagnation. Key words: Moldova, Transnistira, Gruzia, Abkhazia, separatism, Russia, Soviet Union, soviet heritage, European Union, secession

This thesis comparatively analyses dilemmas arising from the unresolved Georgian-Abkhazian and Moldovan-Transnistrian conflicts. The many existing differences in the nature and dynamics of each conflict point to a sui generis situation, yet, many similarities also exist, including Soviet era legacies. The research premise is based on very considerable resourcing being dedicated to the resolution of these conflicts since their inception, yet no significant conflict transformation (Abkhazia has Russian recognition) has occurred, let alone peace. Given the mandate from the OSCE, EU and UN, the purpose of the thesis is to analyse their involvement. While evidence – local vested interests and strategic interests – illustrates the obvious obstructions, the thesis focuses on the IOs and asks why no tangible successes were achieved. This is done by critically analysing their performance, by assuming that success is often overlooked and by identifying a range of misperceptions. Therefore, by considering conflict transformation and engaging in analysis of many sources, including documents and about five-dozen interviews, the thesis reappraises the ethno-national origins, the geopolitical dimension and the entrenched conflicting party positions in the context of pan-European actors' responses. The analyses of the comparative peace processes illuminate the IOs' own challenges in reaching consensus as well as on the conflicting parties' competing narratives. Answering the question of what to produce first – a political solution to improve societal conditions, or the pursuing exercise of confidence-building measures (CBMs) to settle the status question – is part of the objective. I argue that a typology of success and failure more comprehensively explains IO performance between 1992 and the EU's Vilnius Summit in 2013.

20世紀因民族主義的興起，間接地促成了世界上許多地區性的民族開始爭取獨立，其中包括科索沃、阿布哈茲與南奧塞提亞。然而，在90年代共產勢力瓦解時期，此三區域因為歷史地位的關係並未獨立成功，而開始與各自的宗主國持續發生衝突。爾後，世界強權與國際組織介入處理此三區域的問題，卻因為國際法缺乏一致性規範的情況下，使得問題一直無法有效解決，反而淪為世界強權勢力擴張的棋子。因此，儘管科索沃、阿布哈茲與南奧塞提亞的獨立條件相似，最後卻因為不同的支持勢力而產生不同的獨立結果。獨立後，此三區域也將面臨一些難題。 關鍵字：科索沃、阿布哈茲、南奧塞提亞、國際法、獨立議題 / The emergence of Nationalism in the 20th century indirectly promoted the fight for independence of many regional races around the world, including Kosovo, Abkhazia and South Oss- etia. However, during the collapse of communist forces in the 1990s, these three regions failed in becoming independ- ent due to their historical status, and conflicts with their Metropolitan State persisted. The world powers and international organizations hence intervened in an attempt to solve the problems. Nevertheless, without consistency in the norms of international law, the issues could not be unr- aveled effectively, but rather became a tool abused by the world powers for territory expansion. Consequently,although Kosovo, Abkhazia and South Ossetia's had similar conditions for independence, the outcomes were different as they each had different supporting powers. Eventually, these three regions will also face challenges afterg aining independen- ce. Key words: Kosovo, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, international law, independence issue

This dissertation explores the implications of borders and boundaries for how forcibly displaced young Georgians from Abkhazia understand issues of belonging and return. My theoretical framework draws from theories on home and belonging as well as theories on border and boundary making, and locates them in geographies of uncertainty – or riskscapes – areas characterized by conflict and/or inequality. Empirical data was collected through two sets of interviews in Zugdidi near the border to Abkhazia and a questionnaire survey in Zugdidi and the capital Tbilisi. These data have been analysed through both qualitative and quantitative methods.   The young respondents providing material for this research do not constitute a homogenous group. Some of the respondents have family still living in Abkhazia or even partly grew up in the area; others have never been there. The primary goal of the Georgian government has been that the displaced population should return to their homes, and the government’s efforts for local integration has long been insufficient. Since no peace accords have been signed, a lack of security prevents a large-scale return. Notwithstanding increased border controls that have made it difficult to visit former homes, some young people still cross the de facto border. By doing this they contest both the Abkhazian de facto authorities and the border as a symbol of separation and differentiation, while claiming a right to belong in Abkhazia. Property and social relations in Abkhazia contribute to stronger connections and an imperative to return. On the other hand, experience of hardship in contemporary Abkhazia has resulted in some young people not considering return as a viable option. Youth who never visited Abkhazia depend mainly on other peoples’ memories and political discourse to create emotional bonds to the area their parents fled and to form their ideas of return. Results from the quantitative survey indicate that youth living in Tbilisi, closer to the political centre, to a higher extent intend to return than their peers in Zugdidi. Meanwhile young people’s experiences of everyday life in current dwellings in relative stability create emotional bonds to their present place of living. These experiences challenge both collective processes and experiences from Abkhazia when it comes to maintaining the desire to return.   This research offers insights into the human consequences of war and conflict. More specifically, this dissertation sheds light on how young internally displaced persons (IDPs) are living in a borderland (in both temporal and spatial terms) characterized by uncertainty-- between the past and the future as well as between Georgia and Abkhazia. Practices of exclusion and segregation are constitutive of the borders and boundaries that permeate life experiences of the forcibly displaced youth. Furthermore, these borders and boundaries are situated in riskscapes of disputed belongings, which makes this borderland more or less stable for different groups of IDPs. This dissertation contributes to an increased understanding of how political aspirations and personal desire to return preserves instability and uncertainty as long as return is not possible. / Denna avhandling undersöker konsekvenserna av gränser och gränsskapande för hur unga georgiska internflyktingar från Abkhazien förstår frågor om tillhörighet och återvändande. Jag utgår från teorier om hem och tillhörighet, liksom teorier om gränser och gränsskapande, och lokaliserar dem till geografier av osäkerhet – “riskscapes” – områden som karaktäriseras av konflikter och/eller ojämlikheter. Det datamaterial som ligger till grund för avhandlingen utgörs av två intervjustudier i Zugdidi nära gränsen till Abkhazien; och en enkätstudie som genomfördes i Zugdidi och i den georgiska huvudstaden Tbilisi. Materialet har analyserats genom användande av både kvalitativa och kvantitativa metoder.   Avhandlingens respondenter utgör inte en homogen grupp. Några respondenter har familj och släktingar som bor i Abkhazien eller har delvis växt upp i området, medan andra aldrig ens varit där. Det primära målet för den georgiska regeringen har varit att internflyktingarna ska återvända till sina hem, och regeringens ansträngningar för integration i lokalsamhället har länge varit otillräckliga. Det saknas fredsavtal och bristen på säkerhet förhindrar återvändande i stor skala. Trots de ökade gränskontroller som gjort det svårt att korsa de facto gränslinjen tar sig en del ungdomar ändå over gränsen. Genom att göra detta bestrider de både de abkhaziska de facto myndigheterna och gränsen som symbol för separation och åtskillnad, medan de hävdar sin rätt att känna tillhörighet till Abkhazien. Att ha ett hus och sociala relationer i Abkhazien bidrar till emotionella band och en starkare uppmaning till att återvända. Å andra sidan kan erfarenheterna av vardagens umbäranden inne i Abkhazien resultera i att unga människor inte ser återvändande som ett tänkbart alternativ. Ungdomar som aldrig varit i Abkhazien är beroende av andra människors minnen och politiska diskurser för att skapa känslomässiga band och tankar om återvändande till det område deras föräldrar har flytt från. Resultat från den kvantitativa undersökningen visar vidare att ungdomar som bor i Tbilisi, närmare Georgiens politiska centrum, i högre grad anger att de har för avsikt att återvända än deras jämnåriga i Tbilisi. Ungdomars erfarenheter av vardagslivet i sina nuvarande bostäder i relativ stabilitet bidrar emellertid till att skapa känslomässiga band till den aktuella bostadsorten. Dessa erfarenheter utmanar på så vis både de kollektiva processerna och erfarenheter från Abkhazien när det gäller att upprätthålla drömmen om återvändande.   Avhandlingen bidrar med insikter om konsekvenser av krig och konflikter för människors vardagsliv. Mer specifikt belyser jag hur avhandlingens unga respondenter lever i en sorts rumsligt och temporalt gränsland mellan det förflutna och framtiden och mellan Georgien och Abkhazien, och detta gränsland kännetecknas av osäkerhet. Praktiker av isärhållande och segregering är konstituerande för de gränser som genomsyrar internflyktingungdomarnas erfarenheter. Dessa gränser är dessutom situerade i ”riskscapes” av ifrågasatta tillhörigheter, som gör gränslandet mer eller mindre stabilt för olika grupper av internflyktingar. Avhandlingen bidrar med en ökad förståelse för hur politiska ambitioner och personliga drömmar om återvändande håller kvar människor i instabilitet och osäkerhet så länge återvändandet inte är möjligt. / <p>Vid tidpunkten för disputationen var följande delarbeten opublicerade: delarbete 3 inskickat.</p><p>At the time of the doctoral defence the following papers were unpublished: paper 3 submitted.</p>

This thesis is set out to examine how women in Abkhazia understand their own (in)security and to explore how the participating women understand the prohibition of abortions that is implemented in the breakaway region. Furthermore, the study seeks to, based on the empirical findings, theorize abortion rights as a security issue. The thesis is guided by Feminist Security Theory and previous feminist literature. The data is generated through ten semi-structured interviews with women. Through a thematic analysis the findings from the interviews are categorized into two main themes that are responding to the two first research questions; How do women in Abkhazia understand their (in)security?; How do women understand the prohibition of abortions? The thematic analysis finds that women in Abkhazia understand their (in)security as dependent on four aspects; conflict context; economic insecurity; political representation and participation; structural inequality and gender-based violence. Moreover, it finds that women’s understanding of the abortion prohibition also includes four aspects; economic insecurity; women’s rights; political representation and participation; the nation’s interests. The findings are understood as mirroring and thus this thesis argues that abortion prohibition exacerbates women’s insecurity. Lastly, it suggests that abortion rights should theoretically be understood as a security issue. The study at hand empirically contributes to the existing literature on women’s (in)security narratives and furthermore adds a theoretical contribution on abortion rights as a security issue.

Abstract – From de facto to de jure: A comparative study between three post-Soviet territories path towards diplomatic recognition The purpose of this essay has been to study how well three post-Soviet de facto states live up to the definition of the concepts of state and sovereignty. Basically, the focus has been to, with the help of an analysis scheme constructed specifically for this study, analyse the situation the three de facto states are currently in and then compare their situations to one another. With the study I want to show that the history of the de facto states, as well as their current legal status, carry with them differences and similarities that play a major role in their future. By analysing a number of scientific articles and other research material within the social science sphere, I have been able to compile a table that shows how well the case studies live up to the seven criteria of the state outlined by Martin Glassner in Political Geography (2004). The main result of the study has been that various historical and demographic circumstances in the three de facto states have distinguished them from one another during the more than three decades that have passed since the fall of the Soviet Union. However, this is in stark contrast to the strong ties they all have to a patron state, which in all cases is crucial to the legal state of limbo they are all currently residing in.

This master thesis deals with the mapping and analysis of Russian-Georgian relations in the period between 2004-2011. It focuses primarily on the development of relations after the onset of the new Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and after his transformation of Georgian Policy. The work is divided into chronological historical axis of events, from the history of Georgia and Georgian people, the author gets to the problems of August war in 2008. The main objective of this work is to find the causes of the war between Russia and Georgia, to map out its long-standing hostile relations and try to find its solutions. Starting point of this work is the assumption that Georgia and Russia have always been nations culturally very similar and therefore its friendly relations are essential for the regulation of conflicts on Georgia's borders. Russia as a powerful neighbor, has always had a superiority over Georgia. Therefore, in subsequent chapters is enhanced the need for intervention by international organizations such as NATO, OSCE, EU, etc. issues in Russian-Georgian conflict, in order to offset the forces of power on both sides. In the last chapters the thesis deals with the intervention of the international community, whether their pressure on Russia will be still intense and if in the future...

This study aims at researching how a sustainable culture of peace can be built through civic engagement in the Abkhaz-Georgian post-conflict context. It does so by learning from locally based NGOs, working for a culture of peace in areas affected by the Abkhaz-Georgian armed conflict which occurred 1993 to 1994. The studied NGOs work for different components within a Culture of Peace such as; women’s rights, peace building, social and economic development, democratic participation and human rights. In order to answer the research question following sub questions are answered: •What can we learn from the experiences of the studied organizations’ participatory communication for social change? •How has the culture of communication in the Abkhaz-Georgian post conflict context been affecting the participatory communication for social change for the different organizations?The method to collect data to the research has been through a field study in Abkhazia and outside its border on the Georgian side, in the city Zugdidi which is the closest city to the Abkhazian border. Participatory observations and interviews with representatives from the different organizations working for a culture of peace were conducted during two and a half months. The theoretical framework used for the study consists of three theories. The first is the theory of “Culture of Peace”, used to analyze how the studied NGOs are working for a culture of peace. The second is the theory “participatory communication for social change” which is used to analyze the work of the studied organizations in order to know how they work for sustainable civic engagement. Lastly, the theory used to look at how the Abkhaz-Georgian post-conflict context is affecting the communication, is the theory “culture of communication”. The findings of the research present solutions of how to practice participatory communication to build a culture of peace in a post-conflict context. However, the research also discovers how certain public values and views in a post-conflict context can hinder effective work through participatory communication as well as ways of overcoming these challenges.