Irina Yanovskaya

Irina Yanovskaya
ირინა იანოვსკაია
Born
Tbilisi, Georgia
Alma materTbilisi Faculty of Computer Sciences
South Ossetian State University
OccupationsJournalist, human rights and peace activist and children's advocate
Employer(s)BGI
Internews
Organization(s)Journalists for Human Rights
Caucasus Network on Conflict Resolution
War Child

Irina Yanovskaya (née Kumaritova, Georgian: ირინა იანოვსკაია) is a Georgian journalist, human rights and peace activist and children's advocate. She founded and is the chair of the non-governmental organisation Journalists for Human Rights and is a member of the Caucasus Network on Conflict Resolution.

Biography

Yanovskaya is a Georgian journalist of Ossetian and Russian heritage.[1] She studied at the Tbilisi Faculty of Computer Sciences, graduating in 1984, and married a Russian man.[1]

Yanovskaya began her career in journalism for the news service BGI, then worked for Internews.[1] She founded and is the chair of the non-governmental organisation Journalists for Human Rights (JHR), established in 1998.[2][3]

In the Georgia-South Ossetia conflict zone in the South Caucasus, Yanovskaya established the project "Developing the peace-making potential of Georgian and Ossetian women in South Ossetia" with funding from the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) Confidence Building and Early Response Mechanism. The project facilitated ethnically mixed discussion groups between Georgian and Ossetian women and training sessions.[4] Yanovskaya has campaigned for restitution laws for internally displaced persons (IDP) during the conflict, including her own parents who were forced from their apartment in Tbilisi, and for protection under South Ossetian law for women subjected to domestic violence.[1]

Yanovskaya also works with War Child in the Netherlands[5] and has established summer camps for Georgian and Ossetian children.[5] She published a calendar with photographs of children and war to raise awareness of the impact of the Georgian–Ossetian conflict on children.[2]

In 2005, Yanovskaya was named a Nobel Peace Prize 1000 PeaceWomen Across the Globe (PWAG).[2] That year, she also entered a one-year law programme at the South Ossetian State University (Iron Ossetic: Хуссар Ирыстоны паддзахадон университет, Georgian: სამხრეთ ოსეთის პედაგოგიური ინსტიტუტი).[1] She was named a Woman PeaceMaker in 2007.[5]

Yanovskaya continued to work as a journalist during the 2008 Russo-Georgian War.[6][7] In 2014, she contributed to Vamik Volkan's book Enemies on the Couch, A Psychopolitical Journey Through War and Peace.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Haynie, Devon (2007). "DISPLACED, BUT NOT DESTROYED: The Life and Work of Irina Yanovskaya of South Ossetia". Women PeaceMakers Program. Retrieved 15 May 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 "Irina Yanovskaya". PeaceWomen Across the Globe. Retrieved 15 May 2026.
  3. ↑ "Women Building Peace in the South Caucasus". Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR). Retrieved 15 May 2026.
  4. ↑ "Women in South Ossetia reach out to each other across ethnic divides". Commonspace.eu. 10 August 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 "Biography - Irina Yanovskaya". Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies - University of San Diego. Retrieved 15 May 2026.
  6. ↑ აფციაური, გოგა (28 February 2011). "ჟურნალისტების კიდევ ერთი შეხვედრა". რადიო თავისუფლება (in Georgian). Retrieved 15 May 2026.
  7. ↑ "ირინა იანოვსკაია: „საქართველომ ყველაფერი გააკეთა, რომ ოსებზე უარი ეთქვა"". Netgazeti (in Georgian). 16 March 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2026.
  8. ↑ Volkan, Vamik D. (1 July 2014). Enemies on the Couch: A Psychopolitical Journey Through War and Peace. Pitchstone Publishing. ISBN 978-1-939578-84-6.
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