Region: Georgia, Central Asia

Main Areas Of Interest: inter-religious dialogue

Fellowship Period: April - June 2007

Keywords: conflict resolution, peace-building, religious tolerance

Biographical Profile:
Khatuna graduated with a degree in Journalism from the Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU). She also holds a Masters Degree in Journalism. Her thesis focused on "The Role of Media in Public Opinion Formation: Georgian and U.S. Experiences." Both as a student and professionally, Khatuna was involved in youth-related work, with special reference to conflict studies, peace building and non-violent conflict resolution.

Khatuna founded the "International Youth Center for Peace and Development" (ICYIPD) and was named the President. In 2003, she was invited to join the human rights organization, Union "Century 21" and subsequently, in 2005, she was appointed Executive Director of Union "Century 21", and now officially represents the organization.

Recently, she was invited as a local expert for the European Commission TACIS project: "Policy Support and Urgent Capacity Building for the Ministry of Justice of Georgia". Her interests and struggles are about freedom of religion and belief, inter-religious dialogue and tolerance promotion.