Work with the youth has moved to a new stage. Agreements were signed with local governments of 10 municipalities, and the Centers for Youth Empowerment have been established in cooperation with the Youth Departments.
Six-month training courses on leadership, conflict management and violence will be held for the pupils from different schools.
The first trainings have already been held: in Zugdidi and Terjola, trainers and students had the opportunity of live communication, as for Chokhatauri and Kobuleti groups, the work was conducted online.
All participants differed from each other, but they have common characteristic features: great interest in training issues, leadership skills, motivation to learn more ...
“Prehistory of Georgian-Abkhazian conflict, its continuation and consequences” - this topic was discussed at online trainings with youth initiative groups of Tskaltubo and Tsalenjikha (school No. 1 - village Liya) municipalities. The trainings were held separately for both groups with participation of 40 pupils.
"The training was full of information and interesting".
"I wanted to know more about Georgian-Abkhazian conflict, and the training made up for this deficit."
"Today, many of my questions were answered".
The young people expressed interest regarding the topic in this way. They expressed their desire - to have more communication with their Abkhazian peers. The project will give them with this opportunity.
Several actual issues were discussed during the meeting of Baghdati working group. The group members decided to present the code of ethics to to City Council meeting for final approval. They also talked about the active updating of the web page - the new version will include an online petition system, access to public information, and the City Council meetings will be broadcasted.
Recently, local civil society organizations received mini-grants in the framework of the Fund “Sukhumi” project. Representatives of these organizations informed the group members about the future work in small projects that will contribute to the introduction of more effective public administration.
The meeting of the working group also considered the recommendations of the third monitoring of the implementation of public administration reform. These recommendations should be reflected in the action plan of the working group.
The results of the third monitoring of the implementation of public administration reform were discussed during the ordinary meeting of Ozurgeti working group. The monitoring was carried out by local civil society organizations - the Center for Education and Equality and the Union of Young Teachers - with the support of Imereti Scientists’ Unions “Spectri”.
Representatives of these organizations familiarized the meeting participants with the positive trends of the three monitoring processes and new challenges.
The meeting was attended by: Chairperson of the City Council David Darchia, representatives of the City Council Administration, mass media and civil society. David Darchia noted that the municipality has completed the process of internet covering and a person can have electronic access to municipal services from any place. It is one of the contributing factors of improving the practice of e-management.
Meeting of the Women Initiative Group was held in the village Pakhulani (Tsalenjikha municipality). The meeting discussed the tools of the Gender Responsive Early Warning System, the main stages of its implementation, as well as the components of human security. Emphasis was placed on studying the needs of women and participants were selected to conduct the research (focus groups, in-depth interviews and questionnaires).
On the same day, a similar meeting with a youth initiative group was held in school # 2 of the village Lia (Tsalenjikha municipality). The children also wrote essays on the topic of Abkhazia and sent messages to Abkhazian peers. Three members of this group shared the knowledge gained at the common training of the initiative groups with friends.
The meetings of three initiative groups were held in Zugdidi municipality. One group of women was formed in Zugdidi, and the second united women living in two villages - Koki and Khurcha.
The main topics of the meetings were: meaning of the Gender-Responsive Early warning System, its components and stages of implementation. Participants received detailed information about the research. The aim of the research is to study the interests of women from different vulnerable groups.
The third initiative group includes only young people. The group was created in the schools of the village Koki. The activity of the students is special. The members of this group, who passed training organized by the Fund "Sukhumi", shared with their peers the knowledge they gained about the Gender Responsive Early Warning System.
The project of the Fund “Sukhumi” - "Strengthening the Women's Rights in Western Georgia" is focused on the following issues: - protecting women's rights, strengthening the families, preventing domestic violence and supporting victims, responding to gender problems through cooperation with local governments.
Project presentations have been already held in Terjola, Senaki and Bagdati municipalities. The meetings were attended by representatives of local governments, civil activists. The prospects of responding to the problem of domestic violence and cooperation were highlighted.
The representatives of the municipalities underlined that prevention of domestic violence is the sphere of their interest and they are ready to cooperate with the Fund "Sukhumi".
Vani working group has a lot of work, and this was obvious during City Council meetings. IT specialist presented information about updating the official web page - the functions of requesting public information and online petitions, a mechanism for citizens' participation "Plan the budget" will be added. Online broadcasting of City Council meetings and other technical changes are planned. The meeting also reviewed the code of ethics developed for City Council members and the results of the third monitoring conducted by representatives of partner civil society organizations.
Part of the recommendations identified in the framework of two monitoring have already been implemented. Recommendations of the third monitoring will be also reflected in the action plan of the working group. Their implementation will add more transparency and efficiency to the work of local self-government.
- What does early conflict prevention mean, how to react according to the components of human security, what kind of dangers do the young people feel - these and other questions, using thematic exercises, were discussed with Senaki youth group.
According to young participants, low level of education, the problem of employment, the migration of women, and the social background is dangerous. In their opinion, every person perceives danger differently, and the response mechanism should also be appropriate.
The second meeting was also devoted to this topic - with members of the women initiative group: what is the early conflicts prevention system and how important is its application in a gender prism. Group members will take part in the research - they learned about the techniques and skills of conducting focus groups and in-depth interviews.
