A traditional meeting was held with the members of both Khoni Women Initiative Groups. The participants talked about the International Day of Girls Child and their rights, as well as the needs of women living in rural areas. During the meeting it was mentioned that girls' rights are not properly protected in Georgia and women living in rural areas are facing a lot of infrastructural, social and educational problems. During the meeting held with the members of Khoni youth club, the leader of the club presented a presentation about the International Day of Girls, introduced information about the history of the creation of the holiday and its meaning; One of the club members spoke about women living in rural areas in the format of a presentation. Based on the interviews, she introduced the participants to an ordinary day of a woman. Young people exchanged opinions, discussed problems and needs, and a discussion was held about gender equality.
The members of the youth club of the village Didinedzi discussed gender issues seen through the eyes of young people. They talked about how much information their peers have on the mentioned issue and named the existing problems and challenges in terms of gender. The members of the Women Initiative Group of the village Didinedzi spoke about the advocacy of the identified problems. They discussed the issues in detail and negotiated the future plan.
During October meeting the members of the Women Initiative Group of the village Pakhulani - Tsalenjikha municipality spoke about the problems identified during the advocacy. They reviewed the direction in which the work should be improved to solve the problems identified by them.
Ekaterine Gamakharia, the head of the Tbilisi representative office of "Women's Fund Sukhumi," participated in the 25th international conference organized by the WAVE network in Madrid. The conference focused on the topic of "Institutional violence and its impact on women's rights in Europe." Approximately 200 women's rights defenders from various European countries discussed institutional violence against women, female migrants, and disabled individuals who have experienced abuse at the hands of state structures.
During the conference, Ekaterine Gamakharia took part in a parallel panel discussion with representatives from the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) and non-governmental organizations that are partners of the WAVE network. These organizations, including the Center "Women's Perspectives" in Lviv, Ukraine; the Sexual Assault Crisis Center in Yerevan, Armenia; and the "United Women of Banja Luka" Foundation in Bosnia & Herzegovina, provided insights into the project. Gamakharia had the opportunity to share information about the toolkit titled "Prevention and response to gender-based violence in the war and post-war period: Experience and recommendations of women's non-governmental organizations." The toolkit describes the experiences and best practices of women's organizations in Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina in preventing and responding to violence against conflict-affected women in war, protracted conflict, and post-conflict settings. The toolkit can be accessed here
Training on the topic of peace was held with the members of the youth group of the village Koki - Zugdidi municipality. The participants talked about meaning of peace. With the help of a simulated exercise, they discussed that dialogue, communication, cooperation, trust, tolerance are necessary for peace. The training showed how important the involvement of young people in peace processes is. The Women Initiative Group of the village Koki is working on advocacy of identified problems. During the meeting, the participants shared with each other the results achieved in terms of advocacy, they talked about the direction in which the work should be improved.
Tskaltubo Women Initiative Group actively uses monthly meetings to divide problems into priorities and advocacy. In the coming months, the advocacy process will be devoted to the issue of municipal transport.
Participants also talked about covering problematic IDP residential buildings with waterproof material. This issue requires large financial resources, so advocacy at the central level is necessary.
The project is implemented with the support
of the UN Women organization
The members of Kutaisi Women Initiative Group met the deputy head of the social issues department of the municipality, Pikria Khachapuridze, in order to advocate concrete problem. Participants got acquainted with information about social programs and services. They learned who and how can benefit from the given programs. The issue aroused the interest of the audience, it was noted that due to its relevance, the meeting was informative and interesting. The members of Kutaisi Youth Club saw a presentation about the International Day of Girl. They learned about the history and significance of this day. Club members participated in a discussion about gender equality, expressed their opinions and discussed ways to solve problems and raise awareness; During the meeting, new members were accepted in the club.
Senaki Women's Working Group worked on identification of new problems.
- We follow the advocacy plan. Based on the working plan, all stages are envisaged and require a certain period of time. In parallel, we should work on identifying new problems and not to slow down the speed mention the group members.
Among the problems, the issue of installing the sports training equipment in the IDP village was highlighted, and the cleaning of lawns from weeds was also considered urgent. Both issues require research and cooperation with local government. The working group will actively participate in this process.
The project is implemented with the support
of the UN Women organization
Members of the Youth Empowerment Centers of the Women Fund “Sukhumi” and their parents took part in the online information meeting.
During the meeting, there was made a presentation of the guide "Prevention and response to gender-based violence in war and post-war conditions - experience and recommendations of women’s NGOs", (prepared by the Network: Women Against Violence Europe (WAVE).
Participants learned about the successful experience of women organizations, including the Women Fund “Sukhumi”, which is described in the publication.
The project is implemented with the support of the Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights
