Kutaisi women initiative group starts to work on the problems identified as a result of the human security research. The members of the group will try to solve two acute and actual problems - to inform teenagers about the dangers of alcohol and drugs and to study the existing sub-programs in the municipality, as well as to advocate for another necessary program. The members of the group worked on the advocacy plan, outlined the activities, determined the responsible persons and deadlines. The members of the youth club talked about the project "Bullying and its types", discussed the challenges and skills they were able to develop within the project. Certificates of participation in the project were given to the young people. New members joined the club. They received information about the activities of the club and the Fund "Sukhumi". Public activities were held in order to bring the members closer.
On July 6-8, representatives of the Women's Fund "Sukhumi," Ekaterine Gamakharia and Tea Thorinava, embarked on a working visit to Vienna. The purpose of the visit was to participate in a workshop centered around the practical guide developed by partner organizations in 2022, titled "Preventing and responding to gender-based violence during war and in post-war settings: Experiences and recommendations of women's NGOs." The toolkit can be accessed here https://wave-network.org/wp-content/uploads/Toolkit-Georgian.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1rCpxvDqw8HCIz-iBwYSlKCsF9ITicwIkEr-DVCBOI3ZP5eYZv_ATu3IA . The workshop aimed to plan the development process of a training module that would contribute to enhancing the knowledge of individuals interested in the best practices and strategies for preventing and responding to gender-based violence in conflict situations, as outlined in the guide, and their practical implementation.
The workshop involved representatives from the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe), the WAVE network, and partner non-governmental organizations: the Sexual Assault Crisis Center in Yerevan, Armenia, the Women's Fund "Sukhumi" in Kutaisi and Tbilisi, Georgia, and the "United Women of Banja Luka" Foundation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The members of the youth club of Khoni municipality evaluated the project "Say no to violence!". With the help of the forum theater method, the audience was shown an acute and actual problem that exists in real life. The young people noted that they coped with this unfamiliar challenge with dignity and earned a positive evaluation from the society. The members of the first women initiative group of Khoni will work on the training of personnel in the field of construction in order to face modern challenges. The members of the second group chose the problem of homeless dogs for advocacy. At the meetings, both groups worked on the plan and activities. The responsible persons were selected and the deadlines were determined.
The women initiative group of the village Didinedzi - Zugdidi municipality selected actual problems from the conducted research. The members of Didinedzi youth group evaluated the project implemented within the mini-project. According to them, they were able to send specific messages against violence to the society through the forum-theatre. The youth group plans to hold forum theater performances regarding a number of problematic issues
Members of the women's initiative group of the village Koki - Zugdidi municipality summarized the problems identified as a result of the research. For women who live in Khurcha, the lack of lighting on the central road is a safety problem. This is the road from the central bridge to the border of Abkhazia. The failure of the drainage channels was named as also important problem, which itself concerns the economic security, as crops and plants are damaged during heavy rains. The members of the youth group evaluated the project implemented within the mini-project. During the meeting, a discussion was held about the problem presented by the forum theater, ways of solution and the possibility of involving young people in the process were discussed.
On July 1, at the initiative of the President of Georgia, the Tbilisi International Women's Conference (TWIC) was held. The conference was opened by the President of Georgia and women leaders from different countries of the world are attending it.
Within the framework of the conference, the conversation touched on such issues as conflicts, peace, security and European integration of Georgia. Ekaterine Gamakharia, the head of Tbilisi representative office of the Women Fund "Sukhumi", was invited to the meeting.
On June 26-27, 2023, Ekaterine Gamakharia, the representative of the Women's Fund "Sukhumi," participated in a regional conference organized by the Global Network of Women Peace Builders (GNWP) and supported by the OSCE. Elene Rusetskaya, the head of the Women's Information Center, and Yulia Kharashvili, the head of the Displaced Women's Association "Consent," also attended the conference from Georgia.
The conference brought together women mediators and peace builders from the South Caucasus, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. The primary objective of the regional conference was to develop a roadmap for civil society networking and advocacy in the field of peace building.
During the conference, the participants actively shared the progress of the implementation of the "Women, Peace and Security" agenda in their respective countries. They discussed existing experiences, challenges, and best practices related to participation in the peace-building and decision-making processes.
Family conflicts, discrimination, bullying, gender equality, femicide - these topical issues were chosen by young people for their mini-projects. Within the framework of the project, forum-theaters were created on the basis of Kutaisi, Khoni, Tskaltubo, Senaki, Zugdidi youth initiative groups. Two scenarios were prepared in each group. During two months, young people held 42 meetings using the forum-theatre format. Meetings were held in different locations: towns and villages schools, settlements, public places. Number of discussions was held on the issues of gender equality, bullying, domestic violence and femicide. During the meetings, the participants discussed the relevance of the problems and discussed ways to solve them.
Another informational online meeting was held with members of Zugdidi Women Initiative Group.
The meeting participants recalled the problems that have already been advocated and resolved. They also discussed priority issues and chose the most relevant ones.
Members of the initiative group discussed the ways of problem solution and will start working on specific activities.
The project is implemented with the support
of the UN Women organization
