The Ministry of Internal Affairs held the final event of the campaign against child marriage, titled "Don't Deprive of childhood." During the meeting, the Department of Human Rights Protection and Investigation Quality Monitoring of the Ministry of Internal Affairs delivered a presentation. The presentation aimed to inform the invited representatives from governmental and non-governmental sectors, as well as local and international organizations, about the measures undertaken within the campaign. Our representatives, Linda Chikhladze and Nino Korinteli, were present at the meeting.
The presentation of the monitoring tool on the evaluation of measures for the prevention of violence against women and in the family was held, organized by the Office of the Public Defender of Georgia and the Council of Europe.
The monitoring tool is based on the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. Its purpose is to assess the impact of the state's prevention mechanism on issues of violence against women and domestic violence, as well as to identify specific achievements and challenges. The document will assist state agencies in planning and implementing future steps.
The meeting was attended by our representatives, Linda Chikhladze and Nino Korinteli.
Fund "Sukhumi" organized a round table in Terjola, which brought together local referral entities: members of the City Hall Gender Equality Council, representatives of local government, police, health and education.
The invited lawyer acquainted the meeting participants with the referral document, with the duties and functions of specific authorized persons.
The meeting also discussed the situation in terms of facts. Problem identification and victim assistance.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
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.
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.
Psychologist Manana Gotsiridze worked in three directions in June:
- She met 5 beneficiaries of a day rehabilitation center who are learning how to work with polymer clay. She did some work with them to get rid of negative emotions, to reassess priorities and increase self-esteem.
She had daily interaction with the women in the rehabilitation center. Intensive work was carried out with traumas using various methods: art therapy, elements of cognitive-correctional psychology, psychological exercises and associative cards.
- 12 individual psychotherapy sessions were held online and 15 sessions with women living in Kutaisi. Three of them were new, and with the others, the previously started work continued.
35-year-old Khatuna passed psycho-rehabilitation for more than 6 months. After the death of her husband, she did not want to live, even her daughter irritated her, nothing pleased her, she did not believe that after the sessions of the psychologist there would be any positive changes. But working with different methods gave results: fear and irritation gradually disappeared, new priorities, new goals appeared. She thanks the psychologist for her humanity and professionalism, patience and invaluable assistance.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
Women Support Center mobilizers took part in the training: "Evidence Based Advocacy", held in 10 target municipalities.
The training was aimed at strengthening the skills necessary for advocacy. Particular emphasis was placed on identifying and ranking the problems. The essence, stages and forms of evidence-based advocacy were discussed in detail.
Using practical examples, the participants discussed the factors hindering the advocacy process, identified target groups and stakeholders.
It was noted that participation in the training is important for representatives of the Women Support Centers, as they are actively involved in the process of forming municipal policy and advocating for local problems.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
One of those, met by the psychologist of the Women Fund “Sukhumi” - Manana Gotsiridze in June, was 76-year-old Lyubov Maksimenko from the Mykolaev region. She lived in Tskaltubo, but 30 years ago she sold her apartment and moved to Ukraine. She lived happily, but when the situation escalated during the war, she came here, intending to stay for a while. She did not meet any of her acquaintances here, neither the new owners of her apartment, nor former neighbors, nor friends ... For some time she lived with the daughter of an old acquaintance, then the City Hall settled her in a hotel ... She decided to return home again. However, she did not have enough finances. Fund "Sukhumi" bought a bus ticket, gave food for the journey and sent her to Ukraine...
In June, the psychologist met with another 12 people - representatives of 5 families. The initial consultations, anamnesis, work with traumas and stress was started with them. Two beneficiaries have completed individual psychotherapy sessions and one continues to receive psychotherapy on Wednesdays. Also, all families received a set of humanitarian aid from our organization.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
A meeting with Kemlin Furley, the representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Georgia was held In Kutaisi, at the head office of the Women Fund "Sukhumi". The meeting was also attended by a representative of the Georgian Red Cross Society Kutaisi branch.
Mrs. Kemlin was informed about the ongoing projects implemented by the Fund "Sukhumi" and the Red Cross for the assistance of Ukrainian refugees. The conversation touched upon the condition of Ukrainians, existing challenges and needs. Particular attention was paid to problems in terms of health and education and their advocacy at the national level.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)