The Gender Equality Council (GEC) introduced the presentation of the Report on “Implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Georgia”, introduced by Council member, Teona Akubardia. The presentation was held on September 27 symbolically – the Sokhumi massacre day. The participants observed a minute of silence in commemoration of the victims of the war.

The presentation was attended by MPs, executive authorities, as well as the diplomatic corps, international organizations and civil society. The report has been developed within the UN Women project “Accelerating Implementation of Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Georgia”, funded by CSSF.

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.

How can a society torn apart by war and conflict overcome alienation, rebuild relationships and create a dignified and secure future? - Our representative, Ekaterine Gamakharia, spoke about these issues as a guest on Mamuka Kufaradze's TV program before presenting the Abkhaz film "Waiting for the Future".

Ekaterine Gamakharia, the representative of the Women's Fund "Sukhumi" Tbilisi office, participated in the two-day seminar held during the Council of Europe Visibility Week on April 27-28, within the framework of the cooperation of the Council of Europe Congress and the National Association of Local Authorities of Georgia. The seminar was held within the framework of the "Strengthening Participatory Democracy and Human Rights at the Local Level in Georgia" project, the main topic of which was the strengthening of inclusive communication.

One of the workshop sessions was dedicated to the participants of the local authorities using the "Living Library" method to get to know the personal stories of various vulnerable groups, the challenges they face, and their visions of solving the problems.

Ekaterine Gamakharia, the representative of the Women's Fund "Sukhumi", presented the challenges of the displaced woman to the representatives of the municipality, and spoke about the need for the participation of the displaced people, including women and girls, in the process of developing local policies, and the need to introduce municipal services and social programs to solve the problems they face.

Екатерине Гамахария, руководитель Тбилисского представительства Женского фонда «Сухуми», приняла участие в рабочей встрече гендерной тематической группы - женщины, мир и безопасность. Заседание проходило под председательством Тамар Лобджанидзе, аналитика программы «ООН-женщины» в Грузии и Регины Егоровой-Аскеровой, старшего офицера программы Kvinna till Kvinna на Южном Кавказе.

Представитель Тбилисского офиса Женского фонда «Сухуми» обратила внимание на проблемы передвижения населения, разделенного конфликтом с обеих сторон, ограничения, введенные на перевозки грузов для населения на линии раздела, а также на необходимость повышения информированности, навыков и компетенций в плане конфликто-сенситивных принципов для представителей госинститутов, в том числе представителей сектора безопасности, включенных в процесс восстановления доверия.

Ekaterine Gamakharia, head of the Tbilisi representative office of the Women Fund “Sukhumi”, participated in the two-day conference organized by the IDP Women Association "Consent". The conference on "Women and Youth for Positive Agenda’s Creators" was held on April 24-25.

The first day of the meeting was dedicated to the positive role of women and youth in the peacebuilding process, while the second day was dedicated to the situation and needs of the displaced women and girls.

The conference was attended by representatives of governmental and local self-government, as well as organizations working on peace-building issues and the problems of displaced people.

Ekaterine Gamakharia, the head of the Tbilisi representative office, reported on the panel discussion of the conference, which was dedicated to the state strategies and action plans for the IDPs. In her speech, she spoke about the commitments taken by the state in the fourth action plan (2022-2024) adopted by the United Nations Security Council, Resolution 1325, in the direction of the participation of displaced women in the peace-building and decision-making process, as well as in the state programs for women's economic empowerment. She focused on the problems of effective participation of IDP women in the decision-making process and economic programs and specific barriers characteristic of their vulnerable situation and etc.

The project is implemented with the support

 of the UN Women organization

Within the framework of the current working visit to Georgia, Moldova's Vice Prime Minister for Reintegration Oleg Serebriani, together with State Minister Thea Akhvlediani, met with the members of two platforms - the Expert Advisory Council and the Women's Advisory Platform.

Ekaterine Gamakharia, head of the Tbilisi representative office of Women's Fund "Sukhumi", also participated in the high-level meeting, who in her speech focused on the importance of creating gender advisory groups in the process of peaceful resolution of the conflict in Moldova and raised the issue of better studying this experience in order to replicate it in Georgia.

The Social Justice Center carried out two research presentations: "Places of two-way omission - legal and social challenges in Gali and Akhalgori" and "Challenges and needs of women living close to the dividing lines". The event was attended by the representatives of international, local civil society organizations and state agencies, as well as the head of the Tbilisi representative office of Fund “Sukhumi”. In her speech, Ekaterine Gamakharia focused on the most topical challenges and needs of women living along the Administrative Boundary Lines, including their difficult economic and social situation, unemployment and obstacles for access to the economic activities and finances, problems of free movement along the dividing line, issues of domestic violence against women, etc.