At the initiative of the Women Fund “Sukhumi”, together with the head of the Department for the protection of Children’s Rights of Chokhatauri City Hall, a social worker and coordinator of the Mayor representatives, there was held a meeting with community activists and beneficiaries of various programs.
Information was exchanged about the needs of women's groups and challenges in terms of social work. The meeting participants got acquainted with the services of the Fund “Sukhumi”, new municipal programs, and determined cooperation with women on the issues of preventing domestic violence and assisting the victims.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
Another informational meeting was held with the members of the women's group in the conference hall of Khoni municipality. During the meeting, they showed a film about a Georgian feminist woman, Kato Mikeladze, a fighter for women's rights. The film was accompanied by a discussion in which all members of the club participated. An information meeting was also held with the members of the second women initiative group. The participants watched the film "Muslim Girls for Equality", after which a discussion was held. At the beginning of both meetings, spring and March holidays were congratulated to women. Both groups also summarized the local research work conducted in February 2024. An information meeting with young people was held in Khoni public school No 3. One of the members of the group prepared a presentation about March 8 and spoke about women's solidarity. Young people saw two films - "Don't speak" and "Always 5-1". A discussion was also held.
The members of the women initiative group of the village Didinedze - Zugdidi municipality discussed the issues of peace and solidarity, as well as women's rights. They talked about successful women, recalled their stories and role in the process of making important changes. They noted that solidarity towards women and people in general is power, support and empathy that promotes success. The members of the youth group spoke about the same topics and focused on women's rights and equality. According to the youth, solidarity is the most important thing in the process of peace building, and women's support in this direction is even more necessary.
“We gained very important information about the advocacy process.”
“We did it like this, but through training we learned how necessary it is to take correct steps”.
“We have been working on drafting an advocacy plan together. The knowledge gained will help us conduct advocacy correctly.”
This is what the participants – leader women and girls, representatives of different IDP communities of Kutaisi – said at the end of the training. The training was held at the office of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" on the topic: "Advocacy for community problems, advocacy strategy and drawing up an action plan".
The participants worked on the reasons and consequences using the “problem tree” method, and also did a SWOT analysis - strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and risks.
After the theoretical part, the participants worked in groups on an action plan for advocacy regarding a specific issue.
The project is implemented with the support of USAID local governance program
In March, members of the “Interdepartmental Commission for the Prevention of Violence against Women and/or Domestic Violence, Protection and Assistance to Victims of Violence” of Bagdati Municipality conducted an information campaign to promote the effective functioning of the commission. They held meetings with representatives of the City Hall, managers of preschool institutions and members of the youth council. Participants were informed about the function of the Interdepartmental Commission and the importance of citizen participation in the prevention of domestic violence.
These activities will help to activate the work of the Interdepartmental Commission to identify facts of violence and consider specific cases.
The project is implemented with the support the Equality Fund (Canada)
Advocacy for community problems, advocacy strategy and drawing up an action plan - training on these issues for women leaders from different IDP communities was held at the office of the Women Fund “Sukhumi”.
The participants identified the factors that determine the relevance of the problem and the path of the problem from identification to solution, which ensures the success of advocacy.
After defining the essence of advocacy, the participants discussed the results and reasons of the problem using the “tree method”. And with the help of the SWOT form, they were able to analyze strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and resources, and identify expected risks.
In the second part of the training, participants were divided into three groups and worked in groups on an action plan for advocacy on a specific issue.
The feedback shows that they are ready to use the acquired knowledge into practice:
“We learned about the advocacy process. All the information is necessary for us".
“We worked on drawing up an advocacy plan, prescribed all the activities, envisaged the risks. We will use all the materials in practice”.
The project is implemented with the support of USAID local governance program
Friendly environment for children is a new project in frames of which the courses for a mixed group of children are held (there are children from Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, as well as children living in Kutaisi).
They come to the office of the Women Fund “Sukhumi” almost every day and attend two or three courses. They study Georgian and English with interest. In addition, they attend the courses of polymer clay, acting art, sewing, photography and videography. There is also a psychological support group.
Children spend their free time from school with interest together with their teachers. They managed to make friends with each other and the first results of their training have already appeared.
The project is implemented with the support of the Czech organization PIN
The initiative aimed at activation of the work was carried out by members of the “Interdepartmental Commission for the Prevention of Violence against Women and/or Domestic Violence, Protection and Assistance to Victims of Violence” of Vani Municipality.
The civil initiative included an information campaign. Members of the Interdepartmental Commission actively participated in organizing and conducting meetings. They met with representatives of the Mayor, employees of rural outpatient clinics and women activists.
The meeting participants received information not only about the functions of the Interdepartmental Commission, but also about their departments in terms of responding to domestic violence. Particular emphasis was placed on the role of representatives of the Mayor and rural doctors in identifying specific cases.
The project is implemented with the support the Equality Fund (Canada)
The training on: "Media literacy and misinformation" was held with the youth group of Tskaltubo. The gained knowledge will help the participants to find the primary source of information and prevent the spread of misinformation. In the second youth group, the participants discussed the topic of solidarity. According to the participants, women need solidarity and support most of all when protecting their own rights. "Women, peace, solidarity" - members of the women initiative group held a debate on this topic. They talked about equality, violence and importance of solidarity. March events in all groups were devoted to women and women's rights.
