The Thematic Inquiry Group of the Gender Equality Council set up on the Access of Women to Financial Resources held a verbal hearing of the international and local organizations, thematic inquiry experts and civil activists expressing their positions on the issue and answering the questions of the main rapporteur of the inquiry.
Ekaterine Gamakharia – Representative of the Women Fund “Sukhumi” took part in the meeting of thematic inquiry group. In her speech, she focused on displaced and conflict-affected women and emphasized that ensuring women's access to financial resources is not only the most important factor in the country's development, the fight against poverty and violence against women, but it also has a great impact on peace building and restoring trust in the country.
"Today, it is not time for talks, it's for specific actions! Because while we talk about problems and complain, a large number of women are directly confronted with inequality, violence, outdated stereotypes and all the bitterness of economic dependence... Many of them have to fight to survive... Only economically strong women can take care of public welfare, contribute to the development of the country, fight against violence, and build sustainable and long-lasting peace"... - said Ekaterine Gamakharia.
During the meeting, the participants discussed specific ways to overcome the problems and shared their findings and recommendations to each other.
Marina prepared a beautiful and sweet Ukrainian dessert - Lviv syrnik and Anya - Kiev cutlets. Marina and Anya are Ukrainian psychologists who work in our organization and together with other women, they participated in the preparation of the Day of Ukrainian Cuisine at the Women Fund " Sukhumi on September 15. They believe that it turned out to be an interesting, pleasant and rehabilitative event.
Psychologists from Ukraine actively worked in September professional direction.
Anya Shalimova says that she met with members of four new families and with one family again. She conducted 12 individual consultations. Both regular clients and new ones were among them. There were also consultations with children and their parents.
“Ukrainians respond positively to the fact that I am also from Ukraine,” Anya says. - They are interested in what city I am from and how I survived the war. If the Ukrainians are from my hometown, then we are interested in concrete area we lived” (that is why two Ukrainian psychologists were invited to work with Ukrainian refugees).
Marina is 28. She was depressed after the death of her husband: “Life stopped, I didn’t know how to live. My mother cried with me. In this condition we were caught by my mother's friend, who advised us to address the psychologist of the Fund "Sukhumi". For almost 8 months, I learned to look at myself in a new way. Step by step, I was filled with hope. I don’t know how to express my gratitude not only for the return of a smile on my face, but also for the light in my mother’s eyes”...
Marina is one of the grateful beneficiaries of the psychologist. There are many of them in different municipalities of Western Georgia.
In September, the meetings of psychologist were held in the Women Support Centers of Vani, Chokhatauri, Senaki and Khurcha (Zugdidi municipality), also in Kobuleti - online. 23 beneficiaries took part in the group and individual meetings.
From September 19 until the end of the month, a comprehensive rehabilitation work was carried out with three women victims of domestic violence. They were placed in the Rehabilitation Center of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" with their children - there were 6 beneficiaries in total. A teacher, a social worker, a lawyer and a psychologist were included in the daily active work.
At the end of the rehabilitation course, one of the beneficiaries (she is 26 years old) said that she felt great support, she already knows that she is not alone. The days spent here gave her and other women more strength and they know how to work on their weaknesses. They received a lot of necessary information, positive, useful advice and decided to open a new page of their life with new power.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
According to the participants, the information exchange meeting (Topic - "Protection of children's rights in Tkibuli Municipality and local cooperation in terms of improving social services") was very interesting and important. It was held on the initiative of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" and Tkibuli Children's Rights Protection and Support Service.
The participants were introduced to the findings of the research conducted by the Fund "Sukhumi", the activities of the Children's Rights Protection and Support Service and the existing challenges.
The heads of the municipality, providers of municipal services and citizens exchanged their opinions. The main challenge was identified - lack of resources for the improvement of services; The need for more flexible legal regulations.
Close cooperation with the civil sector and unification of resources for the assistance of the beneficiaries was highly appreciated.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
The Kovalenko family arrived from Kharkov. They lived in Samtredia for several months. They had to face difficulties, the child was hospitalized twice, our Fund helped them in preparation of documents for free medical treatment, helped them with food and hygiene items. Then they decided to return to Ukraine. But they didn't have money.
Sophie Tsirghvava, an assistant who works with Ukrainian refugees, decided to try to collect money, although she herself did not really believe that it would work. She wrote a request on a social network to help this family. There were people who transferred a substantial amount. There were also facts of transferring 3 or 5 GEL to the indicated account... The Kovalenkos were surprised, they cried and said that despite the fact that people have financial problems they help them anyway...
More than 3600 GEL was collected In two days.
A meeting of the Interdepartmental Commission for the Elimination of Violence Against Women was held in the Bagdati City Hall. The meeting was held in the round table format. Together with the members of the commission, the meeting was attended by representatives of the Women Fund "Sukhumi", police officers, teachers, members of the City Council commission and the Department for the protection of Children.
Concrete cases, work with these cases and subsequent response were discussed during the meeting. The issues of violence prevention, victim protection and prospects for cooperation with local government agencies were also discusse
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
The participants discussed the issues of femicide at the events initiated by the women support centers. Short videos on the topic of violence created a good space for discussion.
- How to break the circle of violence, where the response mechanisms need to be strengthened - discussions on these issues continued.
The participants noted that women are not protected, they are still victims of harmful stereotypes. They spoke about strengthening the role of kindergartens and schools with special emphasis.
If we do not help to break the stereotypes, if the consciousness is not improved, the picture will not change – noted the meeting participants.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
A meeting was held in the village Akhalsofel - Senaki municipality.It was attended by school representatives, teachers and parents. The coordinator of the City Hall Children's Rights and Support Department and the social worker of the same department were invited to the meeting.
The participants of the meeting got acquainted with the structure of the department, received information about existing programs, challenges and needs. In their opinion, more attention should be paid to public awareness, needs of vulnerable groups, support of crisis families.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
The advocacy group of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" held an information meeting in the school of the village Zeda Vani (Vani municipality). The meeting was attended by school teachers, upper graders, employees of the City Hall department for children's rights and their protection, the secretary of the Gender Equality Council.
The participants got acquainted with the structure of the department, as well as with the conclusions that were made as a result of the monitoring of work in this department. They noted that they did not have such in-depth information and they already know when to contact them. Emphasis was placed on the need for cooperation between the school and the department to improve the condition of vulnerable adolescents.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)