The Permanent Parliamentary Council for Gender Equality and the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee held a working meeting with representatives of international and local non-governmental organizations regarding the implementation of the 9th recommendation out of 12 recommendations of the European Union, which is related to gender equality issues.
The meeting highlighted several key issues in the direction of gender equality: the reaffirmation of the state's commitment to gender equality, the launch of the idea of women's economic empowerment, and the implementation of legislative measures that will be in line with the Istanbul Convention.
In her speech, Eka Gamakharia, head of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" Tbilisi office, emphasized the importance of women's economic empowerment for the prevention of violence against women and effective response. According to the promise of the Permanent Parliamentary Council for Gender Equality, a personal working meeting will be dedicated to the detailed discussion of the mentioned issue.
Three psychologists work with Ukrainian refugees in the Women Fund "Sukhumi" now.
Manana Gotsiridze, who has a lot of work in 10 Women Support Centers and a rehabilitation center, also cares about psycho-emotional condition of Ukrainians.
The second psychologist, Marina Stepanenko, is from Kyiv. And now there is also a third psychologist, Anna Shalimova from Kherson.
From the side of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" it is a good gesture to employ women in a foreign city so that they have an income and help their fellow countrymen.
There is enough work for everyone: there are 197 people in our information base and everyone needs help, competent advice from a psychologist...
Manana Gotsiridze: I met with families who came from Kyiv, Odessa, Kharkov and Kherson. You name these cities and it’s clear what they suffered, what they feel ... We conduct primary psychological consultation, collect anamnesis and plan the next meetings. When we go to them, we also bring the necessary products. I think this is also good support.
Meetings with a psychologist in July were organized by the Women Support Centers of Vani, Kobuleti, Koki (Zugdidi municipality), Tsalenjikha, Samtredia. In these municipalities, group and individual meetings were held with the participation of 34 beneficiaries.
Outcomes of the meetings: two victims of domestic violence were identified and work is ongoing.
In addition to field meetings, individual psychotherapeutic sessions were held online for 9 beneficiaries living in the regions.
In Kutaisi, in the office of the Women Fund “Sukhumi”, work was carried out with 16 beneficiaries and one with married couple.
The work gradually brings positive results and the beneficiaries express their gratitude for the improved health, solved problems, improved psychological climate in the family.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
Stop domestic violence! - says one.
Violence is not the solution! - says the other.
These are posters made by children.
The third thing is one of the diagrams of the research.
To the question: who should make decisions in the family? The answers were distributed as follows: women - 12%, men - 32%, both - 56%.
All above mentioned is the work of those teenagers who pass a six-month training course in the youth empowerment centers.
The centers operate in 10 municipalities - Samtredia, Terjola, Bagdati, Vani, Tkibuli, Senaki, Zugdidi, Tsalenjikha, Chokhatauri, Kobuleti.
Ways of conflict resolution, violence prevention, early marriage - these and other topical issues will be discussed at the trainings. Then the children get a kind of homework: who will expand the topic? Who will create an original form of saying? How can the information about a problem be disseminated?
Fatima Robakidze is a mobilizer of Tkibuli Women Support Center.
The center was opened in April of last year and is one of ten ones that are actively working in 10 municipalities within the framework of the project “Strengthening of Women's Rights in Western Georgia”.
In this story, we present a monologue of the mobilizer of Tkibuli Women's Support Center.
This is how Fatima Robakidze turned from an ordinary teacher into a civil activist.
“I am a teacher and believed that I should have the only focus - the educational process and the organization of the educational environment in my class together with the parents of my students. I thought I shouldn't waste time on other issues. The first window opened for me when I was asked to teach a lesson in civic education for a certain period of time.
In the same period, I got acquainted with the work of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" and began to understand that everything that I consider sacred - creation of a favorable climate for children to study and educate, depends on many factors.
The Forum - Theater has a rather interesting history: many performances, dozens of actors who have changed over the years... and now archiving of this story begun - the scenarios were collected and published in one collection. This is kind of a guide about a scenario the performances are built on...
In July, rehearsals and performances were actively held. The Forum - Theater held two performances in Kutaisi - in the central park and in a new park on the bank of the Rioni River.
There were not many spectators, but their feedback was interesting. Tourists spoke with particular enthusiasm. They drew attention to the importance of this unusual form of dialogue with the audience.
Проект осуществляется при поддержке организации Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Германия)
The lawyer of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" actively met with the beneficiaries in the Women Support Centers. In July, group and individual legal meetings were held in 6 municipalities of Western Georgia: in Vani, Kobuleti, Zugdidi (village Koki), Tsalenjikha, Samtredia and Terjola. 34 beneficiaries took part in the meetings.
The lawyer also gave three individual consultations in Kutaisi.
A free legal service is a serious support for people who receive answers to their questions and can competently solve problems with the help of a lawyer.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
During the meetings held in the Women Support Centers, it was revealed that women living in different communities especially need information about the response mechanisms in case of violence, whom to contact to help the victim and protect her.
The meetings focused on these issues. Several conflict families were mentioned, which were readdressed to the psychologist and a lawyer by the mobilizers.
The meetings were held in Vani, Tsalenjikha, Bagdati and Chokhatauri Women Support Centers.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
These words do not need comment...
M., 40 years old: - I felt such great help, hope and respect for the first time. I got acquainted with social services and with my rights, for which you need to fight and achieve justice. I am grateful to everyone for the support, attention, warmth and great success to you in this difficult work.
N., 32 years old: - Here I met warm, professional and caring people, from whom I received advice in all areas, I am very grateful to everyone. I think there should be more organizations like this where the victim can get support.
There were 6 people in the Rehabilitation Center of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" in July - 2 women with children. A comprehensive work was carried out, where the teacher, the social worker, the lawyer and the psychologist were actively involved.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
The monitoring group started working on another important issue – assessing the effectiveness of departments for the protection and support of children's rights that exist on the basis of municipalities and identifying current challenges.
At this stage, information about the programs and the existing structure is collected. The monitoring group is in active communication with the departments for the protection and support of children's rights in 10 target municipalities. In-depth interviews are conducted – both with staff and with beneficiaries and experts.
The main focus is on the analysis of the mechanisms of work of these departments, as one of the components of the fight against domestic violence.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)