The newspaper "Khoneli" published an article about the active work in Khoni municipality in the framework of the project “Bridging the Gap: People to People Initiatives for Conflict Resolution”.

There are three initiative groups in Khoni - two women and one youth group. The author of the article is a member of one of the women groups, journalist Guranda Tsaguria, who is actively involved in the work process.

The groups were formed in March, and since then they have been working actively. In May an online training was held for young people on the topic of conflict reasons in Abkhazia. Informational meetings were held with women. The meeting participants talked about needs research - how they planned the work, what turned out to be difficult, etc. This is the first research conducted by women groups. They received good experience and the most important thing is that a document - an assessment of women’s needs will be prepared, as well as recommendations will be developed and presented to local government.

“Prehistory of Georgian-Abkhazian conflict, its subsequent development and consequences” – this topic was discussed at online trainings conducted with the Youth Initiative Groups of Senaki, Tskaltubo and Koki (Zugdidi municipality).

Participants learned what was the prehistory of conflict and how the events were developed. They asked questions: why it was impossible to manage the situation, who was guilty, why did they come to such consequences.

Trainer Keti Vasadze explained to the participants how important the confidence raising is in peacebuilding, what steps should be taken in this direction.

At the end of the trainings, the participants expressed their mood and attitude towards discussed issues:

“It was interesting for me to consider the conflict stages. Peace building always makes sense, I saw the role of youth, we must be involved in building trust. "

Members of Tskaltubo Women Initiative Group were included in the survey process, which was held in different formats. During the group meeting, the participants evaluated the work done. In their opinion, everyone was able to conduct a survey using quantitative and qualitative methods.

In the second part of the meeting, the participants received additional information on how to technically plan, prepare and conduct focus groups and what should be done in order not to lose the main focus during the internal discussion. The types of active and passive participants, the basic principles of facilitation were considered interactively, with specific examples.

Tolerance and conflict - this topic was discussed at the information meeting of the Youth Initiative Group. Through self-presentation, the participants answered the questions: how tolerant I am and what is the degree of my tolerance. During a conversation on specific cases, they noticed that it is difficult to remain tolerant in a conflict situation, it is necessary to apologize, forgive, forget the insult. According to them, any person should feel responsibility, respect others - this will reduce conflict situations in society.

What difficulties accompanied the survey process, what experience was gained and how satisfactory are the results - the participants of the meeting of Senaki Women's Initiative Group shared the opinions with each other during the feedback.

- I didn't have any experience, I got involved in the survey process for the first time and gained valuable practice, I differently saw the problems that worried women.

- It is not easy to conduct focus groups, manage a group, facilitate. But I was able to do it. All participants were actively involved in the process.

After the exchange of opinions, the participants received relevant recommendations, which will further strengthen their technical skills.

"I received the correct information about the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict."

"I am an IDP from Abkhazia, but I know very little about reasons and duration of conflict. This training gave me the opportunity to learn more. "

“I have heard only about the consequences of conflict. I always wanted to know more about the history of conflict. Thank you for this training and for answering my questions. "

This is a feedback from one part of the training participants. The training was conducted by the conflict expert Keti Vasadze.

“Prehistory of Georgian-Abkhazian conflict, its continuation and consequences”

- the participants of the online training on this topic were members of the Youth Initiative Group of Khoni municipality.

Women and girls needs research in 6 municipalities of Western Georgia - Kutaisi, Tskaltubo, Khoni, Senaki, Zugdidi and Tsalenjikha - was completed.

1000 respondents were interviewed through the questionnaires, 24 in-depth interviews and 24 focus - group meetings were held for qualitative research.

In May, the systematization of the research results will be held, and this will become the basis for the analysis. In frames of the project, it is also envisaged to develop a plan and further work to advocate the needs of local target groups at local and central levels.

“Prehistory of Georgian-Abkhazian conflict, its continuation and consequences” - this topic was discussed at online trainings with youth initiative groups of Tskaltubo and Tsalenjikha (school No. 1 - village Liya) municipalities. The trainings were held separately for both groups with participation of 40 pupils.

"The training was full of information and interesting".

"I wanted to know more about Georgian-Abkhazian conflict, and the training made up for this deficit."

"Today, many of my questions were answered".

The young people expressed interest regarding the topic in this way. They expressed their desire - to have more communication with their Abkhazian peers. The project will give them with this opportunity.

Meeting of the Women Initiative Group was held in the village Pakhulani (Tsalenjikha municipality). The meeting discussed the tools of the Gender Responsive Early Warning System, the main stages of its implementation, as well as the components of human security. Emphasis was placed on studying the needs of women and participants were selected to conduct the research (focus groups, in-depth interviews and questionnaires).

On the same day, a similar meeting with a youth initiative group was held in school # 2 of the village Lia (Tsalenjikha municipality). The children also wrote essays on the topic of Abkhazia and sent messages to Abkhazian peers. Three members of this group shared the knowledge gained at the common training of the initiative groups with friends.

The meetings of three initiative groups were held in Zugdidi municipality. One group of women was formed in Zugdidi, and the second united women living in two villages - Koki and Khurcha.

The main topics of the meetings were: meaning of the Gender-Responsive Early warning System, its components and stages of implementation. Participants received detailed information about the research. The aim of the research is to study the interests of women from different vulnerable groups.

The third initiative group includes only young people. The group was created in the schools of the village Koki. The activity of the students is special. The members of this group, who passed training organized by the Fund "Sukhumi", shared with their peers the knowledge they gained about the Gender Responsive Early Warning System.

- What does early conflict prevention mean, how to react according to the components of human security, what kind of dangers do the young people feel - these and other questions, using thematic exercises, were discussed with Senaki youth group.

According to young participants, low level of education, the problem of employment, the migration of women, and the social background is dangerous. In their opinion, every person perceives danger differently, and the response mechanism should also be appropriate.

The second meeting was also devoted to this topic - with members of the women initiative group: what is the early conflicts prevention system and how important is its application in a gender prism. Group members will take part in the research - they learned about the techniques and skills of conducting focus groups and in-depth interviews.