During the meeting of the working group of IDP women and girls, the participants once again worked on advocacy plans, reviewed the planned activities to solve the problem step by step, finalized the plan and distributed responsibilities. These are the opinions of the group members:

“I feel that a literate citizen is gradually growing within me.”

“My view on problem solution has changed. Before that, I thought that all I had to do was to write an application and then wait to see whether the local government would take care of us or not.”

“We need the right information in order to achieve our goal. I love the education I get here.”

Within the framework of our project members of the working group study ways and methods of achieving the goal - using the example of their own problems.

On April 13 and 14, members of the working group of IDP women and girls attended a training on: “Budget advocacy and citizen participation in self-government.” All four groups – 80 people – took part in the training.

What is the budget, what does the local government program mean, what benefits are provided, what services can IDP women and girls living in Kutaisi use to improve their living conditions - the training participants were informed about these issues. They expressed their opinions:

“It was a necessary and useful training that made many things obvious for us.”

“We learned about responsibilities of local government, what can we demand and what local government cannot do.”

“It turns out that you need to follow the application procedure and register on time.”

“We have found that only application is not enough to satisfy a request or requirement.”

“We learned that it is important to have the right information.”

The project is implemented with the support of  USAID local governance program

A meeting with members of the working group of IDP women and girls was held on the topic “Determining the dynamics of the advocacy plan”.

Participants were once again given the opportunity to review a sample advocacy plan, clarify responsible persons, outline planned activities, and propose a reasonable time frame for starting the advocacy process.

The group members noted that they would definitely use the theoretical knowledge acquired within the project to effectively carry out advocacy.

The members of Didinedzi women initiative group discussed women's needs and existing problems during exchange meetings. Such a format, according to the participants, was important for sharing experience and for mutual cooperation. The members of Didinedzi youth group worked on the preparation of projects, which is a step forward in the process of submitting the works to the competition commission.

The youth initiative group of the village Koki - Zugdidi municipality worked on refining the goals and objectives of the project proposal. They learned to work on the project and turn the idea into a project at the training held in Kutaisi. As a result, working versions of two projects were prepared, which will be presented to the commission. The women initiative group conducted a research on the topic "Assessment of the quality of human security and gender needs of the population in Zugdidi municipality". They continue to work in direction of advocacy.

 В офисе фонда "Сухуми"состоялась очередная встреча с членами женской группы.После поздровления мартовских праздников женщины просмотрели фильм"Женщины из города Гори за солидарность".Провели дискусию.На встрече подвели итоги работы исследования проведенной в феврале 2024 года. Для молодежной инициативной группы Кутаиси был проведен тренинг-"Дезинформация и механизмы борьбы с ним" "Суть медиаграмотности и значение".Члены молодежной группы узнали ,как различить ложную информацию от реальной и приняли навыки,о том ,как бороться с дезинформацией.

Information meetings were held with the members of Women Initiative Group of the village Pakhulani -Tsalenjikha municipality. The participants received information about the International Women's Solidarity Day. They also talked about modern challenges and expressed a desire, that is relevant at all times - peace, calmness and health. Then they talked about the problems and gaps identified during the qualitative research.

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