On July 1, at the initiative of the President of Georgia, the Tbilisi International Women's Conference (TWIC) was held. The conference was opened by the President of Georgia and women leaders from different countries of the world are attending it.
Within the framework of the conference, the conversation touched on such issues as conflicts, peace, security and European integration of Georgia. Ekaterine Gamakharia, the head of Tbilisi representative office of the Women Fund "Sukhumi", was invited to the meeting.
On June 26-27, 2023, Ekaterine Gamakharia, the representative of the Women's Fund "Sukhumi," participated in a regional conference organized by the Global Network of Women Peace Builders (GNWP) and supported by the OSCE. Elene Rusetskaya, the head of the Women's Information Center, and Yulia Kharashvili, the head of the Displaced Women's Association "Consent," also attended the conference from Georgia.
The conference brought together women mediators and peace builders from the South Caucasus, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. The primary objective of the regional conference was to develop a roadmap for civil society networking and advocacy in the field of peace building.
During the conference, the participants actively shared the progress of the implementation of the "Women, Peace and Security" agenda in their respective countries. They discussed existing experiences, challenges, and best practices related to participation in the peace-building and decision-making processes.
Family conflicts, discrimination, bullying, gender equality, femicide - these topical issues were chosen by young people for their mini-projects. Within the framework of the project, forum-theaters were created on the basis of Kutaisi, Khoni, Tskaltubo, Senaki, Zugdidi youth initiative groups. Two scenarios were prepared in each group. During two months, young people held 42 meetings using the forum-theatre format. Meetings were held in different locations: towns and villages schools, settlements, public places. Number of discussions was held on the issues of gender equality, bullying, domestic violence and femicide. During the meetings, the participants discussed the relevance of the problems and discussed ways to solve them.
Another informational online meeting was held with members of Zugdidi Women Initiative Group.
The meeting participants recalled the problems that have already been advocated and resolved. They also discussed priority issues and chose the most relevant ones.
Members of the initiative group discussed the ways of problem solution and will start working on specific activities.
The project is implemented with the support
of the UN Women organization
One of those, met by the psychologist of the Women Fund “Sukhumi” - Manana Gotsiridze in June, was 76-year-old Lyubov Maksimenko from the Mykolaev region. She lived in Tskaltubo, but 30 years ago she sold her apartment and moved to Ukraine. She lived happily, but when the situation escalated during the war, she came here, intending to stay for a while. She did not meet any of her acquaintances here, neither the new owners of her apartment, nor former neighbors, nor friends ... For some time she lived with the daughter of an old acquaintance, then the City Hall settled her in a hotel ... She decided to return home again. However, she did not have enough finances. Fund "Sukhumi" bought a bus ticket, gave food for the journey and sent her to Ukraine...
In June, the psychologist met with another 12 people - representatives of 5 families. The initial consultations, anamnesis, work with traumas and stress was started with them. Two beneficiaries have completed individual psychotherapy sessions and one continues to receive psychotherapy on Wednesdays. Also, all families received a set of humanitarian aid from our organization.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
A meeting with Kemlin Furley, the representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Georgia was held In Kutaisi, at the head office of the Women Fund "Sukhumi". The meeting was also attended by a representative of the Georgian Red Cross Society Kutaisi branch.
Mrs. Kemlin was informed about the ongoing projects implemented by the Fund "Sukhumi" and the Red Cross for the assistance of Ukrainian refugees. The conversation touched upon the condition of Ukrainians, existing challenges and needs. Particular attention was paid to problems in terms of health and education and their advocacy at the national level.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
June 20, the International Day of Refugees and IDPs, is traditionally celebrated by the Women Fund "Sukhumi" with various activities. For the third year already, the event “The Aroma of Sukhumian Coffee in Kutaisi Boulevard” has been held. Ukrainian refugees were present last year and came this time. The women prepared cookies with Ukrainian theme. A Ukrainian girl danced their national dance. This day was impressive and everyone saw the active work of the Fund.
The Women Fund “Sukhumi” has already provided assistance to 539 people who came from Ukraine. In June, 16 new people were added to our database. Our support was expressed in a following way:
- 28 families (44 people) received products
- We paid the rent for 6 families
- We paid utility bills for 6 families
- Medical costs for one Ukrainian woman were reimbursed
- We bought a bus ticket with $220 to Ukraine for Lyubov Maksimenko and she returned to her country.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
Kutaisi Women Initiative Group actively advocates for problems and at the same time works to identify new needs. The leader of the initiative group holds individual meetings with representatives of IDP settlements, studies problems and determines their priority in order to timely solve problems with the involvement of relevant services and improve the situation of IDPs.
The project is implemented with the support
of the UN Women organization
The problem advocated by Khoni Women Initiative Group is related to the homeowners' association. This institution has existed in the IDP settlement for many years, and 16 homeowners' associations have already been registered. However, there is no program in the local government budget that would allow the associations to jointly implement various infrastructure projects.
In terms of updating the issue at this stage, the meetings were held with the population. For timely and successful advocacy, the Women Initiative Group is in close contact with local self-government.
The project is implemented with the support
of the UN Women organization
