The work of women's mutual assistance groups is gradually becoming more active. Meetings were held in all ten groups. Project Assistant Nino Chabukiani met with members of the group in five municipalities (Tskaltubo, Samtredia, Kobuleti, Terjola, Chokhatauri) - the meetings focused on the needs and problems of women, advocacy and cooperation with local government.

Women know that they need to study more to advocate for their interests, so a new component was added to the meetings - digital literacy courses. The courses have already started in the municipalities of Kobuleti, Terola and Chokhatauri. During the meetings, the women learned how to search for the necessary information on the Internet, got acquainted with the unique platform - sosfsokhumi.ge, which contains the necessary materials for victims of violence. This work helps to increase the digital competence of the team members.

A member of one of the mutual assistance groups is currently undergoing psycho-rehabilitation at the Rehabilitation Center of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" in order to return home stronger and work more actively in the group.

The project also envisages transfer of mobile phones with an SOS application to make it easier for women to protect themselves and their children. In July, telephones were given to women living in Terjola municipality. The Mayor of Terjola Manuchar Robakidze and Deputy Chairman of City Council David Gogberashvili took part in the action of support.

The project is implemented with the support the Equality Fund (Canada)

“The training format allowed us to talk about the reasons of the problem, when we behave correctly or incorrectly. It is necessary that everyone understands their direct responsibility.

“I would focus on the information received, interesting methods and a good environment during the training”...

This is part of feedback from the training for medical personnel.

The training in Kutaisi was attended by 15 participants from Khoni, Tsalenjikha, Senaki, Chokhatauri and Zugdidi municipalities.

“The role of medical staff in violence prevention and victims protection” - this was the topic of the training, and together with the trainers, the participants actively discussed issues related to violence against women and children...

The training was held within the framework of the project "Digital Resource Center of Services for Violence Victims”.

At the meeting, the participants were also informed about the practical guide/toolkit: "Preventing and responding to gender-based violence in war and post-war settings - experiences and recommendations of women's NGOs", which was developed by the WAVE Network in collaboration with its four WAVE members in 2022 by the support of the OSCE. The Toolkit describes best practices and the strategies employed by the women's NGOs to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in different phases of conflict.

• Strategies during Wartime and emergency response settings were shared by Ukrainian and Armenian partners Sexual Assault Crisis Center (Yerevan, Armenia), Centre “Women’s Perspectives” (Lviv, Ukraine);
• Strategies during Protracted conflict were described by the Women's Foundation "Sukhumi" (Kutaisi, Tbilisi, Georgia);
• Strategies during Post-war and long-term perspective were based on the experience of the Bosnia-Herzegovina partner. Foundation United Women Banja Luka (Banja Luka, Bosnia & Herzegovina)

(A practical guide is available here https://www.osce.org/secretariat/530695)

The project is implemented with the support the Equality Fund (Canada)

Gender, gender-based violence, identification of violence, communication with a child and referral stages, legal mechanisms and the role of teachers in the prevention of violence, international documents - these issues were discussed at the training for teachers held in Kutaisi. The participants represented 5 municipalities: Senaki, Tsalenjikha, Terjola, Samtredia, Kobuleti.

At the meeting, the participants were also informed about the practical guide/toolkit: "Preventing and responding to gender-based violence in war and post-war settings - experiences and recommendations of women's NGOs", which was developed by the WAVE Network in collaboration with its four WAVE members in 2022 by the support of the OSCE. The Toolkit describes best practices and the strategies employed by the women's NGOs to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in different phases of conflict.

• Strategies during Wartime and emergency response settings were shared by Ukrainian and Armenian partners Sexual Assault Crisis Center (Yerevan, Armenia), Centre “Women’s Perspectives” (Lviv, Ukraine);
• Strategies during Protracted conflict were described by the Women's Foundation "Sukhumi" (Kutaisi, Tbilisi, Georgia);
• Strategies during Post-war and long-term perspective were based on the experience of the Bosnia-Herzegovina partner. Foundation United Women Banja Luka (Banja Luka, Bosnia & Herzegovina)

(A practical guide is available here https://www.osce.org/secretariat/530695)

Participants were actively involved in the training process, in discussions, sharing their experience with each other. According to them, the training will contribute to the destruction of gender stereotypes and the prevention of violence - the mechanisms of early identification and intervention.

It was noted that after the training they will introduce gender approaches in schools and will actively participate in the process of identifying cases of violence.

The project is implemented with the support the Equality Fund (Canada)

The groups were updated with new members and are already staffed with women who are ready for active work. They got acquainted with the municipal programs for social protection and health care. During the meetings, they talked about existing services and  they used. All groups have identified issues that they will start advocating.

There are already first results: one woman was assisted with medicines, another - in resolving the housing issue.

Each result is a motivation to the next success.

Project Assistant Nino Chabukiani met with women self-assistance groups established in Vani and Senaki, also in Chokhatauri, Terjola, Kobuleti and Samtredia municipalities. Meetings were held by group leaders, representatives of our organization.

The project is implemented with the support the Equality Fund (Canada)

A two-day training for medical personnel was held at the office of the Women Fund "Sukhumi". The training was attended by 15 participants from Tskaltubo, Tkibuli, Vani, Terjola and Samtredia municipalities.

The topic of the training was “The role of medical personnel in violence prevention and victim protection”Following issues were discussed during the training: violence against women and children, the Istanbul Convention, referral mechanisms, victim identification groups.

According to the participants, this work is actual and necessary:

“We talked about what are the resources of doctors for identification of violence and we will definitely use these methods into practice”.

“At first, we discussed the reasons of the problem, when we do the right thing and when we do it wrong. The doctor has a great responsibility in terms of eradicating domestic violence, but many specialists do not know about it”.

The first meeting was held in Terjola. The first group of self-assistance was formed.

The project, which started with the support of the Equality Fund (Canada), includes lot of interesting things, and one of them is the creation of women's self-assistance groups in 10 municipalities.

In May, groups were formed in Terjola, Senaki, Chokhatauri, Samtredia, Tkibuli, Vani and Kobuleti. The women who gathered in these municipalities already understood the mission of the group, that they should facilitate the exchange of information about the services available for violence victims in the country. They can also advocate their problems. Municipal groups will do a lot of useful things together.

The project is implemented with the support the Equality Fund (Canada)

“Digital Resource Center of Services for the Victims of Domestic Violence” is the only el-platform in Georgia, which combines complete information about assistance and support services available in Georgia to protect victims (survivors) of domestic violence.

The online platform combines mobile SOS applications, hotline numbers, success stories of women who have experienced violence, etc. https://sosfsokhumi.ge/

The municipalities of Tsageri, Khashuri, Terjola, Vani, Bagdati, Chkhorotsku, Khoni, Poti, Martvili and the Supreme Council of Adjara have integrated information about the digital resource center and a link to their web pages.

Active work continued within the framework of the new project.

A map has appeared on the existing platform - It is enough for a person to move the cursor on the map to find all the services by region - https://sosfsokhumi.ge/central

The project is implemented with the support the Equality Fund (Canada)

A project supported by the Equality Fund (Canada) continues.

The main goal of the project is to provide access for women victims/potential victims of violence and other stakeholders to a wide range of information related to domestic violence (legal mechanisms for domestic violence/ violence against women, victim support services, referral entities, etc.) for the prevention and appropriate response to violence against women.

The project will be implemented during 3 years in 10 municipalities of Western Georgia (Vani, Bagdati, Samtredia, Terjola, Tkibuli, Tsalenjikha, Senaki, Zugdidi, Kobuleti, Chokhatauri).

Within the framework of the project, the website “Digital Resource Center for the Services of Violence Victims” will continue to function https://sosfsokhumi.ge/

Systematic assessment of the risks of domestic violence and violence against women will be carried out in the above mentioned municipalities.

“This phone has a quick SOS button, which will give me the strength to call people for help, and they will definitely help me.”

“I was told that our phone has a special function. Thank you for that."

“If I need legal advice, is it on the phone you gave me, if I need psychological advice? It is here too. Thanks for this. Maybe we should learn more and be better prepared against violence.”

Such emotions came from the beneficiaries during the next action.

Representatives of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" together with representatives of the local government distributed phones with SOS buttons to women from vulnerable groups in Kobuleti, Senaki, Samtredia, Bagdati, Terjola and Vani.

It has become a tradition to involve representatives of the City Hall, advisors, members of the gender equality council and specialists dealing with children's issues in our activities. The aim is for local authorities to care more about women victims and help them to solve problems.

The project is implemented with the support the Equality Fund (Canada)

A training on organizational development was held in Batumi. The following topics were discussed during the training: what is the scheme of roles in the organization, powers and responsibilities in the organization, how is the rule of exchanging information between different management levels determined, what is the optimal number of employees, what skills are necessary for them and how the results of the Fund activities be increased.

The project is implemented with the support the Equality Fund (Canada)