On November 11, 2021, the Interagency Human Rights Council held an online meeting of the Inter-Agency Commission of Gender Equality, Violence against Women, and Domestic Violence. The session was attended by representatives of relevant agencies of the central government, and representatives of international and local civil society organizations. The meeting was chaired by Niko Tatulashvili, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Human Rights.

Participants shared the key individual achievements and challenges that accompany the process of working against gender equality, women, and domestic violence.

Representatives of the Women's Fund "Sukhumi" Tbilisi office also attended the commission. Ekaterine Gamakharia shared the experience of the Fund "Sukhumi" with the participants during the discussion and, despite the short time, focused on urgent needs. In particular:

On November 5, 2021, in cooperation with the UN Resident Coordinator and representatives of various UN agencies the UN Women in Georgia held an Open Day on Women, Peace, and Security.  Open Day promotes dialogue between representatives of the UN system and civil society, women, and young people displaced and affected by the conflict.

The representative of the Women's Fund "Sukhumi" Tbilisi office was allowed to address the meeting and Marika Megrelidze (Pakhulani-Tskhoushi) and Nona Bukia (Khurcha), leaders of the initiative groups operating in the villages of the dividing line in Zugdidi and Tsalenjikha municipalities, and Marie Narmania (Zugdidi), a young activist.

Representatives of the Fund "Sukhumi" spoke about the challenges in the lives of women and young people in the villages near the border, including economic empowerment and limited employment opportunities; Infrastructure problems of schools and outpatient clinics and lack of appropriate technical equipment; Acute problems of water supply in the villages, IDPs in the dilapidated buildings of the IDP accommodation centers, the lack of proper spaces for the development of youth in the villages, etc.

On November 3, 2021, the representative of the Tbilisi office of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" - Ekaterine Gamakharia participated in a Gender Theme Group (GTG) - Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Task Force Meeting. The Gender Theme Group unites international organizations and embassies accredited in Georgia, as well as civil society organizations. Its purpose is to promote the "Women, Peace and Security" agenda in Georgia and respond effectively to challenges identified by individual group members, develop and plan appropriate actions and interventions.

At the meeting, the representative of the Fund "Sukhumi" together with her colleagues spoke about Resolution 1325, the results of monitoring the implementation of the three-year National Action Plan, and the main findings, where she stressed the challenges and the need to respond to them, such as - the development and implementation of a gender-sensitive early warning system;

An online conference on "Women and Mobility - Gender Aspects of The Women Daily Movement" was organized by the Office of the Public Defender of Georgia and supported by the German Cooperation Society (GIZ). The welcoming speeches were made by: Martina Kolby, Program Director of the German International Cooperation “Mobility for Cities”, Nino Tsilosani, Chairperson of the Gender Equality Council of the Parliament of Georgia, and Niko Tatulashvili, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Human Rights.

Nino Korinteli - a researcher of the Fund "Sukhumi" Tbilisi Representative Office, was actively involved in the discussion. She participated in the online meeting as an independent consultant and co-author of the research. During the presentation, she highlighted the importance of women's economic empowerment (especially for vulnerable groups) and underlined, that despite the Monitoring Report of Fund "Sukhumi" - "Development of Child Care Services to Promote Women's Employment and Ensure Effective Prevention and Response to Domestic Violence" focuses on barriers to the development of childcare services, these two researches combine the emphasis on factors that promote women's economic empowerment (e.g. education, professional growth and employment)and the obstacles (e.g. according to the Fund “Sukhumi” research, restrictions to movement are considered as a barrier in getting education ).

On April 21, the Head of the Tbilisi Representation - Ekaterine Gamakharia participated in the Public Defender’s - Nino Lomjaria presentation about a special report on Impact of Closure of So-called Checkpoints in 2019-2020 on Rights Situation of Population of Occupied Territories.

According to the Public Defender of Georgia, the formal regime established by the de facto authorities for movement across the occupation line and the establishment of various barriers, such as the unpredictable closures of the so-called checkpoints, illegal arrests, problems with de facto documentation required for movement and other obstacles restrict the freedom of movement of the residents of occupied regions and create unjustified barriers to their access to livelihoods.

In her speech, Ekaterine Gamakharia focused on the possibility of free movement of Georgian citizens in the occupied territories, which this time implies the problem of obtaining the relevant document (residence permit). It still poses a risk that thousands of undocumented people will once again take the risky way of life and health to relocate to Georgian-controlled territory.

A consultation platform has been set up with the Office of the State Minister on "Women, Peace, and Security - Enhancing Women's Effective Participation in the Peacebuilding Process". The contribution of the Fund "Sukhumi" is important together with the partner organizations in this success.

On March 25, 2021, Ekaterine Gamakharia, Head of the Tbilisi Office of the Fund "Sukhumi", participated in the side-event had been held within the framework of the 65th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW65).

Ekaterine and her organization documented about the devastating impact on the economic situation of IDPs and conflict-affected women. She stressed that women’s participation in policy formulation is critical in ensuring a sustainable recovery.

“I am passionate about contributing to a peaceful, just, and progressive society, in which women, together with men, are able to make a difference through their activism. I firmly believe that peace and security cannot be sustained unless women have an equal and active role in political, economic, and social policy formulation.”

On March 25, Linda Chikhladze, the representative of the Fund “Sukhumi” Tbilisi office, participated in an online webinar organized by the Women Against Violence Network (WAVE) through the ZOOM platform.The event presented a WAVE’s research “Responding to domestic abuse in the context of Covid-19”.

During the webinar, representatives from the participating countries shared their national experiences and discussed the challenges and needs that accompany the process of responding to violence against women/domestic violence during pandemic.

On 11 March, the EUMM Mtskheta Regional Office on Human Security has organized an information-sharing meeting dedicated to women’s leadership in conflict-affected communities and in local governments, the importance of their activism, challenges, and opportunities for their participation in the decision-making process. The meeting was attended by the representatives of the EUMM, as well as other international organizations accredited in Georgia and civil society organizations.

Ekaterine Gamakharia, the representative of Fund “Sukhumi” Tbilisi office highlighted the challenges and barriers that hinder women’s meaningful participation in the decision-making process and the obstacles that prevent IDP and conflict-affected to be engaged in advocacy of their own concerns. She emphasized the need to empower IDPs and conflict-affected women especially those living close to the conflict dividing line, to raise their awareness, build their capacity and develop a strong civil society in the field. She has also drawn attention to the importance of active communication, exchange of information, and cooperation between international organizations, civil society organizations, and community leaders.

On May 24, 2021, Ekaterine Gamakharia, the head of the representative office of Fund “Sukhumi” participated in a regular information meeting between the participants of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) in the direction of Ergneti and representatives of civil society.  Representative Offices of the State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality of Georgia and the State Security Service, the European Union Monitoring Mission, the UN Women, local CSOs and women's organizations, IDPs, and women affected by the conflict have participated in the info-sharing meeting.

At the meeting Ekaterine Gamakharia emphasized the importance of the inclusion of women's organizations with gender expertise in the group of experts, and other professionals in a specific field such as economics, ecology, violence against women, gender equality, healthcare, etc.