The final meetings at the Youth Empowerment Centers actively continue. The final days have already finished in three municipalities of Samegrelo region. Then the meetings were held in the municipalities of Guria and Adjara - Chokhatauri and Kobuleti. Members of the Gender Equality Councils, representatives of youth services also participated.

One part of the graduates made interesting presentations. The participants of the meetings mainly spoke about the achieved results. The five-month course was highly appreciated by teachers and parents. All participants received certificates, and the most active ones received the certificates of young trainers.

From the next month, the process of forming new groups in the municipalities will begin.

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 of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

Ukrainian psychologists Marna Stepanenko and Anna Shalimova conducted a training for Ukrainian women on the topic "How to identify violence" in the office of the Women Fund "Sukhumi"

The following topics were discussed at the training: the manifestation of violent relationships and skills to combat violence. The trainers spoke about the support of the state and the Fund "Sukhumi" during emergencies.

According to the participants, it was special to conduct the training in their native language. Topics have been chosen correctly and this is a good opportunity to empower women.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

The war in Ukraine further aggravated illness of Polina Minulina. From the day of arrival, our organization has helped a cancer patient in communication with doctors and in paying the required amount for a course of medical treatment. She was grateful, but unfortunately she died in March. The family faced an even bigger problem, and the Women Fund “Sukhumi” helped to pay for the cremation.

This is one example of our support.

Our information database contains the names and surnames of 470 refugees from Ukraine. This means that kindness of the Fund "Sukhumi" has reached everyone.

In March, 35 families received assistance (food, hygiene products) - 78 people. We paid utility bills for 6 families.

Ukrainians also actively participated in several events held in March.

Fund “Sukhumi” is an organization that knows the value of peace and the face of war. People who work here are able to empathize, sympathize, understand our pain and needs, our traumas, tragedies. I am grateful from the bottom of my heart for kindness, empathy and free psychological support,” these are the words of one participant of psycho-rehabilitation meetings held by psychologists of the Women Fund “Sukhumi”.

Manana Gotsiridze and Ukrainian psychologists Marina Stepanenko and Anna Shalimova worked with Ukrainian refugees in March.

Primary consultations, courses of psychotherapy were held. Some individual consultations were final, and they summed up the joint work of the client and the psychologist.

Ukrainian psychologists also held a group meeting on the topic "How to identify violence".

Psychologists give clients information that they can use in life to further support themselves.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

The campaign "Kutaisi for Dnipro" has finished.

30 000 GEL was collected in a month! The amount was fully transferred to the account of the social service of Dnipro City Hall.

The final event was held in the courtyard of Kutaisi University. An exhibition and sale of paintings was held. The Women Fund “Sukhumi” organized the participation of Ukrainian women who brought their culinary and confectionery products for sale. It was also a kind of advertisement for their work.

Our organization transferred 300 GEL to Dnipro Fund. Concrete members of the organization also transferred money.

Peace and victory for Dnipro and Ukraine is the desire of our organization and all participants of the campaign.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

One of the residents of the Rehabilitation Center was a 28-year-old woman. In addition to her, two women and three children were in the Center for two weeks. A psychologist, a social worker, a lawyer and a teacher actively worked with them.

Psycho-rehabilitation gave good results - they cope better with emotional and everyday problems. One of the beneficiaries says that she learned a lot about herself, became more confident and stronger. She has accumulated a lot of positive and all this will help her in the future.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

The first network meeting, which was held in Kutaisi, was attended by representatives of 17 municipalities.

The meeting participants talk about the need to involve women in the peace process, the challenges in this direction and the possibilities for their solution. The story is about this topic.

The project is implemented with the support

 of the UN Women organization

The story tells about the civil forum, held in Kutaisi on: "Women, peace, security - promoting the implementation of the 1325 UN Resolution action plan at the local level."

Representatives of local governments of the target municipalities assess the dynamics of the project and discuss the prospects for localization of the 1325 UN Resolution  action plan in individual municipalities.

The project is implemented with the support

 of the UN Women organization

- Women who have changed themselves and the world around them. Stories that evoke positive emotions in listeners and increase the level of civic engagement - this is how the mobilizers of the Women Support Centers assessed the meetings held in March.

The participants of the meeting believe that the activities of the Fund "Sukhumi" and the work of the non-governmental sector in general are of particular importance in direction of strengthening the women. They emphasized the necessity of services to support victims of violence.

Five cases were identified in the Women Support Centers of Terjola, Vani, Tkibuli, Chokhatauri and Bagdati. Specialists of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" were involved in the process of the management of these cases.

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 of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

One of the main tasks of the Women Support Centers is to contribute to the prevention of violence against women. That is why the work in terms of informing the public continues actively. Using the positive examples, the meeting participants emphasized the importance of women's power and solidarity. They heard the stories of successful women who changed the world around them. They talked about women's needs and voiced their own desires: they consider peace and love to be the most important issues.

6 beneficiaries addressed the Women Support Centers of Senaki, Tsalenjikha, Kobuleti, Samtredia and Zugdidi. The management of identified cases has already begun using the resources of the Women's Fund "Sukhumi".

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)