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)

Five more trainings were held at Youth Empowerment Centers. This time - in the municipalities of Kobuleti, Chokhatauri, Vani, Senaki and Bagdati. Young people took part in the work and training activities with great pleasure.

It is especially gratifying that they not only study issues related to conflict management and violence prevention, but also try to learn coaching skills and introduce others to familiarfor them issues. During the summer holidays, young people are going to hold informational meetings with their peers. This is a clear result of our work - it was after the trainings that they had the ambition to share their knowledge and experience with others. Young coaches also prepare for the final meeting with great enthusiasm.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

Choose a topic of the blog - Women from Ukraine...

You can do it on our web-site and...

There are stories about women who came from Ukraine to Georgia. They came for a temporal residence, till the end of the war, but they are still here. There is still war...

The author of the blog is Lali Shengelia, who went through the war herself, and the pain, sadness, missing, hope of Ukrainian women is familiar for her...

This is obvious from the stories: how painful they are for what is happening, how they worry about their loved ones who stayed in Ukraine, how they miss home, neighbors and hope that they will soon return to their homeland.

All stories are interesting and unique: Anna cries all the time when mentioning Ukraine, Natalya decided to give birth to her second child in Kutaisi, Lyubov came to her relatives, but returned to Ukraine. And the second Natalya found happiness again - she reconciled with her divorced husband and the child is very happy...

You can read much more interesting stories on our blog.

https://blogofwomanfundsukhumi.tilda.ws/#blog4

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

The Women Fund "Sukhumi" opened cutting and sewing training courses in Terjola. The opening ceremony was attended by Mayor of Terjola Manuchar Robakidze, First Deputy Chairman of the City Council David Gogberashvili and member of the Gender Equality Council Rusudan Kovziridze.

The beneficiaries will learn a new profession for two and a half months. The municipality allocated a working space in the Youth Palace. Sewing machines, materials and financial support for the teacher are provided by the Fund “Sukhumi”.

“We teach the simple secret of success and independent living - a profession that will make a woman even stronger and more confident. We have many examples of how women became more motivated after such courses and started small businesses. We are sure that we will have new success stories in Terjola as well,” said project coordinator Lela Jalagonia.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

Senaki women initiative group worked on an advocacy plan for 2 problems identified as a result of the research. The women also discussed the risks that may arise during the advocacy process. The members of the youth group evaluated the mini-projects. Arranging debates using forum-theater was a novelty for them. The participants believe that through the mini-project they saw their own role in violence prevention.

Groups of mutual assistance have been established in ten municipalities. These groups should facilitate the exchange of information about services available in the country for women - victims of violence. According to the project it is planned to improve the digital literacy of the group members.

With this aim, digital literacy courses have been launched.

Teacher of computer technology Kristi Kutateladze held the first meetings in of Kobuleti, Terjola and Chokhatauri municipalities.

Group members talked about the information they had about municipal programs. Then they examined the web page of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" - sosfsokhumi.ge. in detail.

 “I showed them how to find organizations or programs that offer the services they need,” said Kristi Kutateladze. - We discussed in detail the SOS button, its meaning, installation and use. I also taught them how to “google” their municipality and use the services they need. We have saved the mentioned websites in Google bookmarks to easily use them in the future”.

Work will continue with women, by the end of the course their digital literacy will noticeably increase, and they will be able to solve problems.

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

An online meeting was held with Tskaltubo Women Initiative Group. The meeting discussed the problems identified in the IDP settlement. The most urgent problem that is on the agenda today is the issue of the roof.

The initiative group again held a meeting using the principle of "one window" in Tskaltubo City Hall, which was attended by the Mayor of the city Genadi Balanchivadze, the head of the infrastructure service Malkhaz Chkhaidze, the head of Imereti department of the IDP Agency David Cheishvili and representatives of the initiative group.

The women initiative group continues to actively advocate the problem.

The project is implemented with the support

 of the UN Women organization

During the online meeting, members of Senaki Women Initiative Group worked on advocacy plans based on problem analysis. The plans describe all activities and identify the expected risks. Participants believe that a well-designed advocacy plan contributes to an effective solution of the problem.

In July, the priorities in the strategy of group's work changed: as a result of heavy rains, new problems appeared in the IDP village, which was reflected in their action plan.

In order to assess the situation, information, photo and video materials were collected, communication was established with responsible persons.

Local self-government is actively involved in the advocacy process, it is planned to involve the ministries in this process so that the problems that arose as a result of the natural disaster are resolved in a timely manner.

The project is implemented with the support

 of the UN Women organization

An information meeting was held online with members of Kutaisi Women Initiative Group. The meeting discussed the dynamics of advocacy of priority issues. The group is constantly working with local government on these problems. For a quick response, the leaders of the group once again prepared a letter addressed to the Mayor of the city and the Gender Equality Council.

The initiative group began to identify new issues and drafted an advocacy plan.

The project is implemented with the support

 of the UN Women organization

New target groups appear in the work of the Women Support Centers. Women of various professions are interested in information about support services for victims of domestic violence.

Information helps the identification process, and in July new cases were already registered at the Women Support Centers of Senaki, Vani, Khobi, Kobuleti and Chokhatauri. This means that women who are especially in need of strengthening will receive appropriate services.

Mobilizers are actively working in the field of problem advocacy. They cooperate with structures that are the main actors in this process.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)