A meeting on the issues of migration was held with the members of Tskaltubo Women Initiative Group. The participants learned the meaning of visa-free travel to European countries, what risks accompany illegal migration and what should be considered in order not to be a victim of trafficking. The participants assessed the meeting as necessary and important. On the same day, February 21, a meeting was held with Tskaltubo youth groups. The participants heard information on the issue of professional orientation. Young people evaluated the dialogue positively.
Members of Kutaisi Women Initiative Group are preparing to conduct a qualitative research. The participants got acquainted with the focus group and the in-depth interview questionnaire, received instructions regarding the research methodology and distributed the tasks. At the same time, active work is going on with the members of Kutaisi youth club. They are preparing to create a forum theater. They will have to go through several steps. The young people got acquainted with several scenes, heard information about the essence of the Forum Theater and its purpose, and also received a task regarding the creation of a short scenario.
"Evaluation of the quality of human security and gender needs of the population" - a consultation meeting was held with the members of Senaki Women Initiative Group on this topic. Participants were provided with information on research methods and skills. Respondents and target beneficiaries were selected. Expected risks were analyzed together with the facilitators. A meeting was also held with the members of Senaki youth group. The forum-theatre performances conducted by them did not pass without an interesting discussion. The topics of discussion were domestic violence, bullying, the relationship between parents and children. Interaction and discussion on current topics is the main feature of the forum theater, which causes a special interest topwards this format.
Within the framework of the current working visit to Georgia, Moldova's Vice Prime Minister for Reintegration Oleg Serebriani, together with State Minister Thea Akhvlediani, met with the members of two platforms - the Expert Advisory Council and the Women's Advisory Platform.
Ekaterine Gamakharia, head of the Tbilisi representative office of Women's Fund "Sukhumi", also participated in the high-level meeting, who in her speech focused on the importance of creating gender advisory groups in the process of peaceful resolution of the conflict in Moldova and raised the issue of better studying this experience in order to replicate it in Georgia.
“I want to tell you about one perfect woman. She showed me the other side of life - who I am and who I want to be! Mrs. Manana, you have become my closest friend. I really miss talking with you, thank you for every day spent with you!" - Eka D.
The addressee of this letter is our psychologist Manana Gotsiridze, who works a lot with women during personal meetings, via the internet, at the Women Support Centers of 10 municipalities, at the head office of the Fund "Sukhumi", at the Rehabilitation Center. And gratitude is often heard in her address.
The changed life of women is a great motivation for the work of a psychologist.
“During a group meeting at the Women Support Center of one of the municipalities, I met a woman who had completed a two-week course at our Rehabilitation Center,” says Manana Gotsiridze. - Now she is much better, both financially and emotionally. When she came to our center, she was sad and ashamed to talk about her problems. She was especially worried about the aggression from the side of one of her children. And at this meeting she looked happy and was glad to talk about her successes.
There are 10 modules in this collection. These are short notes of conducting trainings with youth. Trainings are held in 10 municipalities of Western Georgia (Samtredia, Bagdati, Terjola, Vani, Tkibuli, Senaki, Zugdidi, Tsalenjikha, Chokhatauri, Kobuleti).
A collection of training modules will help those who work with youth on conflict management and gender issues. This will also contribute to the development of trainer skills among the youth.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
- An Ukrainian child was taken from Poti to Kutaisi hospital. While the child was in intensive care, the mother lived in our Rehabilitation Center. In those days, we took care of both the mother and the child. We bought everything that the baby needed: diapers, baby food, medicines. Now he already left the clinic and feels better,” says Sophie Tsirghava, an assistant for working with Ukrainians.
The Women Fund “Sukhumi” provided such assistance to several other people: two cancer patients were compensated 375 and 370 GEL from the amount of medical examinations. We helped one woman to get referral funding for chemotherapy.
Assistance continues in matters of renting an apartment (provided to 19 families) and paying utility bills (5 families received this assistance). Particular attention is paid to the distribution of products. This month, 20 families received food and hygiene products.
In February, 15 people were added to our information base and now there are 467 people.
The monitoring group studies the effectiveness of preventive measures (instruments) implemented by local authorities to identify, protect, assist and rehabilitate victims of violence against women and/or domestic violence.
In order to improve the efficiency of the self-government, recommendations will be developed that define the necessary strategies and new approaches to strengthen preventive mechanisms.
In February, 15 in-depth interviews and 3 focus groups were conducted with teachers, mobilizers of Womens Support Centers, representatives of local governments, victims of violence and various referral entities at the local level.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
To assess the effectiveness and achievements of project activities, the monitoring group actively conducts internal monitoring. Lessons learned will also be identified, conclusions will be drawn and recommendations will be developed to improve the work.
An online survey in 10 target municipalities covered the direct beneficiaries of the project. To obtain qualitative information, 6 in-depth interviews and 4 focus groups were conducted with the participation of representatives of target city groups.
The monitoring participants emphasized the importance of the web page https://sosfsokhumi.ge/. It was noted that this is a serious information base in terms of domestic violence, and it was considered a priority to increase the scale of its popularization.
The project is implemented with the support the Equality Fund (Canada)
One difficult year has passed since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. The Women Fund “Sukhumi” once again expresses solidarity with Ukrainian women and their families!
During a year, we helped and continue to help Ukraine, refugees from this country:
In first days of war we collected 10000 GEL and sent parcels.
On March 8, we held an action of solidarity in Kutaisi and other municipalities.
We prepared video clips.
We have helped the women from the occupied city of Melitopol. We sent them 55800 UAH (hryvnia) and there, women volunteers bought food and medicines for the citizens.
In April, when the first refugees from Ukraine appeared in Georgia, we have created a support group and started helping them.
We have distributed packages with the necessary products and hygiene items to 465 beneficiaries (226 women, 170 children and 69 men). 23 families received assistance in payment for accommodation, 11 families received payment for utilities. We help in paying for the cost of surgery, medical procedures, in the purchase of medicines.