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.
Presentation of the project “Strengthening the Women’s Rights in Western Georgia” was held in Tkibuli. The Fund "Sukhumi" starts active work in this direction in Tkibuli municipality for the first time. The presentation was attended by representatives of local government, civil activists, teachers, parents. The emphasis was placed on the problem of domestic violence and the prospect of cooperation with local structures.
According to the meeting participants, identification of the problem will be possible through and the degree of their solution and prevention will be increased.
The third monitoring envisaged by the project, which reflects the progress of public administration reform in municipalities, has been completed. Monitoring in Lanchkhuti was carried out by partner organizations - Lanchkhuti Informational Center and Georgian Rural Hall. During the ordinary meeting of the working group, representatives of these organizations made a presentation of the monitoring results. They also talked about the results of the implemented small projects and the goals and objectives of the recently financed small projects.
The work is carried out in the framework of the project “A common forum for CSOs from Guria, Imereti and Racha-Lechkhumi for PAR Roadmap monitoring”.
An online workshop regarding introduction of an electronic petition in Khoni Municipality was conducted. The workshop was attended by the administrator of the website of Khoni Municipality, IT specialist, facilitators, who will be actively involved in the planned informational meetings in twelve administrative units of the municipality. Workshop participants were provided with information about the e-petition system: its registration, e-voting procedures, etc. The second part of the workshop was devoted to the issues of system administration.
Two organizations work with us in Lanchkhuti in the framework of the project “A common forum for CSOs from Guria, Imereti and Racha-Lechkhumi for PAR Roadmap monitoring”.
Lanchkhuti Information Center and Georgian Rural Hall - these two civil society organizations are actively involved in the work process. They were the ones who received the first grants for the implementation of small projects in the municipality.
On April 20, representatives of Imereti Scientists’ Union "Spectri" held a consultation meeting with members of these organizations. The stages of implementation of the funded projects and other important issues were discussed.
The Fund "Sukhumi" started intensive work with Chokhatauri municipality for the first time. The first meeting - presentation of the project - was attended by representatives of local government and civil society activists. The conversation concerned the issues that are envisaged in the project: protecting women's rights, strengthening families, preventing domestic violence, supporting the victim, responding to gender problems.
Representatives of the municipality believe that three-year cooperation will contribute to the strengthening of local gender policy and will give positive results.
One of the Women's Support Centers of the Fund "Sukhumi" has been actively working in Kobuleti during a year. The center will be even more actively involved in the new project "Strengthening the Women's Rights in Western Georgia". On April 19, the presentation of the project was held in Kobuleti. The project is carried out in 10 municipalities of Western Georgia and aims to identify the problems of violence against women and prevent, strengthen families, and establish a non-violent culture in society.
The meeting was attended by members of the gender council of the municipality, representatives of the social service, the department for children’s rights protection and support, civil activists, as well as the members of the Supreme Council of Ajara Pati Khalvashi and Tsotne Ananidze.
Mother left her with acquaintances and disappeared. She grew up without love. She was a victim of bullying, she got married at 15, but was not happy, the husband was rapist. It was the final drop, when her husband almost killed her with an axe… she decided to ask for help and run away with two children. So, she appeared in the shelter. Then she was addressed to the Fund "Sukhumi", passed psycho-rehabilitation, professional courses. Fund "Sukhumi" managed to rent a flat, helped to solve living, health and employment problems. Then was Covid-19… she was immediately taken to the clinic and her children - to the children’s center. Now they are together again. In general, after the shelter, the victim is in difficult situation and needs partner network to feel stability and security. Fund “Sukhumi” created social partners’ network including Fund’s psychologist and lawyer, lawyer of shelter, children’s rights department and social workers. The "Network" meets periodically, summarizes the work, plans activities for the safety and social integration of the victim. The pilot of the “network” turned out to be successful.
Work with the youth has moved to a new stage. Agreements were signed with local governments of 10 municipalities, and the Centers for Youth Empowerment have been established in cooperation with the Youth Departments.
Six-month training courses on leadership, conflict management and violence will be held for the pupils from different schools.
The first trainings have already been held: in Zugdidi and Terjola, trainers and students had the opportunity of live communication, as for Chokhatauri and Kobuleti groups, the work was conducted online.
All participants differed from each other, but they have common characteristic features: great interest in training issues, leadership skills, motivation to learn more ...
