The tenth meeting of Vani Working Group was dedicated to the reports of the representatives of the partner organizations "Support 2020" and "Citizens' Activism for Effective Governance and Justice". They concerned the dynamics of their small projects - what activities do they carry out, what changes do they see in comparison with previous project and what challenges exist in connection with the reform. It was noted that the need to inform the citizens is still on the agenda. It is also important to improve their skills regarding e-services, which can be addressed through the involvement of the representatives of the Mayor - work in this direction is already underway.

It was also said that the changes agreed during the previous meeting were already reflected in the group action plan and were approved at the City Council meeting.

Representatives of Racha - Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti self-government resource center “Regional Hub of Racha - Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti - Abkhazinterkont" and the Fund of Women Entrepreneurs held a round table on the topic "New visions in the process of public administration reform to meet the needs of the population".

The facilitator of the meeting Kristina Murusidze spoke about the goals and results of the project. A needs assessment report was presented. Participants heard information about the activities of the working group. The representative of the City Hall presented the vision of the municipality to overcome the problems identified in the research. The meeting appeared to be interesting for the audience, that turned into an active discussion.

The meeting was attended by representatives of Ambrolauri City Hall and City Council, NGO sector, mass media and various spheres of society.

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”.

The Fund "Sukhumi" Puppet Theater held two performances in June.

The first performance was held on June 1 - International Children's Day - in the yard of the Fund “Sukhumi” office.

The second one was held on June 20 - International Day of IDPs - in Kutaisi Boulevard.

The audience liked "Turtledove" - a new version of the Georgian fairy tale. Interesting decorations, strange dolls, music, sounds ...

The work of the director Magda Chikhladze and young actors showed good results: joy and interest of small audience, positive evaluation of parents. "Turtledove" teaches children love, friendship, support, tolerance.

Mobilizers of Women Support Centers held information meetings in different communities. The meetings inform the population about the issues related to violence. Participants listen to information: what does the law on domestic violence envisage, whom to address in case of violence, what response mechanisms exist. They get acquainted to victim assistance services.

Meetings were held in Vani, Bagdati, Chokhatauri, Tsalenjikha, Tkibuli municipalities.

Specific cases of violence were identified at informational meetings. The response continues in accordance with the content of the cases, with the involvement of a psychologist and a lawyer of the Fund "Sukhumi".

Psycho-legal mechanisms for the response to violence cases, victim assistance services - informational meetings on these issues were held in Terjola, Samtredia, Kobuleti, Zugdidi and Senaki municipalities.

During the meetings with the representatives of different communities, the Fund "Sukhumi" also identifies the cases of violence. The response mechanisms are different: a consultation of psychologist and a lawyer is used. Authoritative parsons are involved in solution of conflict situation. These tools increase efficiency.

Information about the new website "Digital Resource Center of the Services for Violence Victims" http://gbvdigitalresourcecenter.ge/ was spread during the meetings. This page provides full information on victim support services.

Participants note that informing the population is important and will help prevent violence.

- Everything that concerns public welfare, is our business - noted the members of the youth initiative group of the village Koki at the end of the meeting. The meeting was about leadership and civic activism. Young people have learned a lot, and the most important thing is that activism is: activity, action, involvement, responsibility, participation, voluntariness.

In addition, two more meetings were held with women's initiative groups from Zugdidi and Koki/Khurcha in Zugdidi municipality. During the meeting, they talked about the level of human security of the population and the researches, conducted for gender needs assessment.

The participants selected certain proposals - for example, opening of service centers in the villages (salon, sewing workshop, shoe repair), solution of social and infrastructural problems. Members of initiative groups will start to advocate the problems.

The quantitative results of the research were discussed by the members of Pakhulani Women Initiative Group (Tsalenjikha municipality). One of the most important recommendations is to pay special attention to the initiatives of women living near the conflict dividing line.

The work of the initiative group in the village Lia (Tsalenjikha municipality) was interesting. The topic of the meeting was leadership and civic activism. The participants expressed their opinions: the leader constantly works on himself; leadership is a responsible challenge for each of us; the leader is a person who motivates the team.

The initiative group already has the leaders.

Civil Society Organization “Ruduni” is one of the organizations established in Lanchkhuti. “Ruduni”, is implementing a small project "Raising public awareness on the role and importance of municipal e-services." The organization has prepared an information booklet, which fully describes the electronic services offered to the population by the website www.lanchxuti.gov.ge and the electronic manager lcman.ge.

The local newspaper "Yes and No", which operates in Lanchkhuti municipality and has 3,000 subscribers, was used together with the other sources for dissemination of the booklet to the public. The booklet prepared by "Ruduni" together with the newspaper was received by all its subscribers in 15 territorial units of Lanchkhuti municipality.

The project is implemented with the support the European Union - #EU4Georgia

The next meeting of the working group was held in Lanchkhuti, which discussed the results of the second phase of the needs assessment and the changes achieved in the access to e- resources of the local self-government.

The contribution of the local CSOs involved in the project: Lanchkhuti Information Center and the Georgian Rural Hall in the development and access to e-services in Lanchkhuti Municipality is noteworthy.

The project is implemented with the support the European Union - #EU4Georgia

With the assistance of representatives of the City Hall youth services and educational resource centers of Tkibuli, Zugdidi, Bagdati, Tsalenjikha and Kobuleti, the Fund “Sukhumi” conducted 5 trainings in youth centers on the topics of conflict escalation, reasons of domestic violence and cyber-bullying.

According the instructions of the trainers, the participants played role-games, which was followed with discussions and they expressed their opinions. The training revealed active young people, leaders who expressed a desire to carry out informational meetings. Some of them have already independently held a meeting and shared their experience with their peers. 

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)