The Women Fund “Sukhumi” has created a friendly space where children from Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia spend their free time together.

In April, lessons were held in 6 courses - Georgian language, English, polymer clay, acting art, embroidery, photography and videography.

On April 17, the first two-month course in photography and videography ended and a new group began to work.

The two-month polymer clay course also ends in April. With the help of this course, children not only learn new things, but also tell each other stories, sing in Georgian, they especially like the song “Suliko.”

English and Georgian language courses are conducted productively. Children learn words, make sentences, conduct dialogues...

A meeting with the members of the group of IDP women and girls was organized in the office of the Fund "Sukhumi".

During the meeting, all the priority problems that were identified within the framework of the project in various IDP communities were discussed. The participants spoke about the work done and outlined further ways to advocate mentioned problems.

“We can openly say that we have overcome the nihilism that we had and started to work actively. We realized that we need to act to solve our problems, because no one will do this instead of us,” said one of the meeting participants.

General meetings, acquired new skills, sharing experiences with each other are great motivation for all members of the group to do more for their communities.

The project is implemented with the support of  USAID local governance program

12 consultations in the office, online meetings with 12 beneficiaries, 7 phone calls from those with whom she had previously conducted sessions - this was the April of the psychologist of the Women Fund “Sukhumi” - Manana Gotsiridze. All consultations concerned the emotional state of people, their pain and experiences. The task of the psychologist was to calm them down and improve the basis of internal resources.

Feedback from one beneficiary: “You helped me to find strength, cope with life difficulties, acquire new skills, re-evaluate problems and learn to control my emotions”.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

The formation of youth groups started in April. Initially, the work covered 4 municipalities: Zugdidi, Tsalenjikha, Senaki, Chokhatauri, Terjola, Samtredia.

Trainers of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" conducted 4 trainings in these municipalities. The trainings were attended by active, motivated students. They know about our organization from graduates and want to get involved in the work of the Youth Empowerment Centers in order to learn more and acquire new skills.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

The meeting of members of the IDP women working group with members of the Gender Equality Council of Kutaisi Municipality was attended by both members of the City Council and City Hall.

Members of the working group presented the problems existing in the target IDP communities and discussed the ways of their solution together with representatives of self-government.

The Gender Equality Council expressed its support. Letters will be prepared and sent to the relevant services of the City Hall.

“You are doing important work, in frames of our competence we will support active women in order to eliminate existing problems”, said Deputy Mayor Tamar Dakhundaridze.

The project is implemented with the support of  USAID local governance program

 In order to exchange and share information and discuss common problems, exchange meetings were held between women initiative groups. The women's group of Tskaltubo visited the women initiative group of Senaki. The participants got acquainted with each other better, discussed the needs and problems of women. According to their assessment, the mentioned format is important and interesting in terms of mutual experience sharing. It is an interesting phase in youth groups. Senaki group works on a project idea. The young people prepared two projects, which they will present to the competition commission.

Members of Khoni women's initiative groups got acquainted with the results of the research, which was aimed at "assessing the quality of human security" envisaging gender aspects, and got acquainted with the conclusions and recommendations, which they will try to advocate in cooperation with the local government. Khoni Youth Club discussed two project ideas developed within the grant competition. Activities to be implemented within the project were defined at the meeting. In the near future, the youth club will start implementing a project funded by the USAID grant competition and various types of activities. The meeting was hosted by Khoni public school N3.

A workshop on the topic: "Prevention of domestic violence and work on the problem" was held with a women's group in Tskaltubo. The participants talked about the services that exist in terms of victim assistance and support. Thematic information sheets were distributed to the women. The members of the youth group discussed project ideas. Both groups have already prepared projects that will be submitted to the competition commission.

The members of the women initiative group of the village Pakhulani held another meeting. The conversation touched on the problems and needs of women and the importance of sharing the experiences of the initiative groups in different municipalities. During the discussion, it became clear that the problems are identical everywhere. The members of the group discussed future plans, noting that such meetings are important in the process of identifying problems and finding ways to solve them.

In frames of exchange meeting format, Kutaisi women initiative group was visited by the members of Khoni. The aim of the meeting was to get to know the members of the group, bring them closer, share information and experience. Women spoke about the problems and needs they advocated. The mentioned format was positively evaluated by the participants. The members of Kutaisi Youth Club discussed two project ideas developed in frames of the grant competition. They got acquainted with the information about the peace initiatives and determined the activities to be implemented within the framework of the project. New members joined the youth club. In the near future, they will start implementing the project and various types of activities financed within the framework of the USAID grant competition. The meeting was hosted by Public School No. 6 of Abkhazia named after Zhuli Shartava.