With the support of the UN Women, the Apparatus of the State Minister for Reconciliation and Civil Equality, in cooperation with the State Security Service, held a meeting of Georgian participants of IPRM (Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism) and representatives of women civil society organizations, IDP women and women affected by the conflict in Zugdidi.

In her report, Alla Gamakharia, Chairman of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" emphasized the importance of raising the role of IDP women and conflict affected women in peace processes and building trust. Women activists of the Fund "Sukhumi" together with other participants raised important issues that are acute in their daily lives. Attention was paid to the problems of movement of the population divided by the conflict, on restrictions of transportation of goods in the dividing line.

The State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality of Georgia Tea Akhvlediani and other authorized persons gave detailed answers to the questions of the participants.

The project is implemented with the support

 of the UN Women organization

Senaki Women Initiative Group started the advocacy of new problems. Group members actively worked with population to identify the priority of problems. As a result of collecting information, there were selected the problems, solution of which is the prerogative of local government.

Two issues were slected for the advocacy: landscaping of the yard and fencing of the children's stadium. The working group has already drawn up an advocacy plan, according to the plan, information regarding this issue together with the signatures has already been submitted to the municipality. The advocacy process will continue in accordance with the response.

The project is implemented with the support

 of the UN Women organization

The first meeting was held in Terjola. The first group of self-assistance was formed.

The project, which started with the support of the Equality Fund (Canada), includes lot of interesting things, and one of them is the creation of women's self-assistance groups in 10 municipalities.

In May, groups were formed in Terjola, Senaki, Chokhatauri, Samtredia, Tkibuli, Vani and Kobuleti. The women who gathered in these municipalities already understood the mission of the group, that they should facilitate the exchange of information about the services available for violence victims in the country. They can also advocate their problems. Municipal groups will do a lot of useful things together.

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

A two-day training for medical personnel was held at the office of the Women Fund "Sukhumi". The training was attended by 15 participants from Tskaltubo, Tkibuli, Vani, Terjola and Samtredia municipalities.

The topic of the training was “The role of medical personnel in violence prevention and victim protection”Following issues were discussed during the training: violence against women and children, the Istanbul Convention, referral mechanisms, victim identification groups.

According to the participants, this work is actual and necessary:

“We talked about what are the resources of doctors for identification of violence and we will definitely use these methods into practice”.

“At first, we discussed the reasons of the problem, when we do the right thing and when we do it wrong. The doctor has a great responsibility in terms of eradicating domestic violence, but many specialists do not know about it”.

After June 1, events dedicated to the International Children's Day continue for a few more days. Together with the forum theater, this date was celebrated in Tsalenjikha and Bagdati municipalities.

The performance of the puppet theater was held in Tsalenjikha Theatre. A lot of spectators gathered in the hall – there were children and their parents. They really liked the characters of the performance.

On the initiative of the Gender Council, puppet theater and forum theater performances were organized in two villages of Bagdati municipality - Sakraula and Zegani. After the performances, members of the Council gifted the children with sweets.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

Mobilizers of the Women Support Center actively work with the activists of women communities to identify priority issues. Infrastructural problems are mostly identified. Women's centers in Senaki and Terjola have chosen the issues of cleaning sewer wells and regulation of street lighting for the advocacy.

In May, monitoring was also carried out at the Women Support Centers of Kobuleti and Bagdati. As a result of the monitoring, it was revealed which direction needs to be improved, what are the most acute necessities. The next meetings will be planned envisaging these needs.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

Maria Dobrovolskaya is 22 years old. She lived in Kyiv, during two months of war she was there and experienced all the horrors of the war. For a concrete period of time, the girl moved to Vinnitsa to her grandmother and then left for Poland. She worked for several months in Katowice and Lodz. In Katowice she met a Georgian man, got married and they came to Georgia together.

At first they were in the husband's family - in Svaneti, where they received the Ukrainian daughter-in-law warmly. Maria was pregnant when they moved to Kutaisi. Like many refugees from Ukraine, Maria's family was also assisted by the Women Fund “Sukhumi”. After the birth of the child, representatives of the Fund visited the mother and child, congratulated them with great joy and brought the necessary gifts for the child: clothes, hygiene products, diapers, food...

The young mother thanked the guests for their assistance and support, which is so important in such a difficult time.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

Local referral entities: members of the Gender Equality Council, existing in the City Council of the municipality, representatives of local self-government, the police and the social sphere, teachers and medical personnel gathered in the conference hall of Tkibuli Municipality City Hall

The meeting participants spoke about the facts of femicide, the problem of domestic violence and the importance of cooperation with local structures.

Attention was focused on ways of referencing, inter-agency cooperation and coordination that contribute to the prevention of violence.

During the meeting, there was a presentation on “National Referral Procedures for the Identification, Protection, Assistance and Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence against Women and/or Domestic Violence (National Referral Mechanism)”.

Important issues were raised during the conversation: municipal statistics on arresting orders, identification of problems and assistance to the victims.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

A meeting organized by the Women Fund "Sukhumi" together with the Educational Resource Center on the topic "Local system of social partnership - cooperation between the education sector and the City Hall of the municipality" was held in the conference hall of public school N6 in Tkibuli. The experience of Tkibuli municipality is an example of a successful practice of decentralization of social work. However, according to the meeting participants, without a systematic dialogue between different groups of society, it is impossible to implement social policy according to the needs of beneficiaries and strengthen vulnerable families.

During the meeting, representatives of the Department for Children's Rights of the City Hall and the education sector exchanged important information that will contribute to social protection and empowerment of children and their families.

At the meeting, the participants were also informed about the practical guide/toolkit: "Preventing and responding to gender-based violence in war and post-war settings - experiences and recommendations of women's NGOs", which was developed by the WAVE Network in collaboration with its four WAVE members in 2022 by the support of the OSCE. The Toolkit describes best practices and the strategies employed by the women's NGOs to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in different phases of conflict.

• Strategies during Wartime and emergency response settings were shared by Ukrainian and Armenian partners Sexual Assault Crisis Center (Yerevan, Armenia), Centre “Women’s Perspectives” (Lviv, Ukraine);
• Strategies during Protracted conflict were described by the Women's Foundation "Sukhumi" (Kutaisi, Tbilisi, Georgia);
• Strategies during Post-war and long-term perspective were based on the experience of the Bosnia-Herzegovina partner. Foundation United Women Banja Luka (Banja Luka, Bosnia & Herzegovina)

(A practical guide is available here https://www.osce.org/secretariat/530695)

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

Members of both women initiative groups of Khoni spoke about the problems identified as a result of the research. They also selected the issues to be resolved at the local level and discussed the details of the advocacy plan. Say "no" to violence! - During 2 months, with small scenes of the forum-theater the young people will try to show the audience the seriousness of the problem and make them to think about the negative consequences of violence. During the May meeting, together with the project assistant, they once again discussed planned activities and developed a plan. The participants also distributed their duties equally.