An information exchange meeting was held Kobuleti City Hall. The meeting was initiated by the Municipal Gender Equality Council and the Women Fund "Sukhumi", in cooperation with the Educational Resource Center and the Department for Children's Rights of the City Hall. The topic of the meeting was “Local cooperation for creation of a child/family-oriented psycho-social environment”.

During the meeting, representatives of the education sector were acquainted with the main activities of  Kobuleti department for the protection of children's rights and their support. There was a dialogue regarding the services focused on children/families, challenges and prospects for cooperation with the educational sector in the field of protecting children's rights. Specific cases requiring urgent management were discussed. An agreement was reached to exchange  such information systematically.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

The memorandum of mutual cooperation was signed by the chairman of Khobi City Council Levan Kavtaradze and the chairman of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" Alla Gamakharia.

The memorandum, in partnership with the non-governmental sector and local authorities, is another guarantor of democratic principles and gender justice in civil society. The parties agreed to strengthen the Gender Equality Council, improve the psycho-social and economic situation of women, jointly implement effective initiatives, youth projects, etc.

Fund “Sukhumi”  has been cooperating with the municipalities of Western Georgia for many years, and we have managed to implement many successful projects. We hope to create many “success stories” in Khobi municipality also, with the correct cooperation strategy”, said Alla Gamakharia.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

An information meeting organized by the advocacy group of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" and the Children's Department of the municipality was held in the kindergarten No. 2 in Samtredia.

The participants - the administration and teachers of the kindergarten - got acquainted with the work of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" and the services that the organization provides to women. They also received information about the program of the City Hall Department for the protection of children's rights.

During the meeting, a number of acute problems were identified that require immediate response. The participants also planned cooperation with the children's department.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

A round table with the participation of members of the Interdepartmental Council of the municipality was held in Senaki. The local referral entities: members of the Gender Equality Council of the City Council, representatives of local government, healthcare, educational resource center and police participated at the meeting.

There was a conversation about the situation in terms of violence and assistance to victims. Important time was devoted to the lawyer, who familiarized the participants with the referencing document, as well as the duties and functions of concrete authorized persons.

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)

June in youth groups started actively. All planned events are being held. Trainings were held in Tsalenjikha, Bagdati, Zugdidi and Samtredia municipalities. The fifth municipality is Khobi, where the Youth Empowerment Center has been established and will also become active, as in the other 9 municipalities.

All trainings differed from each other. The training in Khobi was special, the trainers met young people for the first time.

102 participants were involved in the work. Most of them have leadership skills, show initiative and already hold interesting events.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

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)