On September 14, 2022, an info-sharing meeting between the participants of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) and civil society representatives in Gori was held.

At the meeting the audience was addressed by the State Minister on Reconciliation and Civic Equality - Thea Akhvlediani, UN Women Representative to Georgia - Kaori Ishikawa; Head of the EU Monitoring Mission - Marek Szczygieł, Deputy Director of the Information and Analytical Department of the State Security Service - Irakli Antadze and the representative of the Office of the Minister of State for Reconciliation and Civic Equality - Zviad Zviadadze.

Ekaterine Gamakharia, representative of Women's Fund "Sukhumi"’s Tbilisi office, in her speech, focused on the restriction of movement for the Georgian population living on both sides of the Enguri river near to the conflict dividing line with Abkhazia, as a result of the suspension of issuance of movement documents by the de-facto Abkhaz government from January 2022. She highlighted the challenges that women encounter due to the restriction, namely crossing the dividing line by roundabout ways, at their own peril; surrendering to Russian soldiers, which cost them fine payment in exchange of release; This not only negatively impacts on their emotional state and increases stress but also puts on them a heavy financial burden. She also spoke about the complicated procedures and restriction of transporting products and cargo at the checkpoints, which hinders both the economic activity of the population and cooperation with the Abkhaz side in general.

Nino Kantaria - an active member of Kutaisi Youth Initiative Group.

This is her success story...

This project gave me the opportunity to show myself as a leader, during group work, as an active member, active citizen.

The project gave me the opportunity to learn very important issues such as peace and conflict, tolerance, gender equality, the role and function of an active citizen. Within the framework of the project, I met interesting people, listened to interesting trainings and gained important knowledge and experience that I will definitely use in the future.

The Permanent Parliamentary Council for Gender Equality and the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee held a working meeting with representatives of international and local non-governmental organizations regarding the implementation of the 9th recommendation out of 12 recommendations of the European Union, which is related to gender equality issues.

The meeting highlighted several key issues in the direction of gender equality: the reaffirmation of the state's commitment to gender equality, the launch of the idea of women's economic empowerment, and the implementation of legislative measures that will be in line with the Istanbul Convention.

In her speech, Eka Gamakharia, head of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" Tbilisi office, emphasized the importance of women's economic empowerment for the prevention of violence against women and effective response. According to the promise of the Permanent Parliamentary Council for Gender Equality, a personal working meeting will be dedicated to the detailed discussion of the mentioned issue.

Website – sosfsokhumi.ge is the first platform in Georgia that combines all necessary governmental, non-governmental or municipal support and empowerment services and programs, legislative acts, statistics, helpful answers, blogs and news about the success stories and challenges of the victims in one space.

Women and children from Kherson, Odessa, Kyiv, Bucha, Chuguev... Women Fund "Sukhumi" has become their home - here they understand their pain, help and support them.

In June, the staff of the Fund prepared Georgian dishes for these women with their own hands, invited them to the Fund and laid a delicious Georgian table - “supra”.

Then was the suggestion for Ukrainian women to do the same in response.

On a sunny September day, pretty women - Marina, Anya, Zhanna, Natalya, Tatyana brought delicious dishes. The table was set in the yard: borsch with sour cream, Kyiv cutlets, pancakes with apples, Lviv cheesecakes, dumplings with cabbage, potatoes, cheese – in a word, a lot of delicious dishes.

It was not only an exhibition of Ukrainian cuisine. These were sad stories of women, memories of Abkhazia, emotional speeches of invited guests...

The Day of Ukrainian Cuisine at the Women Fund "Sukhumi" was at the same time a day of tears and joy, pain and faith in victory, the day of hope, friendship and love!

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

für die Welt - EvangelischerEntwicklungsdienst (Germany)

“They have different characters, but all of them have one goal, to learn needlework and start a small business,” says the master Amida Akhalaya. – One of them chose the direction of bed linen, the second wants to paint bags, the third decided to sew festive dresses for children...

In the Day Center of the village Pakhulani, Tsalenjikha municipality, five more women learned the art of cutting and sewing. Regular courses have finished and women have motivation to improve their lives in the village.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

Women came to each lesson with pleasure, as all of them were an interesting innovation and another step towards professionalism.

And so, the ordinary courses of work on polymer clay were successfully completed in the Day Rehabilitation Center of the Women Fund "Sukhumi".

The participants learned how to create original necklaces, accessories, different compositions. At the end, an exhibition of graduates' works was organized, which aroused great interest of the staff. All participants were given certificates – now they can use the acquired knowledge and experience in practice.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

On September 12 the Women Fund "Sukhumi" organized a civil forum on the topic: "Promotion of Peacebuilding in Civil Society by Women and Youth Initiative Groups -for Sustainable Peace".

The meeting was attended by members of the Youth Initiative Group of the Fund "Sukhumi" from Kutaisi, Tskaltubo, Senaki, Khoni, and Zugdidi municipalities.

At the beginning of the meeting, the invited experts emphasized the importance of youth involvement in peace activities, talked about the peace instruments that exist in the form of national and international documents.

Based on the specifics of individual municipalities the initiative groups worked on what needs to be done on the ground to implement the main tasks that are possible to introduce a culture of peace and promote sustainable peace in society.

This is a project, with the help of which a solar energy system was installed in the Fund "Sukhumi" rehabilitation center on August 4, which allows us to save consumed electricity and natural gas.

The above mentioned activity allows us to take care not only of our women, but also of the environment. This was a gift of the organization "Gamarjoba” (Hello).

The first phase of the project has already been completed and the second phase, which includes the dissemination of information, is ahead.

It was a large-scale and impressive performance for the young actors of the Women Fund "Sukhumi".

With the support of the City Hall of Tsalenjikha Municipality, the shadow theater and the puppet theater performances were held in the cinema hall named after Nikoloz Shengelaya.

The little spectators watched the beautiful scenes with particular interest. Director of the theater Magda Chikhladze told them how the Forum Theatre, the Shadow Theater and the Puppet Theater were created and what is the importance of these performances for the audiences of different ages.

The organizers thanked the theater group of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" and expressed their desire for new meetings.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)