“The training format allowed us to talk about the reasons of the problem, when we behave correctly or incorrectly. It is necessary that everyone understands their direct responsibility.
“I would focus on the information received, interesting methods and a good environment during the training”...
This is part of feedback from the training for medical personnel.
The training in Kutaisi was attended by 15 participants from Khoni, Tsalenjikha, Senaki, Chokhatauri and Zugdidi municipalities.
“The role of medical staff in violence prevention and victims protection” - this was the topic of the training, and together with the trainers, the participants actively discussed issues related to violence against women and children...
The training was held within the framework of the project "Digital Resource Center of Services for Violence Victims”.
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 the Equality Fund (Canada)
The members of the youth club of Khoni municipality evaluated the project "Say no to violence!". With the help of the forum theater method, the audience was shown an acute and actual problem that exists in real life. The young people noted that they coped with this unfamiliar challenge with dignity and earned a positive evaluation from the society. The members of the first women initiative group of Khoni will work on the training of personnel in the field of construction in order to face modern challenges. The members of the second group chose the problem of homeless dogs for advocacy. At the meetings, both groups worked on the plan and activities. The responsible persons were selected and the deadlines were determined.
The women initiative group of the village Didinedzi - Zugdidi municipality selected actual problems from the conducted research. The members of Didinedzi youth group evaluated the project implemented within the mini-project. According to them, they were able to send specific messages against violence to the society through the forum-theatre. The youth group plans to hold forum theater performances regarding a number of problematic issues
Members of the women's initiative group of the village Koki - Zugdidi municipality summarized the problems identified as a result of the research. For women who live in Khurcha, the lack of lighting on the central road is a safety problem. This is the road from the central bridge to the border of Abkhazia. The failure of the drainage channels was named as also important problem, which itself concerns the economic security, as crops and plants are damaged during heavy rains. The members of the youth group evaluated the project implemented within the mini-project. During the meeting, a discussion was held about the problem presented by the forum theater, ways of solution and the possibility of involving young people in the process were discussed.
On July 1, at the initiative of the President of Georgia, the Tbilisi International Women's Conference (TWIC) was held. The conference was opened by the President of Georgia and women leaders from different countries of the world are attending it.
Within the framework of the conference, the conversation touched on such issues as conflicts, peace, security and European integration of Georgia. Ekaterine Gamakharia, the head of Tbilisi representative office of the Women Fund "Sukhumi", was invited to the meeting.
On June 26-27, 2023, Ekaterine Gamakharia, the representative of the Women's Fund "Sukhumi," participated in a regional conference organized by the Global Network of Women Peace Builders (GNWP) and supported by the OSCE. Elene Rusetskaya, the head of the Women's Information Center, and Yulia Kharashvili, the head of the Displaced Women's Association "Consent," also attended the conference from Georgia.
The conference brought together women mediators and peace builders from the South Caucasus, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. The primary objective of the regional conference was to develop a roadmap for civil society networking and advocacy in the field of peace building.
During the conference, the participants actively shared the progress of the implementation of the "Women, Peace and Security" agenda in their respective countries. They discussed existing experiences, challenges, and best practices related to participation in the peace-building and decision-making processes.
Family conflicts, discrimination, bullying, gender equality, femicide - these topical issues were chosen by young people for their mini-projects. Within the framework of the project, forum-theaters were created on the basis of Kutaisi, Khoni, Tskaltubo, Senaki, Zugdidi youth initiative groups. Two scenarios were prepared in each group. During two months, young people held 42 meetings using the forum-theatre format. Meetings were held in different locations: towns and villages schools, settlements, public places. Number of discussions was held on the issues of gender equality, bullying, domestic violence and femicide. During the meetings, the participants discussed the relevance of the problems and discussed ways to solve them.
Another informational online meeting was held with members of Zugdidi Women Initiative Group.
The meeting participants recalled the problems that have already been advocated and resolved. They also discussed priority issues and chose the most relevant ones.
Members of the initiative group discussed the ways of problem solution and will start working on specific activities.
The project is implemented with the support
of the UN Women organization
Psychologist Manana Gotsiridze worked in three directions in June:
- She met 5 beneficiaries of a day rehabilitation center who are learning how to work with polymer clay. She did some work with them to get rid of negative emotions, to reassess priorities and increase self-esteem.
She had daily interaction with the women in the rehabilitation center. Intensive work was carried out with traumas using various methods: art therapy, elements of cognitive-correctional psychology, psychological exercises and associative cards.
- 12 individual psychotherapy sessions were held online and 15 sessions with women living in Kutaisi. Three of them were new, and with the others, the previously started work continued.
35-year-old Khatuna passed psycho-rehabilitation for more than 6 months. After the death of her husband, she did not want to live, even her daughter irritated her, nothing pleased her, she did not believe that after the sessions of the psychologist there would be any positive changes. But working with different methods gave results: fear and irritation gradually disappeared, new priorities, new goals appeared. She thanks the psychologist for her humanity and professionalism, patience and invaluable assistance.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
