The last, sixth month has begun at the Youth Empowerment Centers. For the given moment, great preparations for the final meetings are underway. Members of the centers, especially young leaders, prepare presentations demonstrating the knowledge and skills gained as a result of five months of work.
Since the beginning of March, five meetings have been held with the youth of Samtredia, Senaki, Chokhatauri, Zugdidi and Terjola. The performances of the youth and their feedback showed serious results and positive changes to the participants - teachers and parents.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
The ordinary meeting of the monitoring and advocacy group was held in Kobuleti. The initiators of the meeting, together with the Women Fund “Sukhumi”, were the Gender Equality Council of the Municipality and the City Hall Department for the Protection of Children's Rights. The meeting was also attended by heads of administrative units. The conversation concerned the availability of services for victims/potential victims of violence against women and/or domestic violence, the importance of local cooperation and coordination in violence prevention.
Dialogue regarding community needs, periodic exchange of information, pooling of resources to help vulnerable families and issues of cooperation was held among members of the referral entities.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
Representatives of the Women Fund “Sukhumi”, together with the Department for the Protection of Children’s Rights of the municipality, held an information meeting in the village Akhalsopeli (Senaki municipality).
The meeting was attended by representatives of the City Hall Department for the Protection of Children's Rights, mothers of many children and single mothers, kindergarten teachers and women from vulnerable groups.
The aim of the meeting was to promote a system of coordination and exchange of information between local referral entities on issues of violence against women and domestic violence. A conversation touched the prevention of domestic violence, the needs of vulnerable women and families with children, as well as municipal services and services offered by the Women Fund “Sukhumi”.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
The heads of kindergartens gathered at Samtredia City Council. The Women Fund “Sukhumi” together with the Gender Equality Council held an information meeting for them.
The following issues were discussed at the meeting: prevention of violence against women and domestic violence, coordination of the actions of local referral entities, identifying the needs of vulnerable families and the need for a local social partnership system.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Department for the Protection of Children’s Rights.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
UN Women hosted a two-day workshop on “Monitoring Human Security – a Gender Sensitive Monitoring Tool”.
The workshop is designed for the representatives of the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia (PDO) and the representatives of civil society organizations. The seminar is facilitated by an international expert Zara Jarvinen, who is the author of the tailor-made methodological tool - “Manual on Gender Sensitive Monitoring on Human Security” designed specifically for the use of the PDO and CSOs. This workshop aims to build the capacity of the representatives of the PDO and the CSOs to assess, monitor, analyze and report on human security of the conflict-affected and internally displaced population from a gender perspective, including through a joint and cooperative manner.
Ekaterine Gamakharia, head of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" Tbilisi representative office, participated in the seminar.
"Strengthening cooperation and coordination between municipalities and state agencies is crucial for an effective fight against violence against women.
Since 2009, the Women's Fund "Sukhumi" has consistently worked towards activating cooperation and coordination between municipalities and the entities involved in the referral mechanism, as well as sectoral state agencies. The conference held in Kutaisi on February 23, which brought together Women Fund “Sukhumi” partners, representatives from 17 municipalities in Western Georgia, and the central government, marked another significant step in strengthening this process.
"We are working together to create a non-violent and safe environment in our country," said Ekaterine Gamakharia, the head of the Tbilisi representative office of the Fund "Sukhumi."
With the support of the United Nations Development Program and the Government of Sweden, in cooperation with the Gender Equality Council of the Parliament of Georgia, a political forum for women members of the City Council was held in Tbilisi. The event was attended by over 150 delegates. Women councilors from all municipalities of Georgia actively participated in the forum. Special attention was given to enhancing the political participation of women in the lead-up to parliamentary and local demonstrations.
Linda Chikhladze, representative of the Women’s Fund "Sukhumi", attended the forum.
We are pleased to present the Women Fund “Sukhumi” Rapid Assessment Report: “Municipal Interagency Commissions on Gender Equality, Violence Against Women, and Domestic Violence: Best Practices and Current Challenges”. The document aims to evaluate the relevance of establishing inter-agency commissions to improve collaboration and coordination between state agencies in tackling the issues related to violence against women and domestic violence. It additionally aims to assess the institutional capacities of existing commissions, their accomplishments, and the challenges they encounter.
Based on the research data, it is evident that interagency commissions have a crucial role in coordinating mechanisms for the prevention of violence against women and domestic violence. This is demonstrated by the actions of interagency commissions that have already been formed in several target municipalities. The commissions facilitate more effective local referral procedures, communication, and coordination among stakeholders involved in managing incidents of violence.
However, the analysis of challenges revealed that to establish meaningful changes, it is important to formalize the inter-agency commission further. This requires developing an articulated strategy and leveraging and implementing examples of good practices, both local and international. Additionally, raising awareness among municipality representatives and the general population, ensuring proper delineation of responsibilities with the Gender Equality Council, and encouraging involvement from representatives of diverse agencies in commission activities are essential.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
During the meeting of Kutaisi working group, the problems of the target communities were identified and prioritized.
The meeting was attended by IDP women and girls living in different communities of Kutaisi. They noted acute problems: damaged roofs or facades, lack of balconies, damp walls, internal roads... Particular attention was paid to the fact that there is no mini-stadium in the settlement, and there are no garbage bins.
In the framework of the project, and with the help of the Women Fund “Sukhumi”, will meet with decision-makers in order to advocate for the identified problems.
The project is implemented with the support of USAID local governance program
“Women’s leadership, forms of communication, mechanisms of civil inclusion” - a training on this topic for IDP women and girls living in different communities of Kutaisi was held at the office of the Women Fund “Sukhumi”.
Lack of information, migration, passivity, irresponsibility, lack of time, indifference – participants noted that this is a short list of factors, that hinders civic engagement at the local level.
During the training, the participants talked about how to improve leadership skills, the quality of communication and motivation in order to increase the participation of citizens in the formation of local policies.
From the feedbacks of participants:
“It was a very interesting training.”
“A leader can’t do anything without a team, and vice versa, so everyone needs to use their abilities to do the general work”.
“I received the necessary information and became familiar with the forms of citizen participation”.
“I often use the gained knowledge”.
The project is implemented with the support of USAID local governance program