“A very necessary project”, “You are really doing a big job”, “Training on these issues, should take place throughout Georgia”, “I am ready to cooperate”, “The conflict expert is already working in a second circle in our school. “Our school is always open for you", "Thank you very much for the work done", "We are waiting for you in Chokhatauri municipality, we promise to work actively"," We follow your work, and are delighted with your young people"- these and similar considerations were expressed or recorded in a chat during a meeting on the Zoom platform.

How did the impact of the pandemic affect family relationships? What problems do married couples have, and what resources are available for early prevention of domestic conflicts? - these issues have been discussed online with family couples living in Terjola, Senaki, Kutaisi, Khoni.

The participants believe that conflict situations are exacerbated by unemployment and psychological tension. As they say, the adaptation period was especially difficult for primary school students, who found it difficult to switch from an online format to attending lessons at school.

It was noted that a conflict situation could arise in any family. Such meetings, communication, and raising awareness on these topics reduce confrontation between couples and help prevent conflict.

This is the first successful result of cooperation with Kobuleti local self-government!

It all started like this:

The Fund "Sukhumi" has been cooperating with the Gender Equality Councils of local self-governments since the day of their creation. Kobuleti municipality was included in this list in 2019. It was the only one, out of 11 municipalities, that did not have a single program to assist violence victims.

The advocacy and monitoring group and Tbilisi representative office of the Fund "Sukhumi" started active work to develop the program.

They are already leaders, as they conduct the activities  of Women Support Centers in 11 municipalities. They attended many trainings, but teaching and learning is never superfluous. Therefore, a two-day training was held for the mobilizers of the Women Support Centers, where they discussed topical topics: the phenomenon of leadership, civic activism, advocacy strategy.

The online space has become a platform for the participants to share their knowledge and information. They saw leadership, teamwork and advocacy issues in a new prism.

“Schools against challenges of gender equality, gender stereotypes and domestic violence” - a new publication - this publication was prepared by the monitoring and advocacy group of the Fund “Sukhumi” last year. It reflects the results of a research, carried out in 11 municipalities of Western Georgia.  Active work is underway to implement targeted policies in schools against gender stereotypes.

In this process, our partner is the newspaper "New Education", which has been published once a week since 1998, and is distributed among subscribers - in schools and universities of Georgia, as well as in government and non-government organizations working in the field of education. An even wider audience is covered by the online version of the newspaper.

I learned, I understood, I realized, now I can - these are the words of adolescents after our workshops.

These words express changes in their character, behavior, attitudes.

That was our goal: to teach these girls and boys...

"Teaching Conflict Management in Schools" - this is the name of the methodology, with which Larisa (Lela) Shengelia, conflict expert of the Fund “Sukhumi” is guided.

The rule is following: a group of 10-15 students is selected at school - mostly seventh-ninth graders. A workshop is held with the group once a month on various topics: what is conflict, stages of conflict, conflict resolution at an early stage, etc.

The Fund "Sukhumi" has 10 Women Support Centers in Kutaisi, Tskaltubo, Khoni, Terjola, Senaki, Poti, Zugdidi, Ozurgeti, Lanchkhuti and Kobuleti municipalities. The mobilizers of the centers have renewed their work - despite the difficult epidemiological situation, online and offline meetings were held. Specialists of the organization - a lawyer, a psychologist, a conflict expert - were actively involved in these meetings.

“Involving parents in school life - cooperation in activities against gender stereotypes and violence” - a meeting of round format was held on this topic. Among the participants there were students, parents, teachers, representatives of different spheres of society.

They got acquainted with the publication of the Fund "Sukhumi" - “Schools against challenges of gender equality, gender stereotypes and domestic violence”. They talked about the dangers of gender discrimination, about cooperation between teachers and parents in terms of protecting young people from violence. They touched upon the problems caused by the covid-19 pandemic and their solutions. The discussed issues were relevant for all participants, and the meeting was active. Information about the round table was published in the newspaper "New Education".

New working year in the Youth Clubs of the Fund "Sukhumi" started on January 16 with interesting meetings. The topic "Early Marriages" motivated the participants for an open discussion. They talked about stereotypical thinking, the role of parents and society. They gave examples of how a family created at an early age failed, how a 17-18 year old girl was left alone with a child. They underlined not only health or psychological, but also education and employment problems.

It was noted that young people should have responsible attitude towards marriage, and such discussions contribute to it.

Online meetings were held with students from 10 public schools. One part of the Youth Club members has already held informational meetings with peers on the topic of early marriage, and the second part plans to talk about this topical issue.

Poti, Kutaisi, Terjola, Kobuleti, Etseri (Samtredia municipality), Nosiri (Senaki municipality), Koki (Zugdidi municipality), Khajalia (Lanchkhuti municipality), Gurianta (Ozurgeti municipality), Pakhulani (Tsalenjikha municipality), Pakhulani (Tsalenjikha municipality) - the geography of the Youth Clubs is diverse.

In January, 6 online group meetings of psychologist and lawyer were held for the beneficiaries of the Women Support Centers from Khoni, Senaki, Tskaltubo, Kobuleti, Khurcha(Zugdidi municipality), Pakhulani (Tsalenjikha municipality) - 35 people from 28 to 67 years old took participated.

The conversation was about how to manage negative emotions, and why it is so important in the situation of pandemic and domestic violence.

Couples and individual beneficiaries from different regions of Western Georgia also receive psychotherapeutic and legal consultation. This free service, is a great assistancefor them.