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.
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.
On September 5 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 Women Initiative Group of the Fund "Sukhumi" from Kutaisi, Tskaltubo, Tsalenjikha, Senaki, Khoni, and Zugdidi municipalities.
At the beginning of the meeting, the invited experts emphasized the importance of women's involvement in peace activities, talked about the peace instruments that exist in the form of national and international documents. The importance of peace initiatives, which will contribute to the introduction of a culture of peace in the society, was analyzed.
Based on the working format, the Women Initiative Groups have worked, taking into account the specifics of individual municipalities. 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.
The work of the groups showed that with the help of the Women Initiative Groups, it is possible to implement such initiatives that will contribute to the reduction of aggression in society and the restoration of trust between conflicting parties.
These people need special psycho-rehabilitation. Our service is ready to help. There are 255 Ukrainian refugees in our base, and three psychologists work with them.
Despite the vacation, some activities were done in August.
Manana Gotsiridze: - in August, 2 meetings were held with Ukrainian families in Vani and 4 meetings in Kutaisi (6 families - 12 people). It was primary psychological consultation, taking of medical history, further invitations to psychological consultation. Products, hygiene items and clothing were delivered to them.
Anna Shalimova: - 2 online consultations were held in August, where further recommendations regarding the problem were given. I also had one face-to-face consultation in the office. One client for further long-term work was taken on her request. There was 1 acquaintance with a new family who recently arrived in Georgia.
Members of Tskaltubo Women Initiative Group highlighted the social problems of the IDP settlement and sorted them by priority.
The serious problem on Abkhazia street, where 100% of the population are IDPs, is the damaged roof of multistoried buildings VII and VIII. The situation l worsen in winter, when the roof will not stand the heavy rainfall.
On the basis of photo-video materials and signatures, the members of the Initiative Group will try to advocate this issue in September by “one window principle” in order to solve the problem within a reasonable time.
During the meeting, the members of the group made a brief report of the conducted work and talked about the challenges they faced in the work p
The project is implemented with the support
of the UN Women organization
In August, a group working on the issues of Ukrainian refugees did a lot:
The beneficiaries were informed that WizzAir launched a promotion according to which Ukrainians could purchase tickets - some of them used this opportunity and returned to their homeland.
55 people were added to our database - now we have 255 people. Over the past week, we have provided assistance to 10 families from Kutaisi, Samtredia and Tkibuli.
Three psychologists (two of them are Ukrainians) actively conducted group and individual consultations for refugees.
We were addressed by a volunteer from Ukraine. A group of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" will communicate with him about the employment of Ukrainians and a kindergarten where parents can leave their children during work.
One of our beneficiaries underwent emergency dental surgery free of charge.
Two women will start attending polymer clay courses in Women Fund Sukhumi.
Despite the summer holidays, our women continue to work actively and take care of solving new problems.
Women Initiative groups are already working on issues that will be advocated in the near future.
Information meetings were held, where the advocacy plan was introduced and final versions were elaborated.
At this stage, the topics of advocacy are: "Additional placement of garbage bins in the IDP settlement located on Abkhazeti Street in Khoni", "Women's passivity and less involvement in economic activity." "
" Women's passivity, indifference, less involvement, mentality, lack of knowledge in economic activity."
The project is implemented with the support of the USAID
A network meeting on the ZOOM platform was held within the framework of the project "Women and youth for the implementation of the women's peace and security agenda at the local level". During the meeting, the foundation was laid for the creation of a regional network, which united the women initiative groups created in Kutaisi, Khoni, Tskaltubo, Zugdidi and Senaki municipalities.
The meeting was attended by the heads of partner organizations and members of the women initiative group from Eastern Georgia.
The participants were provided with information about the activities performed by the women initiative groups, the current situation was assessed and the challenges encountered in individual municipalities in the process of implementation of 1325 UN Resolution were highlighted.
- Why is it important to create a network? What will the use of this tool change in the activities of the initiative groups and what are the expected results? - The discussion mainly continued in this direction.
In July, informational meetings with women initiative groups were held in the target municipalities of Tskaltubo, Senaki, Khoni, Kutaisi, Tsalenjikha and Zugdidi.
The main issue that was discussed at the meetings was the promotion of women's economic empowerment.
The women were provided with information about the programs are presented in their municipalities, how to get involved in these programs and what are the opportunities for cooperation.
The project is implemented with the support of the USAID
