The round table, which was held in Chokhatauri, was attended by the leaders of the municipality, members of the Gender Equality Council, representatives of the police, educational and medical institutions. They got acquainted with the document “Monitoring of Services for the Victims - Support Services for Victims of Domestic Violence and Existing Challenges” prepared by the Fund “Sukhumi”.
It was noted that the situation in the municipality in terms of cooperation of local referral entities is not bad. There are also budget programs, which gives possibility to see the victim's problems, respond to them, and help the victim in employment in the long - term prospect.
Insufficient response from the side of the society itself to the facts of violence was mentioned as the biggest challenge, and a serious need for information and educational work was highlighted. It was said that the experience of the Fund "Sukhumi" in this regard will be very useful for the municipality.
The needs research is completed, the problem is identified, and advocacy process starts.
How to plan the advocacy process, what are the principles should be envisaged when forming the messages, what arguments can prove the urgency and priority of the problem? Online trainings on these issues were held on May 21 and 25 for women initiative groups of Imereti and Samegrelo.
Participants worked on specific issues, identified the details of advocacy campaign.
The feedback showed that the training was fruitful:
“As a community leader, I should have known and already know about the ways of advocacy. It will help me in responding to problems".
“I got acquainted with the specifics of the advocacy plan. I especially liked the practical part of the training and learned a lot".
Women initiative groups, organized by the Fund "Sukhumi" are actively involved in advocacy for the problems of IDP women, conflict-affected women, as well as citizens living near the conflict line.
They have a systematic dialogue with local authorities, structures on IDP issues, local and international non-governmental organizations. For the given moment, international organizations have become the "target" of the group members.
Nona Bukia, the leader of the women initiative group of the village Khurcha (Zugdidi municipality), had an opportunity to talk to the UN Resident Coordinator in Georgia Sabina Mahl, who met with representatives of local NGOs, IDP women and conflict-affected women in Anaklia.
The participants of the meeting discussed the problems of women, peace and security, Resolution 1325, localization of 2018-2020 National Action Plan, the involvement of women IDPs and women affected by the conflict in decision-making, peacekeeping and security processes.
Online trainings on: “Problems of tolerance among the youth. Conflict management. Bullying” were held with youth groups of Kobuleti, Tkibuli, Samtredia, Vani and Terjola.
All groups differ from each other, but they are united by the fact that they really like non-formal education, the issues that are discussed. All participants are motivated to get as much information as possible and learn new skills.
There are leaders, who successfully complete their "homework". In May, they held informational meetings with peers on the topics of tolerance, conflict and bullying. Similar meetings are continued ...
On May 24, 2021, Ekaterine Gamakharia, the head of the representative office of Fund “Sukhumi” participated in a regular information meeting between the participants of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) in the direction of Ergneti and representatives of civil society. Representative Offices of the State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality of Georgia and the State Security Service, the European Union Monitoring Mission, the UN Women, local CSOs and women's organizations, IDPs, and women affected by the conflict have participated in the info-sharing meeting.
At the meeting Ekaterine Gamakharia emphasized the importance of the inclusion of women's organizations with gender expertise in the group of experts, and other professionals in a specific field such as economics, ecology, violence against women, gender equality, healthcare, etc.
In May, the work on the performance "Gvriti" (turtledove) was completed: the dolls were created, text and music were written.
Young actors recorded their roles in the studio. Active rehearsals were held in Kutaisi, Meskhishvili Theater.
The main rehearsal and premiere will take place soon - "Gvriti" prepares for a meeting with the audience.
The forum theater and the shadow theater of the Fund "Sukhumi" have always had a lot of audience. Now the viewer will wait for the performance of the puppet theater with interest.
Changes in the working plan was discussed during the meeting of Vani working group. It was noted that the plan should reflect the issues, the solution of which is under their competence: the problems identified during the first local needs research and the recommendations of the third monitoring of public administration reform. There was also a conversation regarding the website of the municipality, which is being updated at this stage. It was decided that the members of the group will be involved in posting information on the page.
Vani working group contributes to the implementation of public administration reform with its activities.
A training on “Regional needs assessment with participation of a wide civil society - for the implementation of the Roadmap (PAR) at the local level (organized by the Fund of Women Entrepreneurs). The training was attended by 35 people from 3 regions (Imereti, Guria, Racha-Lechkhumi). The training covered both: theoretical part of the needs research of target groups (transparency, efficiency, inclusiveness), and practical work to develop a research questionnaire and discuss working versions. The training discussed the following issues: processing of primary reports, preparation of recommendations, methods of conducting focus groups and in-depth interviews.
The work is carried out in the framework of the project “A common forum for CSOs from Guria, Imereti and Racha-Lechkhumi for PAR Roadmap monitoring”.
The members of Bagdati working group discussed the problems identified during the first local needs research and how to reflect these issues in the working group plan. Recommendations that need to be implemented were highlighted and prioritized. During the meeting of the working group, they also talked about the process of updating the website of the municipality, and got acquainted with the recommendations of the third monitoring of the implementation of the public administration reform. It was planned to approve the updated action plan at the next meeting, where all issues will be envisaged.
The work is carried out in the framework of the project “A common forum for CSOs from Guria, Imereti and Racha-Lechkhumi for PAR Roadmap monitoring”.
