“Lack of information is one of the factors that contributes to the development of conflicts in society,” – note the members of Tskaltubo Women Initiative Group.

According to them the group should intensify work in this direction in future. Citizens should have competent information about municipal programs, in order to be able to solve problems existing in the infrastructural, social and economical spheres and resolve conflicts at an early stage.

Members of Kutaisi Women Initiative Group have elaborated the strategy for the future: how the initiative group should work, what problems are relevant in society, what should be done to prevent conflict situations.

While working on the problems, it was highlighted that problems existing in the socio-economic sphere often cause the development of conflicts in society, however, the main problem is the lack of information among the population on the early resolution of conflicts.

In Khurcha (Zugdidi municipality), members of the Women Initiative Group gathered and analyzed: what problems are revealed in communities during identification of conflict situations, what are the interfering factors, how the work with risks is carried out. The main problems that are particularly relevant in their community and contain the dangers of conflict development were highlighted. The opinions expressed at the meeting will be reflected in the strategy for the future.

Members of Kutaisi Women Initiative Group summed up the 6-month work. We discussed how effective is conflict prevention from a gender perspective, which is the meaning of meeting the women in different communities, identifying and advocating their problems.

The opening of the stadium for children in the auto factory settlement has already fallen into the list of solved and completed problems. This problem created conflict situations in the settlement.

In parallel, the group is working on identifying new issues. Starting from the next year, it is planned to expand cooperation with local government.

Fund “Sukhumi” organized a round table in Khurcha (Zugdidi municipality) on the topic: “Early prevention of conflicts from a gender perspective”. The meeting was attended by the members of the Women Initiative Groups of the Fund "Sukhumi” in Kutaisi, Tskaltubo and Khurcha, representatives of local government, majoritarian candidates, journalists, civil activists of Kakhati, Orsantia, Didi Nedzi, Koki.

Invited experts talked about municipal and social programs. The participants listened to the information on the work of the Women Initiative Groups of Kutaisi, Tskaltubo, and Khurcha on the early prevention of conflicts: how problems are identified, how the advocacy is carried out, what are the results.

During the discussion, topical problems were identified, which  create conflict situations in individual communities.

According to the participants, such meetings contribute to informing the population, increase the involvement of citizens in the advocacy process and reduce the risk of conflicts in society.

Members of Tskaltubo Women Initiative Group began the next meeting with an assessment of the activities carried out in frames of the campaign against gender based violence. It was noted that, in comparison with the previous years, public awareness about violence against women has increased. Responsibility of local self-government has increased, which is expressed by their active involvement in the campaign.

In the next part of the meeting, the moderator said what problems were shown during meetings with the public. The group members discussed how these problems contain risk in terms of conflict development.

Women initiative groups of the Fund “Sukhumi” in Kutaisi, Tskaltubo and Khurcha (Zugdidi municipality) were actively involved in the 16-day campaign against gender-based violence.

In frames of the campaign, informational meetings were held in different communities, in IDP collective centers. Informational leaflets and campaign attributes were distributed. The citizens received information about the importance of activity and inclusion of the society in violence prevention.

The meetings involved more than 30 people living in cities and rural communities. Members of the Women Initiative Groups met with representatives of local government - they were willing to actively participate in violence prevention.

A meeting of the Women's Initiative Group members and women activists in the village of Khurcha (Zugdidi municipality) was held in frames of a 16-day campaign against violence. Participants spoke about the scales of the problem of violence.

- There are frequent facts of domestic violence in the village. Early response to such conflicts is very important. Early prevention will reduce the scale of violence, was mentioned during the meetings.

The participants received information about the training, which was held in Istanbul and discussed the strategy, of how to continue to work on in order to identify gender accents in all aspects.

Members of the Women Initiative Groups of Kutaisi, Tskalutbo and Khurcha (Zugdidi Municipality) meet with members of different communities. These meetings identify the problems that are prior in the community and create conflict situations.

In all municipalities, initiative groups are actively working to resolve conflicts at an early stage. Each group operates according to its own developed plan. Inclusion of civil society activists and cooperation with local government is important in this process.

The members of Kutaisi Women Initiative Group considered what should be the future strategy of the group, how the early response will be held in gender aspect.

According to the strategy, group members continue informational meetings in different communities. It is planned to conduct a questionnaire to identify prior problems.

In parallel, meetings with representatives of local government and the exchange of information for an early response to conflicts are continuing.