An online training was held for the representatives of the Forum for Civil Society Organizations, the aim of which was a brief overview of the essence, stages and forms of advocacy. During the training, discussions and group work, participants discussed the factors hindering the proper implementation of public administration reform at the local level, identified and analyzed the target groups and stakeholders. The training developed the working document for the advocacy of the needs at the regional and national level in the municipalities, which will be the basis for a joint advocacy strategy of the representatives of the Forum for Civil Society Organizations and the Fund "Sukhumi" at the regional and national levels.
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.
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.
For teenagers, it was surprising that "nicknames" often are the cause of conflicts. According to them, if another name comes from a surname, for example, Antiya - Anto, Mebonia - Mebo, this is not hurtful, but if it indicates a flaw, it can cause a conflict.
Regular online workshops on: "Skills for peaceful resolution of conflicts" were held with members of the conflict management group.
The conflict expert of the Fund "Sukhumi" introduced them to these skills. They learned what rules they should use to avoid conflict escalation. They were sent a list of skills in messenger groups.
The life of the forum theater in January is held online, but quite actively. Facebook page of the Fund "Sukhumi" presents videos and photo collages prepared by young actors. A new section has begun - all actors of the forum theater will record a personal video.
The rehearsal period is actively continuing. The plan for February is already developed. The forum theater group hopes to meet with the audience soon ...
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
Work with boys was held online in January. Group and individual meetings were held with the schools of Terjola, Zugdidi, Tsalenjikha, Kutaisi, Senaki, Poti, Lanchkhuti, Ozurgeti and Kobuleti municipalities.
Most of the meetings were held on the Zoom platform, which made it possible to show videos and hold discussions.
“I chose videos on the topic of violence and bullying to better demonstrate the essence of the problem,” mentiones the trainer - Beka Potskhveria. - The boys actively discussed these actual problems and the facts reflected in the videos. According to them, a tolerant society will better combate bullying and violence.
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.
Fund “Sukhumi” systematically monitors and studies the situation of IDP and conflict affected women and girls living close to the conflict dividing line with Abkhazia and other locations with law degree of security and high risk of violence occurrence. To assess the situation of the population, we developed and launched Gender Responsive Early Warning System (GREWS), which is complex mechanism of gender sensitive conflict analysis. The study was conducted in September-December, 2020 and covered 11 target municipalities of Fund «Sukhumi» - Kutaisi, Tskaltubo, Terjola, Khoni, Senaki, Poti, Zugdidi (Koki, Khurcha, Shamgona, Kakhati), Tsalenjikha (Pakhulani, Tskoushi), Lanchkhuti, Ozurgeti, Kobuleti and the villages adjacent to the conflict dividing line in the Gali district (Nayui96evi and Saberio).
The new publication: „The Gender Dimension of the COVID-19 Crisis: Assessing the Efficiency of Pandemic Response” provides detailed information about the impact of pandemic on the human security of women and girls living in the target regions of Fund “Sukhumi” and describes population’s attitude towards the efficiency of the central and local authorities’ response to the pandemic.
The project is implemented with the support of Kvinna till Kvinna,
women’s Foundation (Sweden)
The Fund "Sukhumi" presents a new monitoring report - "Municipal Programs on Domestic Violence against Women and Gender Budget". Within the frames of the monitoring, the municipal programs related to support services for victims of domestic violence in the local government's 2020 budgets and gender equality policies in 12 municipalities were studied and analyzed. The identified challenges and developed recommendations are reflected in the report for the attention of the local, regional and the national governments.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
“From teachers I often hear the following phrase: “Girls should not behave like that”, but immediately, the pupil gave the answer: “The behavior has no gender”- these are the words of one school director, given in the publication.
The new publication of the Fund "Sukhumi" analyzes the results of the research, which covered 11 municipalities of Western Georgia (school directors and teachers, representatives of resource centers, NGOs, education and gender experts, parents, former students). The legislative framework was also analyzed, reports and ressearches of local and international organizations on these issues were used.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)