On June 1, a meeting of the mobilizers from Kutaisi, Vani, Terjola, Bagdati, Tkibuli, Senaki, Chokhatauri, Kobuleti, Tsalenjikha, Zugdidi Women Support Centers was held. The participants of the meeting summarized the month's work: they exchanged information and talked about the difficulties they meet in the field in terms of identifying the problem of violence.
At the end of the meeting, the participants discussed the plan for the next month. Their suggestions are reflected in the working module, which will increase the efficiency of the work.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
An online training was held for representatives of the civil peacekeeping coalition "Women and Peace" and leaders of women initiative groups.
Training topics: UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and the policy of its local implementation, the basics and stages of advocacy; organization of informational meetings with project target groups, online platform “Voters’ Advisory Application” and its use.
The participants of the training got acquainted with the provision for localization of the National Plan of the Resolution "Women, Peace and Security", local practice, challenges, issue of women's participation; they familiarized with the essence of the online vote -o-meter, which will be introduced in Zugdidi municipality for the local elections, as a mechanism for informing the voter. They also discussed the methods of facilitation and principles of working with target groups.
It turned out that the project team is ready to be included in the next stage.
Khatia Khachapuridze: “I live in Tbilisi. I needed to register my father's land in the village Gelaveri, and I found Khoni hotline in Google ... I was provided with all the information I needed. I welcome the existence of a hotline, because it simplifies the solution of many issues".
Tsisana Mushkudiani: “The Internet and social networks made the whole world more comfortable, not only Khoni. I do not often call on Knoni hotline, although, whenever I applied, I was never left unanswered. They competently provide the information they have”.
This is the opinion of people who are satisfied with Khoni hotline.
The hotline was created following the recommendations of Khoni working group: a separate telephone line was installed, the staff was retrained, the population was provided with information about the start of the hotline...
The idea of a hotline belongs to Khoni civil society organization – Center for Education and Development “Edelweiss” and this idea was implemented in cooperation with the local government.
In May, the psychologist received 56 phone calls from Kutaisi and from those regions where Women's Support Centers operate. It shows the alarming - traumatic stressful situation of people.
10 online and 8 offline individual psychotherapy are provided for the beneficiaries, 3 of them are teenagers.
During a month, the lawyer of the Fund "Sukhumi" also actively worked together with the psychologist. Online group meetings and consultations with beneficiaries and meetings with members of the crisis families were held.
Everyone is happy to note the importance of this support, which is free and often people get this service from the comfort of their homes.
A roundtable discussion was held in Bagdati with participation of the representatives of local self-government and civil society. During the meeting, a presentation was made on Bagdati working group, its activities and results. The report on the needs assessment and recommendations of the population in the process of public administration reform in the municipality has aroused great interest. Participants also learned about the work of civil society organizations registered in Bagdati in direction of informing the local population about public administration reform.
Interesting accents were placed on the round table, especially regarding the barriers that hinder the use of electronic services. According to the participants, this is related to the low level of awareness and the problem of internet providing. Special attention should be paid to these issues.
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 ...
