Ekaterine Gamakharia, the head of Women Fund “Sukhumi” Tbilisi Office was privileged to represent Women Fund Sukhumi and civil society organizations as a panelist at a remarkable side event organized by Canada, Chair of the Forum for Security Co-operation, and Ireland, Chair of the Human Dimension Committee. The event was dedicated to the crucial topic of „It's about people': Mental health impacts of war on civilians and military personnel.“

Among panelists were Mr. Oleksandr Klen, Clinical Psychologist at the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Dr. Julijana Stojanova, Deputy Head of the Human Resources Department, Ministry of Defence of the Republic of North Macedonia, Mr. Andrew Gardner, Deputy Head of Human Rights Departments, ODIHR, and Major-General March Bilodeau, Surgeon General in the Canadian Armed Forces.

Working with civil society partners on consent-based rape definition in law and ending Sexual Violence. Challenges to gender-based violence are identified, and an important discussion has been moderated by Tamar Dekanosidze, Equality Now’s Regional Representative in Eurasia.

Collaboration and solidarity are needed to overcome challenges and make systemic changes possible. Our representative - Linda Chikhladze was involved in the working meeting.

Training on “The importance of Gender Impact Assessment (GIA) of local political documents and gender budget for inclusive, equal and fair local governance” was held on November 4-6 in Borjomi, at “Borjomi Palace Hotel”. The training was attended by representatives of local self-government of seven municipalities of Western Georgia: Senaki, Zugdidi, Terjola, Tsalenjikha, Kobuleti, Chokhatauri, Khobi. Also - representatives of the regional administrations of Imereti and Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti.

Participants were informed about the methodology of Gender Impact Assessment (GIA). They got acquainted with the materials of international practice of gender budgeting, achievements and challenges. It was determined how to conduct gender analysis, sectoral distribution in the budgeting process, and assessment of the gender impact of local policy documents.

A workshop for members of Senaki City Hall Interdepartmental Commission of the Municipality on the Prevention of Violence against Women and/or Domestic violence, Protection and Assistance to Victims of Violence was held.

During the meeting, a dialogue was held on the practical aspects of the commission work, several acute cases were discussed and a case management strategy was drawn up.

According to the participants, the commission has great potential for preventing violence against women/domestic violence, as well as for providing victims with timely and adequate assistance. This is due to the fact that this mechanism is represented by intersectoral groups; resources are joined and coordinated.

The project is implemented with the support the Equality Fund (Canada)

A traditional meeting was held with the members of both Khoni Women Initiative Groups. The participants talked about the International Day of Girls Child and their rights, as well as the needs of women living in rural areas. During the meeting it was mentioned that girls' rights are not properly protected in Georgia and women living in rural areas are facing a lot of infrastructural, social and educational problems. During the meeting held with the members of Khoni youth club, the leader of the club presented a presentation about the International Day of Girls, introduced information about the history of the creation of the holiday and its meaning; One of the club members spoke about women living in rural areas in the format of a presentation. Based on the interviews, she introduced the participants to an ordinary day of a woman. Young people exchanged opinions, discussed problems and needs, and a discussion was held about gender equality.

The members of Kutaisi Women Initiative Group met the deputy head of the social issues department of the municipality, Pikria Khachapuridze, in order to advocate concrete problem. Participants got acquainted with information about social programs and services. They learned who and how can benefit from the given programs. The issue aroused the interest of the audience, it was noted that due to its relevance, the meeting was informative and interesting. The members of Kutaisi Youth Club saw a presentation about the International Day of Girl. They learned about the history and significance of this day. Club members participated in a discussion about gender equality, expressed their opinions and discussed ways to solve problems and raise awareness; During the meeting, new members were accepted in the club.

During October meeting the members of the Women Initiative Group of the village Pakhulani - Tsalenjikha municipality spoke about the problems identified during the advocacy. They reviewed the direction in which the work should be improved to solve the problems identified by them.

Meeting with members of women and youth initiative groups was held in Senaki, which was visited by representatives of the donor organization (USAID - United States Agency for International Development): Ekaterine Gamezardashvili and Giorgi Khechinashvili. In the first part of the meeting, the participants talked about the results of the project. Peace activities, participation in research, advocacy, informal debates, meetings with a psychologist, trainings, Georgian-Abkhazian meetings - group members give priority to these main segments and believe that involvement in the project had a positive impact on them. In the next part of the meeting, the participants talked about issues of gender equality: the rights of girls and the daily life of women living in rural areas. Participants believe that due to the mentality problems, there is still a lot of work to be done in terms of gender equality.

 Training on the topic of peace was held with the members of the youth group of the village Koki - Zugdidi municipality. The participants talked about meaning of peace. With the help of a simulated exercise, they discussed that dialogue, communication, cooperation, trust, tolerance are necessary for peace. The training showed how important the involvement of young people in peace processes is. The Women Initiative Group of the village Koki is working on advocacy of identified problems. During the meeting, the participants shared with each other the results achieved in terms of advocacy, they talked about the direction in which the work should be improved.

The members of the youth club of the village Didinedzi discussed gender issues seen through the eyes of young people. They talked about how much information their peers have on the mentioned issue and named the existing problems and challenges in terms of gender. The members of the Women Initiative Group of the village Didinedzi spoke about the advocacy of the identified problems. They discussed the issues in detail and negotiated the future plan.