Terjola  Municipal Center for Youth and Students, organized a meeting of the advocacy group of the Women Fund "Sukhumi", which was attended by women from local community. They were provided with information on the results of the monitoring “Assessment of Effectiveness of the Municipalities’ Preventive Measures to Combat Violence Against Women/Domestic Violence” conducted by our organization.

Emphasis was placed on the important tasks outlined in the document, which will improve the work of local governments, schools and kindergartens in the process of violence prevention.

Participants also received information about the program of the City hall Department for the Protection of Children's Rights about the services beneficiaries can use.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

A round table with participation of local referral entities - members of the City Hall Gender Equality Council, representatives of local self-government, the police and the social sphere, teachers and medical personnel, was held in the meeting room of Khobi municipality City Hall.

There was discussion regarding a problem of domestic violence and the importance of cooperation with local structures. They talked about statistics in scales of municipality, also about identification of cases of violence, and assistance to the victims. Particular attention was paid to referral mechanisms and cooperation between different departments to contribute to the prevention of violence.

During the meeting, a presentation was made on the topic “National Referral Procedures for the Identification, Protection, Assistance and Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence against Women and/or Domestic Violence (National Referral Mechanism)”.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

In order to conductor successful advocacy, it is necessary to have more like-minded people to imagine the importance of the problem. This goal was set by the IDP Women Initiative Group in Khoni, so that people living in the IDP settlement would better understand the problem.

In July, a cycle of information meetings was held - the population was informed about the importance of a program in the local government budget that would allow homeowners associations, together with the local government, to implement infrastructure projects.

As a result of the meetings, the participants analyzed that this will solve as many important issues as possible to improve the living conditions of IDPs.

The project is implemented with the support

 of the UN Women organization

Chokhatauri  a meeting with local referral entities (services of the City Hall: department for the protection of children's rights, interdepartmental commission, gender equality council of the municipality, representatives of the City Hall in administrative units, as well as kindergarten and school teachers, family doctors). The participants of the meeting were introduced to the guide "Prevention and response to gender-based violence in war and post-war conditions - experience and recommendations of women’s NGOs", which describes the experience of 6 partner organizations of the WAVE network.

Attention was focused on the experience of the Fund “Sukhumi”, which tells that in condition of prolonged conflict, “no war, no peace”, an environment of violent behavior appears when family conflicts and violence against women increase.

Fund "Sukhumi" has successful practices that have received international recognition: public awareness regarding the problem of violence and the introduction of a gender responsive early warning system (GREWS), identification of cases and provision of services, strengthening the rights of women and girls and promoting coordinated actions of local referral entities, launching a digital resource center platform on existing support/assistance services, strengthening institutional mechanisms of gender equality at the municipal level.

The meeting participants noted that the prolonged conflict left its mark on various spheres of public life. According to them, governmental structures, public institutions and civil society organizations are the main actors responsible for the protection of women and girls during and after the war.

Opinions were exchanged regarding the most acute challenges in terms of prevention and effective response to violence against women/domestic violence.

For detailed information about the guide, the participants were given the link: https://wave-network.org/wp.../uploads/Toolkit-Georgian.pdf

The work of women's mutual assistance groups is gradually becoming more active. Meetings were held in all ten groups. Project Assistant Nino Chabukiani met with members of the group in five municipalities (Tskaltubo, Samtredia, Kobuleti, Terjola, Chokhatauri) - the meetings focused on the needs and problems of women, advocacy and cooperation with local government.

Women know that they need to study more to advocate for their interests, so a new component was added to the meetings - digital literacy courses. The courses have already started in the municipalities of Kobuleti, Terola and Chokhatauri. During the meetings, the women learned how to search for the necessary information on the Internet, got acquainted with the unique platform - sosfsokhumi.ge, which contains the necessary materials for victims of violence. This work helps to increase the digital competence of the team members.

A member of one of the mutual assistance groups is currently undergoing psycho-rehabilitation at the Rehabilitation Center of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" in order to return home stronger and work more actively in the group.

The project also envisages transfer of mobile phones with an SOS application to make it easier for women to protect themselves and their children. In July, telephones were given to women living in Terjola municipality. The Mayor of Terjola Manuchar Robakidze and Deputy Chairman of City Council David Gogberashvili took part in the action of support.

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

Five more trainings were held at Youth Empowerment Centers. This time - in the municipalities of Kobuleti, Chokhatauri, Vani, Senaki and Bagdati. Young people took part in the work and training activities with great pleasure.

It is especially gratifying that they not only study issues related to conflict management and violence prevention, but also try to learn coaching skills and introduce others to familiarfor them issues. During the summer holidays, young people are going to hold informational meetings with their peers. This is a clear result of our work - it was after the trainings that they had the ambition to share their knowledge and experience with others. Young coaches also prepare for the final meeting with great enthusiasm.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

Choose a topic of the blog - Women from Ukraine...

You can do it on our web-site and...

There are stories about women who came from Ukraine to Georgia. They came for a temporal residence, till the end of the war, but they are still here. There is still war...

The author of the blog is Lali Shengelia, who went through the war herself, and the pain, sadness, missing, hope of Ukrainian women is familiar for her...

This is obvious from the stories: how painful they are for what is happening, how they worry about their loved ones who stayed in Ukraine, how they miss home, neighbors and hope that they will soon return to their homeland.

All stories are interesting and unique: Anna cries all the time when mentioning Ukraine, Natalya decided to give birth to her second child in Kutaisi, Lyubov came to her relatives, but returned to Ukraine. And the second Natalya found happiness again - she reconciled with her divorced husband and the child is very happy...

You can read much more interesting stories on our blog.

https://blogofwomanfundsukhumi.tilda.ws/#blog4

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

The Women Fund "Sukhumi" opened cutting and sewing training courses in Terjola. The opening ceremony was attended by Mayor of Terjola Manuchar Robakidze, First Deputy Chairman of the City Council David Gogberashvili and member of the Gender Equality Council Rusudan Kovziridze.

The beneficiaries will learn a new profession for two and a half months. The municipality allocated a working space in the Youth Palace. Sewing machines, materials and financial support for the teacher are provided by the Fund “Sukhumi”.

“We teach the simple secret of success and independent living - a profession that will make a woman even stronger and more confident. We have many examples of how women became more motivated after such courses and started small businesses. We are sure that we will have new success stories in Terjola as well,” said project coordinator Lela Jalagonia.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)

Senaki women initiative group worked on an advocacy plan for 2 problems identified as a result of the research. The women also discussed the risks that may arise during the advocacy process. The members of the youth group evaluated the mini-projects. Arranging debates using forum-theater was a novelty for them. The participants believe that through the mini-project they saw their own role in violence prevention.

Groups of mutual assistance have been established in ten municipalities. These groups should facilitate the exchange of information about services available in the country for women - victims of violence. According to the project it is planned to improve the digital literacy of the group members.

With this aim, digital literacy courses have been launched.

Teacher of computer technology Kristi Kutateladze held the first meetings in of Kobuleti, Terjola and Chokhatauri municipalities.

Group members talked about the information they had about municipal programs. Then they examined the web page of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" - sosfsokhumi.ge. in detail.

 “I showed them how to find organizations or programs that offer the services they need,” said Kristi Kutateladze. - We discussed in detail the SOS button, its meaning, installation and use. I also taught them how to “google” their municipality and use the services they need. We have saved the mentioned websites in Google bookmarks to easily use them in the future”.

Work will continue with women, by the end of the course their digital literacy will noticeably increase, and they will be able to solve problems.

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