On September 27, 2021, the representative of the Tbilisi office of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" - Ekaterine Gamakharia participated in an Information Exchange Meeting organized by the Human Security Group of the EUMM Field Office of Zugdidi.
The topics of the meeting were the ongoing "Russification process" in the Gali district, possible prohibition of learning Georgian language in the 11th graders in the lower zone of Gali district and the effectiveness of Georgian language programs initiated by the Georgian government to promote higher education for young people living in uncontrolled areas.
Ekaterine Gamakharia underlined the need to introduce free courses to help pupils to learn Georgian language and prepare students for national exams in the Gali district and the need finance these programs from the side of the Government. During the meeting, the representative of the Fund "Sukhumi" also highlighted the ineffective practice of enrolling students in the higher education system in the Gali district, which needs to change the approach.
The Office of the State Minister of Georgia for Reconciliation and Civic Equality organized a joint meeting of the “Advisory Council for Experts on Reconciliation and Involvement Policy” and “Women, Peace, and Security - Advisory Platform on Enhancing Women's Effective Participation in Peacebuilding”. The aim of the meeting was to discuss the reconciliation and engagement policy strategy and its first evaluation and monitoring phase. The civil society representatives noted the significant progress that is evident in the implementation of the reconciliation policy from 2011 to the present.
Ekaterine Gamakharia, Head of the Women's Fund "Sukhumi" Tbilisi office, together with her colleagues, emphasized the need to take appropriate actions in response to the current challenges and to reflect them in the new strategy and action plan. Also, the need to increase financial and human resources to make existing reconciliation and confidence-building mechanisms more effective.
The members of the Council and the Platform reaffirmed their readiness to continue working closely with the Office of the State Minister on these and other issues and their willingness to engage in thematic groups in the process of developing a new Action Plan.
The workshop on drafting a three-year National Action Plan (NAP) for Implementation of the UN Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security was held.
One of the priorities of the action plan is to localize the plan and promote the active participation of women IDPs, conflict - affected women and local governmental structures in it. The workshop was attended by Ekaterine Gamakharia – the Chairperson of the Fund “Sukhumi” Tbilisi representative office.
Abrupt refusal to fund higher education tuition fee for students from Tsalenjikha and Zugdidi municipalities, living in villages along the conflict dividing line caused numerous socio-economic problems for them and their families. The recent emergency report of Fund “Sukhumi” highlights the main challenges caused by the cancellation of the “students grant” on the population, as well as provides specific recommendations to reduce the negative impacts.
The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot
für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)
A consultation platform has been set up with the Office of the State Minister on "Women, Peace, and Security - Enhancing Women's Effective Participation in the Peacebuilding Process". The contribution of the Fund "Sukhumi" is important together with the partner organizations in this success.
On May 24, 2021, Ekaterine Gamakharia, the head of the representative office of Fund “Sukhumi” participated in a regular information meeting between the participants of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) in the direction of Ergneti and representatives of civil society. Representative Offices of the State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality of Georgia and the State Security Service, the European Union Monitoring Mission, the UN Women, local CSOs and women's organizations, IDPs, and women affected by the conflict have participated in the info-sharing meeting.
At the meeting Ekaterine Gamakharia emphasized the importance of the inclusion of women's organizations with gender expertise in the group of experts, and other professionals in a specific field such as economics, ecology, violence against women, gender equality, healthcare, etc.
The head of Tbilisi representative office of the Fund “Sukhumi” - Ekaterine Gamakharia has participated in another session of high-level seminar of the OSCE Conflict Cycle.
The key question of the meeting was how can the OSCE work for inclusive and gender-just peace throughout the conflict cycle.
Welcome, and introductory remarked by Petra Tötterman Andorff, Secretary-General of the Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation, Sweden.
During the panel discussion speeches were delivered by Ms. Liliana Palihovici, The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office’s Special Representative on Gender, Nina Potarskaya, National Coordinator Ukraine, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Igo Rogova, Executive Director Kosovo Women’s Network, and Ekaterine Gamakharia, Cultural-Humanitarian Fund "Sukhumi".
The head of Tbilisi representative office of the Fund “Sukhumi” - Ekaterine Gamakharia has been involved in the High-level Opening Session of the OSCE Conflict Cycle Seminar (Conference), where she, along with the Foreign Minister of Sweden, Anne Linde; Secretary General OSCE, Helga Schmid; Undersecretary of State for Security, the America, Asia and Eastern Policy, Marcin Przydacz and Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia, and America, Miroslav Jenča gave a speech on the “Main challenges and opportunities for inclusive processes and partnered engagement with women’s civil society in the field”.
Ekaterine Gamakharia briefly talked about women’s organization’s role and contribution in peacebuilding in Georgia. She highlighted some favorable factors for women’s participation in the Peace Process. At the same time, she stressed existing challenges and barriers for “meaningful participation” of the women, that requires proper attention and response.
On 26th April, an information-sharing meeting with the CSOs on „Geneva International Discussions and the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda“ was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, and supported by the UN Women Georgia.
In the first part of the meeting, the State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality, Tea Akhvlediani, addressed the representatives of the civil society and spoke about the importance of enhancing women's involvement in peace processes and shared the future plans of state minister in this matter. Deputy Foreign Minister Lasha Darsalia discussed in detail the dynamics and challenges of the Geneva international discussions and focused on the politicization of humanitarian, security, and human rights issues by the representatives of Russia. UN Resident Coordinator in Georgia Ms. Sabine Machl spoke about the role of the UN in promoting the peace process and the work of UN agencies and their programs in resolving the humanitarian problems of the conflict-affected population.
On April 21, the Head of the Tbilisi Representation - Ekaterine Gamakharia participated in the Public Defender’s - Nino Lomjaria presentation about a special report on Impact of Closure of So-called Checkpoints in 2019-2020 on Rights Situation of Population of Occupied Territories.
According to the Public Defender of Georgia, the formal regime established by the de facto authorities for movement across the occupation line and the establishment of various barriers, such as the unpredictable closures of the so-called checkpoints, illegal arrests, problems with de facto documentation required for movement and other obstacles restrict the freedom of movement of the residents of occupied regions and create unjustified barriers to their access to livelihoods.
In her speech, Ekaterine Gamakharia focused on the possibility of free movement of Georgian citizens in the occupied territories, which this time implies the problem of obtaining the relevant document (residence permit). It still poses a risk that thousands of undocumented people will once again take the risky way of life and health to relocate to Georgian-controlled territory.