Success stories - at information meetings

- Women who have changed themselves and the world around them. Stories that evoke positive emotions in listeners and increase the level of civic engagement - this is how the mobilizers of the Women Support Centers assessed the meetings held in March.

The participants of the meeting believe that the activities of the Fund "Sukhumi" and the work of the non-governmental sector in general are of particular importance in direction of strengthening the women. They emphasized the necessity of services to support victims of violence.

Five cases were identified in the Women Support Centers of Terjola, Vani, Tkibuli, Chokhatauri and Bagdati. Specialists of the Women Fund "Sukhumi" were involved in the process of the management of these cases.

At the meeting, the participants were also informed about the practical guide/toolkit: "Preventing and responding to gender-based violence in war and post-war settings - experiences and recommendations of women's NGOs", which was developed by the WAVE Network in collaboration with its four WAVE members in 2022 by the support of the OSCE. The Toolkit describes best practices and the strategies employed by the women's NGOs to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in different phases of conflict.

• Strategies during Wartime and emergency response settings were shared by Ukrainian and Armenian partners Sexual Assault Crisis Center (Yerevan, Armenia), Centre “Women’s Perspectives” (Lviv, Ukraine);
• Strategies during Protracted conflict were described by the Women's Foundation "Sukhumi" (Kutaisi, Tbilisi, Georgia);
• Strategies during Post-war and long-term perspective were based on the experience of the Bosnia-Herzegovina partner. Foundation United Women Banja Luka (Banja Luka, Bosnia & Herzegovina)

(A practical guide is available here https://www.osce.org/secretariat/530695)

The project is implemented with the support of the organization Brot

 für die Welt - Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst (Germany)