An online conference on "Women and Mobility - Gender Aspects of The Women Daily Movement" was organized by the Office of the Public Defender of Georgia and supported by the German Cooperation Society (GIZ). The welcoming speeches were made by: Martina Kolby, Program Director of the German International Cooperation “Mobility for Cities”, Nino Tsilosani, Chairperson of the Gender Equality Council of the Parliament of Georgia, and Niko Tatulashvili, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Human Rights.
Nino Korinteli - a researcher of the Fund "Sukhumi" Tbilisi Representative Office, was actively involved in the discussion. She participated in the online meeting as an independent consultant and co-author of the research. During the presentation, she highlighted the importance of women's economic empowerment (especially for vulnerable groups) and underlined, that despite the Monitoring Report of Fund "Sukhumi" - "Development of Child Care Services to Promote Women's Employment and Ensure Effective Prevention and Response to Domestic Violence" focuses on barriers to the development of childcare services, these two researches combine the emphasis on factors that promote women's economic empowerment (e.g. education, professional growth and employment)and the obstacles (e.g. according to the Fund “Sukhumi” research, restrictions to movement are considered as a barrier in getting education ).
Another online round table was held in Tkibuli. Referral entities: members of the City Council Gender Equality Council, representatives of local self-government and police, kindergartens, schools, educational resource center, medical staff attended the meeting. They got acquainted with the presentation of the research of the Fund “Sukhumi” aimed at monitoring of the services available to victims and discussed the developed recommendations. During the meeting, they also spoke about the statistics of arresting orders in Tkibuli municipality, identification of violence and the services for victims’ assistance.
Online round table was attended by local entities of Tsalenjikha municipality: members of the City Council Gender Equality Council, representatives of local self-government and police, kindergartens and schools, an educational resource center, and medical staff. There was a presentation of the research conducted by the Fund "Sukhumi" on monitoring of services for violence victims. The conversation touched upon important issues: statistics of arresting orders in the area of the municipality, identification of problems, the situation in terms of assistance to the victim...
At the initiative of the Fund "Sukhumi" representatives of local referral entities: members of Gender Equality Council, representatives of local self-government and the police gathered at the round table in Senaki. There was a presentation of a research on monitoring of services for victims of violence, conducted by the Fund "Sukhumi".
At the meeting, there was a conversation regarding the situation in the municipality in terms of violence, prevention of violence against women / domestic violence and victims’ protection. The emphasis was placed on cooperation with local structures.
- Who is the leader, what is civic activism, how does a leader differ from an activist? - An information meeting on these issues was held with members of Khoni Youth Initiative Group.
Participants also gave their own examples of how they are involved in civic activism: participating in planting trees in the school yard, cleaning the school grounds, providing humanitarian assistance to vulnerable families, feeding homeless animals ...
Young people know that leadership and civic activism are interrelated and contribute to the development of one another.
Two more meetings were held in women initiative groups. The members of the group took an active part in population’s needs assessment and listened to the results of the research with interest. One of the participants noted that the municipality does not have the luxury of conducting research and thanked the Fund "Sukhumi" for its work. The research will be submitted to the local self-government to take into account the recommendations developed.
The gender Council of Kobuleti municipality, organized a round table on "Prevention of violence and protection of violence victims, social cooperation and referencing" in partnership with the Fund "Sukhumi" and the participation of governmental structures and social institutions. The cases of violence against women and domestic violence were discussed. The guests invited by the Fund "Sukhumi" - representatives of Senaki municipality shared their experience with their colleagues from Kobuleti in the field of children’s rights protection.
The participants of the meeting analyzed the situation in terms of violence and identified the prospects for social cooperation.
The Fund “Sukhumi” conducted the round table in Samtredia municipality with participation of representatives of local referral entities. The meeting discussed issues of violence prevention and protection of victims, the situation in terms of violence and social cooperation. The attention was paid to the problem of domestic violence and the prospects for cooperation with local structures.
According to the meeting participants, joint activities can identify problems, as a result, the level of their solution and prevention will increase.
The biggest challenge was the attitude of society towards the problem of violence. The need for information and educational work and activation of the municipal gender council in this regard was highlighted.
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 Fund "Sukhumi" held a round table in Zugdidi with participation of the representatives of local referral entities.
During the meeting there was a discussion regarding prevention of violence and protection of violence victims (referring of social cooperation), analysis of the situation in terms of domestic violence and definition of prospects for social cooperation. The emphasis was made on the problem of domestic violence and the prospects of cooperation with local structures.
The project "Strengthening of Women's Rights in Western Georgia" was also presented at the meeting.
According to the participants of the meeting, joint activities will enable to identify problems, increase the quality of their solution and prevention.
