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.

On March 25, 2021, Ekaterine Gamakharia, Head of the Tbilisi Office of the Fund "Sukhumi", participated in the side-event had been held within the framework of the 65th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW65).

Ekaterine and her organization documented about the devastating impact on the economic situation of IDPs and conflict-affected women. She stressed that women’s participation in policy formulation is critical in ensuring a sustainable recovery.

“I am passionate about contributing to a peaceful, just, and progressive society, in which women, together with men, are able to make a difference through their activism. I firmly believe that peace and security cannot be sustained unless women have an equal and active role in political, economic, and social policy formulation.”

On 11 March, the EUMM Mtskheta Regional Office on Human Security has organized an information-sharing meeting dedicated to women’s leadership in conflict-affected communities and in local governments, the importance of their activism, challenges, and opportunities for their participation in the decision-making process. The meeting was attended by the representatives of the EUMM, as well as other international organizations accredited in Georgia and civil society organizations.

Ekaterine Gamakharia, the representative of Fund “Sukhumi” Tbilisi office highlighted the challenges and barriers that hinder women’s meaningful participation in the decision-making process and the obstacles that prevent IDP and conflict-affected to be engaged in advocacy of their own concerns. She emphasized the need to empower IDPs and conflict-affected women especially those living close to the conflict dividing line, to raise their awareness, build their capacity and develop a strong civil society in the field. She has also drawn attention to the importance of active communication, exchange of information, and cooperation between international organizations, civil society organizations, and community leaders.

The Fund "Sukhumi" presents its new rapid assessment report – “Dashed hopes of the fire-affected population in the Gali district: Needs and response strategies”, which discusses priority needs and human security concerns of the population affected by the wildfires that broke out in January 2021 in the Gali district.

Ekaterine Gamakharia, Head of the Tbilisi Representative Office of the Fund "Sukhumi" has participated in a meeting organized by the Association “Peaceful and Business Caucasus”. The meeting was dedicated to the situation of the fire-affected population in Gali district.  The representative of Fund “Sukhumi” has made a presentation and informed meeting participants about key findings and urgent needs of fire-affected population reflected in the organization’s recently published rapid-assessment report.

The meeting was attended by the civil society organizations working on the issues of IDPs and conflict-affected population, representatives of the de jure authorities of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia, and the fire-affected persons.

The response strategies and actions of joint efforts were actively discussed during the meeting.

Fund “Sukhumi” systematically monitors and studies the situation of IDP and conflict affected women and girls living close to the conflict dividing line with Abkhazia and other locations with law degree of security and high risk of violence occurrence. To assess the situation of the population, we developed and launched Gender Responsive Early Warning System (GREWS), which is complex mechanism of gender sensitive conflict analysis. The study was conducted in September-December, 2020 and covered 11 target municipalities of Fund «Sukhumi» - Kutaisi, Tskaltubo, Terjola, Khoni, Senaki, Poti, Zugdidi (Koki, Khurcha, Shamgona, Kakhati), Tsalenjikha (Pakhulani, Tskoushi), Lanchkhuti, Ozurgeti, Kobuleti and the villages adjacent to the conflict dividing line in the Gali district (Nayui96evi and Saberio).

The new publication: „The Gender Dimension of the COVID-19 Crisis: Assessing the Efficiency of Pandemic Response” provides detailed information about the impact of pandemic on the human security of women and girls living in the target regions of Fund “Sukhumi” and describes population’s attitude towards the efficiency of the central and local authorities’ response to the pandemic.

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The Fund "Sukhumi" presents a new publication, “The Gender Dimension of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Its Impact on Human Security”, outlining the key challenges and problems faced by our beneficiaries, especially women and girls.

The rapid assessment aimed at exploring and studying the main problems and gender needs caused by the COVID-19 in the lives of the organization's beneficiaries and developing an appropriate and timely response strategy.

The rapid assessment analysis is published in two languages - Georgian and English.

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