...

"The day when we joined the action was important not only in terms of cleaning. This was the identification of our civic consciousness".

"I am delighted with the work of the initiative group. This was a small celebration where everyone – young people and partner organizations, and ordinary citizens were penetrated by one desire. I’ve learned about this event from the TV plot. I liked methods of the action - a flashmob, posters, drawing on the pavement – everything was very impressive. I'm sure that young people attending the action are active citizens".

The panel dialogue carried out in Kutaisi concerned the implementation of the civic initiative of the Club of Women Voters of Fund "Sukhumi" and the elaboration of the future strategy of partner activities. Participants unanimously noted the relevance of eco-culture, so they planned to study the scope of the problem on voluntary basis and summarize the results that the local government was able to carry out certain activities in the future.

The project is implemented with the financial support

of the U.S. Embassy in Georgia

- Our civic initiative relating participation in the solution of specific problems and inclusion of local government in the process, as well as raising civic awareness and the development of youth skills to protect the environment.

It is gratifying that our activities coincided with the fact that the Georgian Ministry of Environmental Protection announced June as a "green month". For nearly a month activists of the club and schoolchildren held campaigns, systematic monitoring, which proved to be very effective. This is evidenced by the provided materials, evaluation of society that respects efforts of young people, - said the organizers of the initiative.

Young people involved in the work told guests about their activities and shared their impressions: "All avoided our monitoring group equipped with photo camera", "on June 5 – the day of environment protection - we walked through the village with banners and attracted everyone’s attention".

Representatives of local government and the Green Movement of Georgia, participating in the dialogue, offered their support in a clean-up action of the historic site - the city-fortress Nokalakevi.

The problem drew media’s attention - newspaper articles will cover the initiative. 

The project is implemented with the financial support

of the U.S. Embassy in Georgia

"The issue that we stress in a civic initiative was painful for society. Right now many are given the opportunity to express their considerations and positions. People offer physical and financial help".

"Other communities also applied to the local self-government with the request to anticipate funds in the budget for the redecoration of cemeteries”.

According to the authors of the initiative, a special account has been opened in the Bank of Georgia, leaflets have been handed out, and negotiations with the private sector have been started. Local media was interested in the initiative, and there was planned a TV programme.

At the panel dialogue held in Zugdidi representatives of local self-government thanked the women’s club of Fund "Sukhumi” for active inclusion in the civic process.

"The closer will be our cooperation, the more will be done. It is up to civic society groups to sound the information on what should be corrected, what needs responding. Listening to you I am surprised by your enthusiasm and the scope of your work. I assure you, that we are with you and support an issue of such great public interest"- said Giorgi Todua, Acting Deputy Head of Zugdidi Municipality Administration.

The project is implemented with the financial support

of the U.S. Embassy in Georgia

At the regular panel dialogue of Batumi Club of Women-Voters of Fund "Sukhumi" and local government were evaluated activities conducted within the framework of the civil initiative and planned joint activities.

 From the words of the participants:

"Batumi is preparing for the holiday season, so it is very important that in parallel with the city administartion, locals and tourists took care to ensure that the city was attractive and eco-culture was respected".

"I can not say that we properly take care of our environment, but if such actions will be carried out frequently, they will necessarily change citizens’ attitude to the city".

"For me it was not a one-time clean up action on Bartskhana area. It was the union of different segments of society - citizens' groups, youth, government, media, private sector for supporting various important issues. I think that the action will grow into a campaign".

"Your civil initiative deserves respect. We believe that young participants of the action are the future environmentalists. We – the representatives of local government want to be more actively involved in your work, and offer you our resources".

The project is implemented with the financial support

of the U.S. Embassy in Georgia

Within the framework of the initiative of Khoni Club of Women-Voters was organized a regular panel dialogue with local government. Initiators told about activities implemented after previous meetings as well as the measures taken by the local government, and the future plans, that coincide with the issues initiated by the club.

There was mentioned that activists of the Club carried out informational campaign, introduced society with their plans, and spread the initiative. This was also reflected in the TV plot of Mega TV: population has raised the issue of rehabilitation of the square, located at the entrance of Khoni and expressed readiness to take part in equipping that square with flowers and different plants.

According to the deputy head of the administration of Irakli Bakhtadze local government discussed and approved the initiative of the women's club: after the tender in the boulevard of the city will be set children's attraction. Funds have been raised for equipment of the boulevard based on the projects submitted by members of the club.

"I think that people should get the maximum benefit from the state, but he or she should take part in the creation of this good. Therefore I greatly respect every civil initiative that will serve it", - said Irakli Bakhtadze.

As for the rehabilitation of other squares, the issue will be studied and, accordingly, the optimal solution will be made.

The panel dialogue was highlighted by the TV channel "Mega TV". A newspaper article has also been prepared. All this is the best way to show the results of cooperation between civil society and local government.

The project is implemented with the financial support of the U.S. Embassy in Georgia

Within the framework of the initiative of Khoni Club of Women-Voters was organized a regular panel dialogue with local government. Initiators told about activities implemented after previous meetings as well as the measures taken by the local government, and the future plans, that coincide with the issues initiated by the club.

There was mentioned that activists of the Club carried out informational campaign, introduced society with their plans, and spread the initiative. This was also reflected in the TV plot of Mega TV: population has raised the issue of rehabilitation of the square, located at the entrance of Khoni and expressed readiness to take part in equipping that square with flowers and different plants.

According to the deputy head of the administration of Irakli Bakhtadze local government discussed and approved the initiative of the women's club: after the tender in the boulevard of the city will be set children's attraction. Funds have been raised for equipment of the boulevard based on the projects submitted by members of the club.

"I think that people should get the maximum benefit from the state, but he or she should take part in the creation of this good. Therefore I greatly respect every civil initiative that will serve it", - said Irakli Bakhtadze.

As for the rehabilitation of other squares, the issue will be studied and, accordingly, the optimal solution will be made.

The panel dialogue was highlighted by the TV channel "Mega TV". A newspaper article has also been prepared. All this is the best way to show the results of cooperation between civil society and local government.

The project is implemented with the financial support of the U.S. Embassy in Georgia

Within the framework of the initiative of Khoni Club of Women-Voters was organized a regular panel dialogue with local government. Initiators told about activities implemented after previous meetings as well as the measures taken by the local government, and the future plans, that coincide with the issues initiated by the club.

There was mentioned that activists of the Club carried out informational campaign, introduced society with their plans, and spread the initiative. This was also reflected in the TV plot of Mega TV: population has raised the issue of rehabilitation of the square, located at the entrance of Khoni and expressed readiness to take part in equipping that square with flowers and different plants.

According to the deputy head of the administration of Irakli Bakhtadze local government discussed and approved the initiative of the women's club: after the tender in the boulevard of the city will be set children's attraction. Funds have been raised for equipment of the boulevard based on the projects submitted by members of the club.

"I think that people should get the maximum benefit from the state, but he or she should take part in the creation of this good. Therefore I greatly respect every civil initiative that will serve it", - said Irakli Bakhtadze.

As for the rehabilitation of other squares, the issue will be studied and, accordingly, the optimal solution will be made.

The panel dialogue was highlighted by the TV channel "Mega TV". A newspaper article has also been prepared. All this is the best way to show the results of cooperation between civil society and local government.

The project is implemented with the financial support of the U.S. Embassy in Georgia

Women Support Centres of Fund "Sukhumi" devoted children the day full of smile, love, and colored balloons...

Dozens of children gathered in Kutaisi, Khoni, Tskhaltubo, Poti, Senaki and Khurcha.

The program was varied: a conversation about the rights of children, poems and songs, entertaining games, musical compositions performed on flute and clarinet...

And the main thing: joy, sadness, and every kid's dream expressed in words and pictures...

According to the attendees of the meeting, governmental and non-governmental agencies should make more efforts to ensure that children live better in their families.

All of them have the right to live a happy life: Saba, Anna, Dato, Mari, Dito, Keti, Luka, Irina ...

On May 20^th in the Women’s Support Centre of Senaki was held panel dialogue within the framework of the project supported by the U.S. Embassy in Georgia. There was discussed the implementation of civic initiative presented by the Senaki initiative group at the last meeting.

"The carried out activity has showed us once again how topical is the theme of ecological education. In schools almost all teachers joined educational activity. Pupils prepared posters and made ​​an exhibition that reflects the current alarming environmental picture. In parallel local government has contributed to the implementation of the initiatives. They have already booked trash bins for collective centers "- said participants of the meeting.

Especially active were young activists involved in the various programs of the Fund. They raised a number of important issues: effective work of sanitary monitoring service of the local self-government; expressed a desire to increase the scale of the public campaign, independently conduct informational and educational work, and be more actively engage media.

Representatives of the local authorities noted that a positive result of the civil initiative is obvious. They emphasized the great motivation of young people and a relevant civil liability of their heads, and answered in detail to the questions.

At the suggestion of the representative of the local Red Cross Society, attending the meeting, their volunteers, many of whom are doctors, would gladly join the campaign in order to more clearly show people threat to their health because of the polluted environment.

The project is implemented with the financial support of the U.S. Embassy in Georgia. 

On 16^th of May an initiative group of the Club of Women-Voters organized panel dialogue with representatives of the local government of Poti.

The theme of the "dialogue" was the issue of cooperation of the local government and citizens for the construction of an entertaining children's corner in the kindergarten number 11, located on Mgaloblishvili street.

"In our city, the level of such activities of the citizens is very low, so we welcome and fully support this initiative, given that such work had been planned in the long term perspective in that district. Organized involvement of the population in this issue will only accelerate its timely solution".

 "Of course, we support this initiative and will do all our best to lobby it. As a result - kids will have a desirable square and there will be no threat posed by the existing situation"- so the club representatives evaluated the initiative of the local government.

At the meeting they discussed the details of a joint initiative and its implementation plan.

The project is supported by the U.S. Embassy in Georgia

On April 23-28, with the support of the international organization Kvinna Till Kvinna representatives of Fund "Sukhumi" and Association of Women of Abkhazia were on a working visit to Israel, where they visited local women's non-governmental organizations. Particular importance in the course of this visit was given to the exchange of experiences.

An important meeting was held in the office Kvinna Till Kvinna, where representatives of the two organizations got acquainted with basic challenges facing women in the region in terms of protection of their rights. Activities of the organizations supported by KTK in Israel are multiple, based on the fact that different women’s communities have different problems and, accordingly, strategies of their solutions are different.

The second meeting was held in the organization Itach Maki (Women Lawyers for Social Justice). Representatives of the organizations shared information about their activities. As a result we got answers to our questions about the importance of inclusion of Israeli women’s issues in the political agenda of the country, elaboration of a strategy that envisages effective cooperation with the government for the creation of gender legislation and a system for the monitoring of implementation of these laws, about the consolidation of women's movements and the selection of topics in these organizations.

It should be noted that despite the achievements, activists of women's movement believe that much more needs to be done, and they have no right to relax.

An important fact is also that the meetings gave rise to the planning of necessary activities for the mobilization of Abkhaz and Georgian women and to the future cooperation between Fund "Sukhumi" and the Association of Women of Abkhazia.

- Equality means that rights of none of the sexes should not be infringed.

 - Woman’s word must have a value in the family. If no one considers with her word, it is violence - such views were expressed at the meeting with the participation of young women.

 According to them, it is difficult to achieve gender equality in Georgia, because stereotypes create serious barriers. When equality is violated at the expense of others’ rights, it takes the form of violence. Participants think that such meetings are very important. Women should be informed at an early age. The more woman is informed about her rights, equality, the less she runs the risk of becoming a victim of violence.

 The meetings were held in Kutaisi, Senaki, Poti, Koki (Zugdidi district), Tskhaltubo and Khoni. It was attended by more than 80 girls.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization EED Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization EED Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst.

- Tolerance – how young people understand this word, or what it means. In which case, or in what situation they can be tolerant - these issues were discussed at informational meetings with young women which were held in Kutaisi (16/01/2013), Poti (01/20/2013), Tskhaltubo (21/01/2013), Khoni (01/22/2013), Senaki (01/28/2013), and in the village Koki (01/25/2013).  The meetings were attended by 70 young women.

Participants made emphasis on religion. They said that in their settlements live people representing different religious sects, but that does not prevent them from communication.

At the meetings were raised the issue of mixed families. Girls said that the younger generation is tolerant unlike their parents.

Some of the participants did not know the meaning of the word "tolerance", so the discussion was very interesting.

In the second part of the meeting participants discussed the topic of conflict and remembered live examples. They talked about their mistakes, how they react in conflict situations and which methods they use to solve them.

According to young people, such workshops should be held in all cities that young people can do full-fledged analysis of conflict and find solution in any situation.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization EED Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst.

33 schoolchildren from different schools of Kutaisi hosted the film screening organized in Fund "Sukhumi”. "One Ordinary Day" was shot in 2009 by schoolgirls within  the framework of a project funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

The script of the film is about violence and many problems caused by violence. The heroine of the film has no friends, because her father is an alcoholic and there is constant violence in their family.

That is what prompted the girl to suicide.

The film caused an active discussion. According to some participants suicide was not the solution, and she had to find the strength to strive for a better future. Participants also thought of changing the tragic end, though, in their opinion: it is the tragic end that shows the main idea of ​​the film.

The objective of the meeting has been reached: the film has reminded young people that they should not break with the children from problem families. On the contrary – they should help them find what they lack in their families and contribute to their normal development.

The project is implemented with the financial support of Czech organization "People in Need”.

New Year 2013 started for the Women's Support Centres with a meeting of mobilizers from six centers, which took place on January 18 at the WSC in Tskhaltubo.

The main topic of discussion was the development of a plan to monitor cases of abuse, and to work with local authorities and the work of advocacy. Were reviewed and discussed design ideas for further work WPCs. Mobilizers have developed a plan of mobilization meetings for 6 months and discussed topics for future meetings.

The project is implemented with the support of the organization EED Evangelischer Entwicklungsdienst.

Information meetings in different IDP collective centers have been continued in the frame of the 16-day campaign.

Mobilizer of Kutaisi Women's Support Centre of Fund "Sukhumi" conducted information meetings in three collective centres - the former pharmacy and tractor plant buildings (already owned by IDPs), Culinary School.

Participants said that they condemn violence against women and join the global protest.

Attendees were given leaflets, calendars, posters, released in the frame of the campaign.

Women IDPs expressed their desire to spread information about the campaign in their communities and contribute to the creation anti-violence attitude in society.