Regular meetings continue between participants of Geneva International Discussions and civil society organizations
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UN Women, together with the U.S. Department of State, continues supporting the dialogue between the participants of the Geneva International Discussions (GID) and representatives of the civil sector.
These meetings aim to ensure information sharing among the GID participants and civil society organizations (CSOs) and experts, as well as consider women’s participation and mainstream the needs and priorities of women into the agenda of peace negotiations.
On 20 May 2019, the Office of the State Minister of Georgia for Reconciliation and Civic Equality, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and with the support of UN Women and the U.S. Department of State, held yet another information-sharing meeting, where the key results of the forty-seventh round of the GID were discussed. Namely, Lasha Darsalia, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Head of the Georgian Delegation to the GID, gave a speech on security and humanitarian issues raised by Georgia at the GID, in addition to discussing the human rights situation in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region in Georgia.
The meeting focused particularly on the increased and meaningful participation of women in peace negotiations. Martha Freeman, Head of the Regional Office of the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus, spoke about the UN Security Council resolutions on Women, Peace and Security: “The notion of including the people who have been affected directly by conflict - their issues and perspectives - needs to be taken on board. This has been proved in different conflict situations throughout the world, that you cannot have a sustainable peace without the proper inclusion [of women].”
In addition, the women’s CSOs and experts raised issues of human security, freedom of movement at the dividing line, and cases of human trafficking and ways to prevent them, as well as environmental issues.
The participants of the meeting also emphasized the necessity to mainstream international standards and instruments pertinent to human rights, particularly in regard to the rights of the women and girls in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region, including the monitoring mechanisms. Representatives of the NGO sector working on issues related to women and security once again underlined their commitment to contribute to the positive transformation of the conflicts and peacebuilding processes in Georgia, in close cooperation with the participants of the GID.