UN Women Supports the Dialogue between Women's NGOs and State Agencies

On 7 July 2016, UN Women supported a meeting between women’s NGOs and state agencies at the Zugdidi Centre for Civic Engagement to discuss the concerns of the conflict-affected population in the Samegrelo Region, as well as to share information about the ongoing programmes currently implemented in the region. The meeting held special significance as it marked the return of Gali Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) after a four-year hiatus, in addition to being the first time that IPRM Gali participants met with the civil sector.

Representatives from the Office of the State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality of Georgia, the State Security Service, the EUMM and NGOs participated in the meeting, which was also attended by residents of Gali.

Through meetings similar to this one, which are also held in the Shida Kartli Region, UN Women supports the active engagement of women in the ongoing process and creation of a mechanism of dialogue between women’s NGOs and state agencies. As Erika Kvapilova, UN Women Country Representative in Georgia, stated, “This meeting facilitates information exchange about the ongoing processes and supports more active engagement of women in problem-solving, as well as greater cooperation and communication between the NGO sector and government agencies, which also meets the interests of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism.”

The meeting was held within the framework of the technical support provided by UN Women to the Office of the State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality, which aims at supporting the implementation of a new National Action Plan of Georgia on UN Security Council resolution 1325et al (included in the Human Rights Action Plan).