Open Day on Women, Peace and Security
Date:
For the eighth consecutive year, UN Women in cooperation with the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office and UN system representatives, organized an Open Day on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) in Georgia. This year’s Open Day brought together about 60 representatives of women’s CSOs, CBOs, grassroots IDP and conflict-affected women and youth from Shida Kartli, Imereti and Samegrelo regions.
Open Day was held on November 5, 2021 and focused on the outcomes of the implementation of the 2018-2020 national action plan (NAP) on WPS and successive NAP drafting process, where direct participation of women’s CSOs, IDP and conflict-affected women were ensured resulting in an impact-driven and result-oriented draft of the new NAP, addressing the specific needs and priorities of IDP and conflict-affected women and youth.
During the meeting, UN Resident Coordinator, Ms. Sabine Machl and UN Representative to the Geneva International Discussions, Ms. Ayşe Cihan Sultanoğlu, briefed the audience on WPS commitments and actions, and underlined the importance of women’s meaningful participation: “I would like to reiterate my personal and the Co-Chairs’ commitment to jointly continue implementation of the WPS agenda in the GID process, including carefully listening to women during the Open Day” - said Cihan Sultanoğlu
During the meeting, representatives of women’s CSOs, IDP and conflict-affected women and youth addressed the challenges they experience every day: severe conditions in IDP collective centers, immediate housing for the IDPs and right to property, access to essential services such as water and sanitation facilities, access to internet, and issues related to environment.
Mari Narmania, IDP youth activist from Samegrelo region, shared an idea for the communities across the Administrative Boundary Lines (ABLs): “We can create spaces such as libraries or digital spaces serving as the platform for conflict affected youth, which will help them to come together, meet each other and exchange their ideas on reimagining peace and planning our future together.”
At the end of the meeting, Ms. Kaori Ishikawa, UN Women Country Representative in Georgia, reaffirmed that joint efforts and coordination of UN agencies on WPS will continue, also in the form of regular meetings in the regions to learn more on specific needs of IDP and conflict-affected women and youth, and support in advocacy with relevant decision makers and development partners to address them accordingly.
The findings and recommendations from the Open Day inform further advocacy work and technical support of the UN system, in line with UN entities mandates and commitments, as well as influence policies and programmes related to the implementation of WPS agenda in Georgia.