Dialogue continues between participants of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM), IDPs and conflict-affected women

UN Women continues to support regular information-sharing meetings and to facilitate dialogues between Georgian participants of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) and representatives from women’s civil society organizations, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and conflict-affected women.

With the support of UN Women, the Office of the State Minister for Reconciliation and Civil Equality, in cooperation with the State Security Service, convened an information-sharing meeting in Gori on 14 September 2022.

The State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality, Ms. Tea Akhvlediani, opened the meeting and emphasized the importance of the participation of women in peacebuilding processes, which remains a priority of the Georgian reconciliation and integration policy. She stressed that the revision of the state policy and strategy for civic participation, based on new visions, goals and priorities, aims to achieve significant progress in the reconciliation process and to improve the socio-economic conditions of conflict-affected communities. The State Minister also informed participants about the progress made in resolving the problems raised during the previous information-sharing meeting.

During the meeting, the situation along the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL), challenges related to humanitarian issues, restrictions instigated by limited freedom of movement, as well as the specific needs of local communities and women in particular were each discussed. The women involved raised a number of specific issues related to human security and requested that Georgian IPRM participants address and respond to these problems.

Lia Mikeladze, a resident of Koshka village, highlighted the importance of the youth in capacity building alongside their engagement in peace processes, while also emphasizing the need to improve their knowledge and skills related to basic principles of early warning and civil defence. “Human security remains a challenge up until now; wildfires are also frequent. I think young people should know how to act, what defence and security measures to apply in crisis situations. It is necessary to educate them on early warning and civil defence issues,” she noted.

The meeting was organized as part of the UN Women “Accelerating Implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Georgia” project, generously funded by the UK Conflict, Stability and Security Fund.