UN Women hosts annual Open Day on Women, Peace and Security
Date:
UN Women in cooperation with the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Georgia and the representatives of other UN agencies hosted the annual Open Day on Women, Peace and Security (WPS).
This year, the event aimed at supporting the dialogue between civil society organizations (CSOs), IDP and conflict-affected women, including youth, and the representatives of the UN system as well as exchanging information on the WPS issues and priorities. The event was attended by the representatives of the CSOs working in support of women’s issues, IDP and conflict-affected women and youth.
H.E. Dr. Sabine Machl, UN Resident Coordinator in Georgia, and H.E. Ms. Ayşe Cihan Sultanoğlu, United Nations Representative to the Geneva International Discussions, opened the meeting.
In her welcome speech, Ms. Sultanoğlu remarked: “I would like to express my deepest respect to you for your active work and unwavering support to the WPS agenda. I confirm that Co-Chairs and I are ready to continue implementing the WPS agenda jointly in the framework of the Geneva International Discussions.”
A significant part of the Open Day focused on the immediate needs of the conflict-affected communities. The community leader women focused on the problems, such as collapsing buildings in the IDP collective centres, malfunctioning sewer and drainage systems, road infrastructure and the lack of access to primary health care and other essential services, among other concerns. The conflict-affected women residing adjacent to the Administrative Boundary Lines (ABL) also spoke about the issues that pose a threat to the local peace and security.
Ms. Ekaterine Gamakharia, Head of the Tbilisi Office of Women’s Fund “Sukhumi”, spoke about the importance of women’s empowerment in the communities and creating enabling environment for their active participation. She underlined the importance of creating and developing the necessary social infrastructure and focused on opening kindergartens and adjusting school hours to the work schedule of working women. Further, she emphasized the importance of women’s meaningful participation in peace negotiations, for instance, through Women’s Advisory Boards established in various peace processes globally.
At the end of the meeting, the representatives of the UN agencies mentioned that they will continue their efforts to communicate the raised issues with relevant state institutions and incorporate the needs identified into their programmes and projects.
The Open Day on WPS was held within the framework of the UN Women project “Accelerating Implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Georgia”, generously funded by the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund of the UK Government.