Lawyers of the Legal Aid Service learning about the Women, Peace and Security agenda

Internally displaced and conflict-affected women living in villages near the Administrative Boundary Lines (ABLs) in Georgia find themselves with specific legal needs but often lack access to the relevant services. It is noteworthy that they have been receiving free legal aid since 2010 with the support of UN Women; this successful experience is what has laid the foundation for the cooperation between UN Women and the Legal Aid Service (LAS), aimed at supporting the LAS with regard to Women, Peace and Security (WPS) issues.

The first steps have already been taken in this area as part of the partnership with the LAS, focused on raising awareness on WPS. A training session was held for LAS staff on 1 and 2 August, attended by 25 representatives from the agency’s central and regional offices.

During the training, the participants were introduced to basic concepts and terms about gender, the essence and importance of gender mainstreaming, the impact of war and conflicts from the gender perspective, the WPS agenda, the situation and challenges in Georgia, and the importance of women’s participation in peacebuilding and decision-making processes.

A significant part of the meeting was dedicated to learning about the legal needs of internally displaced (IDP) and conflict-affected women. As noted, these needs mainly concern domestic violence, property rights in real estate and inheritance, which, put into perspective, also hinder the women’s access to finances and their economic empowerment.

“The training once again highlighted that gender discrimination still persists in our society,” said Ledi Kordzadze, who works at the Tbilisi Bureau for Specialized Cases of the Legal Aid Service. “For me, as a female lawyer, it was important to see the difficulties and needs that conflict-affected women are experiencing. I have realized how important it is to involve as many women as possible in the negotiations about war and peace, and I have become willing to contribute to raising their awareness and meeting their needs.”

It is noteworthy that the LAS staff who attended the meeting are planning to visit the villages near the ABLs, to meet with local women and to provide free counselling on legal matters with the support of UN Women.

The LAS covers almost the entire territory of the country through its legal aid bureaus and consultation centres. Their service reaches out to not only the territories along the ABLs but also the IDP settlements. Accordingly, it is especially important to train the LAS lawyers to ensure that as many IDP and conflict-affected women have access to legal aid as possible, considering their specific needs.

It is also worth noting that through this initiative, UN Women has contributed to the implementation of the 2022–2024 National Action Plan of Georgia for Implementation of the UN Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace and Security, one of the activities of which is to provide training to the staff of the Legal Aid Service.

The training was conducted within the framework of the project “Accelerating Implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Georgia”, implemented with the generous financial support of the UK Government.