Tenth anniversary of Open Day on Women, Peace and Security marked in Tbilisi
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The annual Open Day dedicated to the experiences accumulated in implementing UN Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) and its subsequent resolutions has been celebrated in Georgia since 2014. Regular meetings with young women engaged in peacebuilding-efforts, community activists and representatives from women’s civil society organizations and from UN entities have provided a significant platform to discuss the challenges to the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda and the progress that has been made.
To mark the tenth anniversary of the Open Day on WPS in Georgia, internally displaced and conflict-affected women, as well as the representatives of civil society and UN entities, gathered at the annual event and discussed the community’s needs. More than 60 participants attended the occasion. It should be noted that members of the Network of Women and Youth Peace Ambassadors also attended the meeting. The Network’s members, who are internally displaced persons (IDPs), are impacted by the conflicts and live in the villages adjacent to the Administrative Boundary Line with Abkhazia, Georgia and the Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia, Georgia work on identifying local needs and are involved in advocacy to solve the issues identified.
At the Open Day event, the participants discussed those challenges that women face in preventing conflicts and in building sustainable peace. They shared information on the policies and programmes necessary to implement UN Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) and its subsequent resolutions. They also spoke about the progress achieved and innovative ways to strengthen gender equality in peace processes at the local level, as well as the opportunities and the challenges - which are even more crucial in the volatile security context- in implementing the Women, Peace and Security Agenda.
One of the participants, Khatuna Gogua, who is also a member of the Network of Women and Youth Peace Ambassadors, spoke about several important issues. In her community, which mainly consists of IDPs from Sokhumi, the drainage system is not functioning properly, due to which the streets flood after it rains. “The children in the community cannot play outside, and flooding poses threats to their health, including the spread of infectious diseases,” she explained. “The absence of adequate road infrastructure exacerbates this issue. Also, power lines are arranged too close to residential areas and require immediate attention. However, I would like to highlight the opening of the sports field intended for residents of the three buildings of the IDP settlement in the village of Ingiri in Zugdidi Municipality. This is an important, successful initiative to boost the physical health of the IDPs.”
The Open Day 2024 on WPS was organized by UN Women in cooperation with the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office, the Office of the UN Representative to the Geneva International Discussions (UNRGID), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other UN agencies in Georgia. The implementation of UN Women activities related to Women, Peace and Security is supported by the UK Integrated Security Fund (ISF).