Women and youth peace ambassadors summarize the results of their work
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Women community leaders who are internally displaced persons (IDPs) or affected by conflict play a unique role in implementing the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda at the local level. Accordingly, supporting them is one of the priorities of UN Women. It is noteworthy that a significant result achieved in this direction was the establishment of the first large-scale network of such leaders in Georgia - the Network of Women and Youth Peace Ambassadors, which has been active since the end of 2023.
The network brings together more than 200 IDP and conflict-affected women and youth living in 17 municipalities. All of them have been trained in modern technologies, information compiling and documentation issues and are involved in local policy development, implementation and advocacy processes.
It was precisely to share this experience and discuss the existing challenges that women and youth members of the network gathered in Tskaltubo on 22 and 23 February 2025. They spoke about the problems faced by the IDP and conflict-affected communities, discussed the difficulties encountered in the process of resolving the problems and summarized the work accomplished in 2024.
As noted at the meeting, during 2024, network members implemented 41 community initiatives in 17 target municipalities as a result of studying the local needs of the communities. In addition, community leaders identified 77 advocacy issues regarding the needs of IDPs and residents living along the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL), 23 of which have already been successfully resolved, while progress continues to be made on the remaining issues through work with relevant agencies.
Alongside these results, the women also spoke about the problems that are still relevant to the IDP and conflict-affected communities. Among the challenges, they named the lack of meeting spaces, complicated communication in a changing political environment, difficulties in gaining trust, and the low level of involvement of young people and the local population in general.
At the end of the meeting, the women leaders that had united within the network once again emphasized the need to pool their experiences and capabilities to implement the WPS agenda, to emphasize the role that women and girls play in conflict prevention, resolution and peacebuilding, and to continue developing and advocating community initiatives to address their needs. “The strength, courage and progress of the women members of the network are the result of tireless work,” said network member Tamar Sachaleli, who lives in the village of Kvemo Chala in Kaspi Municipality (region of Shida Kartli). “I believe that we women can change a lot with our just vision and actions - and create a developed and happy future for Georgia. An abundance of women leaders is essential for the success of the country.”
UN Women has been working on the localization of the WPS agenda in Georgia since 2018. The initiative is being implemented in collaboration with three civil society organizations: the Women’s Information Center, the IDP Women’s Association “Consent” and the Women’s Fund “Sukhumi”.
The localization of the WPS agenda and the establishment of the Network of Women and Youth Peace Ambassadors are key components of the UN Women project “Accelerating Implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Georgia”, generously funded by the UK Government.