A public discussion – “Prevention and Response to Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence in Georgia” was held, organized by the National Association of Local Authorities of Georgia (NALAG) and supported by UN Women.
The event, which was conducted through the Zoom platform and Facebook Live, was organized to increase awareness among representatives of the association’s member municipalities and civil society on these issues.
The meeting was opened by NALAG’s Deputy Executive Director, CEMR Gender Expert and “Gender Policy Localization” project coordinator – Natia Ghvinashvili, together with UN Women’s Governance Program Manager – Tamar Vashakidze.
As the association’s representative explained, the purpose of the event held within the framework of the 16-day campaign against gender-based violence is to discuss in a discussion format the existing challenges and ways to overcome them in the fight against violence against women and domestic violence and protection of victims, and to share experiences.
According to her, through today’s meeting format, citizens interested in the topic were given the opportunity to become more deeply acquainted with both detailed information about human rights and the rights and obligations of local self-government.
Tamar Vashakidze highlighted the measures implemented by NALAG to eliminate inequality in the country and thanked the organization for coordinated and productive work with member municipalities in this direction, including within the framework of the 16-day campaign.
The UN Women representative also spoke about the importance of the Municipal Action Plan for Gender Equality guidebook developed jointly with the association and expressed hope that the newly elected local government, together with NALAG, will continue the fight against gender-based violence even more actively.
The meeting continued with presentations by field experts.
The representative of the Public Defender’s Office – Sopho Rusetski, introduced the attending public to the main progress and challenges that exist in Georgia regarding the prevention and response to violence against women and domestic violence.
Expert – Goga Khatiashvili reviewed the existing services for victims in this direction and related challenges.
Event participants also had the opportunity to learn about the role of municipalities in preventing and responding to violence against women and domestic violence, which was discussed in detail by UN Women representative – Irina Japaridze.
The meeting continued in a discussion format, in which representatives of municipalities actively participated. The majority of public event participants spoke about measures implemented in their own local government units and shared their experience with colleagues.
The event was evaluated by Natia Ghvinashvili together with UN Women representative Mariam Jobava, and she expressed readiness to help and support each municipality initiative that will be directed towards eliminating inequality when necessary.
