CAUCASUS 16 DAYS 2002 STRATEGIC PLANNING SEMINAR

Sponsored by the Government of

Organized by WomenAid International-Caucasus

Hotel Sympatia – 4, 1st  Alley Gagarin - Tbilisi, Georgia. 29 April – 1 May 2002

PRESS NEWS: CAUCASUS 16 DAYS ESTABLISH CAUCASUS GENDER INSTITUTE

Representatives of the three national coordination committees of the ‘Caucasus 16 Days’ Campaign participated in a regional seminar in Tbilisi at the Hotel Sympatia, and unanimously voted for the creation of the Caucasus 16 Days Gender Institute.  This informal ‘Gender Institute’ will facilitate regular collaboration on gender related issues by experts and NGOs from the Caucasus. Over 40 representatives of non-governmental organisations and government departments from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia took part in the three day strategic planning seminar which was held to commence planning of the Caucasus 16 Days 2002.  The participants focused on cultural and regional aspects of violence against women including domestic violence and trafficking.  Government and UN representatives discussed strategies to combat violence against women and media professionals shared their expertise on how to maximise media impact of campaign activities. 

The Canadian Government financed the regional seminar and the Caucasus 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence 2001 in the belief that these campaign activities facilitate the active participation of civil society actors in three countries in transition and strengthen the emerging Caucasus collaborative network against gender violence in all its forms. 

In 1989 14 Canadian female students were murdered because they were training to become engineers. This brutal act triggered the creation of two end-violence global campaigns: 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence and the White Ribbon Campaign – a unique initiative by Canadian men. Both campaigns were introduced to Georgia in 2000 by Pida Ripley, the Founder of WomenAid International and in 2001 were extended through the South Caucasus.  Caucasus 16 Days was the first regional coordination of the global ’16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence’ campaign in the world and was extremely successful thanks to the enthusiasm and hard work of the members of the national coordination committees in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. 

Following the success of the Caucasus 16 Days 2001, when over 500 organisations collaborated to create a large regional calendar of events and activities promoting the elimination of violence against women, WomenAid International-Caucasus was invited to represent Georgia and the Caucasus on the Open Society Institute (OSI) Advisory Committee for the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence.  The five members of the Advisory Committee were selected from CIS and East Europe countries.  The OSI evaluation identified the Georgian campaign and the Caucasus 16 Days regional campaign as excellent examples of successful national and regional campaigning and WomenAid has been asked to share its expertise with NGOs in the CIS and East Europe.

Several members of the Caucasus Anti-Trafficking Network gave presentations and radio interviews on the issue of trafficking in the region and global counter-trafficking efforts.

For more information please contact the Caucasus 16 Days Focal Point:

WomenAid International-Caucasus:

17 Khvichia St. Tbilisi 380060 Georgia Tel/Fax: (995 32) 37 92 70; (995 99) 10 28 65

Email: waigeo@access.sanet.ge  NB:Further details of activities organized by NGO partners can be found on the specially created Caucasus 16 Days website: www.womenaid.org/16 days