The First Lady of Georgia Maka Chichua visited Bolnisi municipality’s educational- rehabilitation center for children with disabilities. While there she also received information about Bolnisi’s Municipally run Women’s Room, a service providing consultation and linkages to resources for local rural inhabitants. The First Lady was hosted by the Governor of Kvemo Kartli Grigol Nemsadze and the Gamgebeli of Bolnisi Municipality Davit Sherazadishvili. The Alliances Caucasus Programme who facilitated the inception of the rooms now present in 17 rural municipalities and two cities in Georgia was invited and highlighted the pertinence of the service to the supporting the initiative of the First Lady.
“We are here to stress the importance of cooperation between civil sector and local government to support and help parents, especially mothers, who have children with different, special needs. I’m happy to hear that Bolnisi municipality has already done much for these people and also very interested in the municipal service Women’s Room which can become an important source of support for families who need more information and knowledge of sources of help and linkages,” – said Maka Chichua. She also expressed interest in supporting the spread of the Women’s Rooms in the future.
The First Lady was not unfamiliar with the Women’s Room service having visited Khelvachauri municipality Women’s Room two weeks ago with the First Lady of Adjara. Her visits were planned under the campaign for the ‘Mobilization and Strengthening of the Parental Community’ to support a project of the coalition Movement for Change.
Locals, interested parties including the Minister of Agriculture of Ajara and tourists, in the height of the Batumi summer run enjoyed a new addition to the summer time calendar of events with the first Ajara Honey Festival on August 22nd on Batumi Boulevard. The festival was organized by The Beekeepers Association of Ajara, an entity belonging to the Ajara Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Ajara is a major producer of honey in Georgia and the programme has completed a sector survey and commenced numerous interventions. The festival was a first step in promoting Ajara as a producer of high quality honey and developing a cohesive image of honey production in the region. Beekeeping in Ajara has been practiced for centuries and still includes the capturing of wild swarms and cultivating of honey in logs known as ‘Jara’.
The National Food Agency representatives met with entrepreneurs of honey and meat sectors in Kvemo Kartli and Ajara regions in July. The aim of the meetings was to inform local producers on the regulations and required standards for the quality production of meat and honey products in accordance with FS&H standards.
Food Safety and Hygiene in the Agrarian Market of Batumi was the main topic of the ALCP AJ Advisory Committee’s second meeting in Ajara region. The discussion concerned the incompliance of existing situation in Market with FS&H standards and possible risks derived from the meat and dairy products purchased there. Due to the importance and complexity of the issue, key market stakeholders such as representatives of Ajara Government, NFA and Agrarian Market participated in the meeting.
“Women in Georgia – Tradition and Contemporaneity” is a short documentary film prepared by ‘Netgazeti’ (online newspaper) about women living in Ghordjomi Community (Khulo Municipality, Ajara). Ghordjomi is one of the largest Muslim communities in Ajara and is known for its early marriage traditions, and other strict rules and attitudes towards women. The film describes the harsh daily routine of the women starting from 6 am in the morning with taking care of the cattle, children, household and the restrictions they face in daily life.
The ALCP AJ programme’s Focus Group Survey and Gender Analysis captured these issues and also noted the consequent effect on the participation of women in the decision-making processes at the community and local governmental levels which is chronically low.
The first meeting of the Regional DRR Working Group was carried out at the KK Governor Office.
The Governor of Kvemo Kartli - Paata Khizanashvili encouraged decision makers from all municipalities of the region to pay more attention on issues linked with Animal Disease Control, Pasture Usage and Disaster Risk Reduction. He noted that the municipal leaders should understand these are the issues of high importance and the new municipal working groups should have strong communication with the Governor’s office and with other municipalities of Kvemo Kartli.
By now, all seven municipalities of Kvemo Kartlli have DRR working groups coordinated by the regional government.
A new project “Closer to Nature” was launched by Batumi Botanical Garden facilitated by ALCP AJ to promote 165 school student’s involvement in biodiversity and environmental protection activities.
