Shida Kartli Community Fund for Peace and Development works with community members for the purpose of civic engagement in Shida Kartli. it was established on May 29, 2012 by some of the most active participants of the initiative groups established under UN Women’s “Women for Equality, Peace and Development in Georgia” Project. Under this project, the women leaders undertook professional training and seminars, volunteered their time for community initiatives and obtained experience in communicating with local authorities. The Fund is based in Tirdznisi village in Gori Municipality, just a few miles away from the administrative boundary of South Ossetia with Georgia proper and the nearby Russian military base.
The objectives of the organisation are: empowerment of women for the purpose of civic engagement, solving local problems with the active participation of community members, establishment of voluntarism in youngsters. Major donors to the organisation are: UN Women, Foundation TASO and local municipality government.
Activities
Shida Kartli Community Fund for Peace and Development has implemented up to ten projects throughout its existence. The following activities have been implemented within the framework of these projects: improvement of kindergarten facilities in Tirznisi, building of a small pitch, training of kindergarten teachers on modern approaches of teaching, and business training for local people. In 2017, the organisation assisted local authorities in enlarging the kindergarten to include children from three neighbouring villages bordering the occupation line with Tskhinvali Region.
The Fund has also managed to forge relations between ethnic Ossetian residents of village Koshkebi (Gori Municipality) with residents of Skra IDP settlement (Gori Municipality) and other young people affected by the conflict.
As part of the sub-grants issued by the organisation, computer labs and libraries were launched. Puppet theatre was organised for children of the Tirznisi Kindergarten.
With the financial support of the local self-government, the organisation conducted computer skills trainings for socially vulnerable and single women. In 2017, the Community Fund organised handicraft workshops for local socially vulnerable children.
The Fund implements a number of activities outside donor funding. Namely, it assists the locals with computer services, helps local community groups in grant-writing and actively participates in meetings and media programmes devoted to the issue of women living in conflict-affected areas. In 2017, the organisation held a meeting of local youth with national rugby team members within a campaign against violence against women.
The office of the organisation frequently hosts the monitoring of the European Union’s Monitoring Mission in Georgia and the representatives of Public Defenders Office of Georgia, who visit to learn about the situation in conflict-affected areas.
