Georgia: Participants share experiences and memories at the Closing Even in Kapanakhchi (Marneuli Municipality)
On the 17th of December the closing event for the Marneuli ‘Shuttle’ was held in Kapanakhchi village. This event marked the completion of an intensive 3-month programme of group and individual sessions, visits from corporate volunteers and joint activities and was attended by 15 women participants, the ‘Shuttle’ coach, representatives of the implementing agencies the Union of Azerbaijani Women of Georgia, the Center for Information and Counseling on Reproductive Health – Tanadgoma, Action Against Hunger and the EU Programme Officer, Simon Vandenbroucke. This was the second such ‘Shuttle’ run in Marneuli Municipality and was supported under the European Union-funded project “Strengthening civil society to overcome gender violence and gender equality.”
In her opening remarks, Lika Mamatsashvili, Tanadgoma Project Manager, emphasised the role that the Shuttle programme plays in regard to the empowerment of different target groups, including ethnic minorities. The social and economic inclusion approach that the Shuttle programme employs helps participants to develop their personal, interpersonal and social skills. Its goal is to support the participants in becoming more self-confident and build their motivation to find a job or create their own business in the future.
It was particularly significant that this second phase of the programme was held in Kapanakhchi village. “It is very important that we decide to implement the second phase of the ‘Shuttle’ programme in Kapanakhchi,” says Leila Suleimanova, the Director of the Union of Azerbaijani Women of Georgia, “ethnic minorities [in the villages] feel isolated from the big cites and there are no programmes available to them. As we learned from this experience, the ‘Shuttle’ programme was very effective and beneficial to Azeri women," she adds.
A total of 15 participants, between the ages of 16 and 68, attended the closing event and they exchanged their experiences with the attendees. In their feedback, the participants expressed their gratitude to the coach and explained how their engagement in the programme has given them a clearer understanding of the direction in which they can move forward with their careers and lives. “The connection and solidarity with other women that existed in the group was very important for me. I feel like we might even start a small business together,” said Boukkhanum Akhmedova, one of the ‘Shuttle’ participants.
Liaman Mamedova, the ‘Shuttle’ coach pointed out, that throughout the Shuttle programme, the participants were able to develop their soft skills, receive more information about labour market requirements in Georgia and learn more about entrepreneurship related topics. This support has led to very positive results to date. “In the first phase of the programme three participants received grants for the implementation of their business ideas and five of them decided to develop small businesses without grant support as well,” Liaman informed the attendees.
This project is led by the Center for Information and Counseling on Reproductive Health – Tanadgoma for Equality / თანადგომა თანასწორობისთვის – in partnership with Action Against Hunger South Caucasus, Women’s Initiatives Supporting Group, The Union of Azerbaijani Women of Georgia / აზერბაიჯანელ ქალთა კავშირი and the National Network of Women With Disabilities შშმ ქალთა ეროვნული ქსელი. This initiative is supported by European Union in Georgia.
Since 2015, Action Against Hunger has been carrying out the Shuttle programme with the aim of increasing the professional and personal skills of participants. By strengthening individual competences, initiative and responsibility, participants become more competitive in the labour market. This process is supported by choaches, using a non-directive facilitation-based approach.
