WUNRN
Information on Abkhazia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abkhazia
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Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation – Sweden – Kvinna till Kvinna – “Woman to Woman” - Kvinna till Kvinna cooperates with women’s organisations working for women’s rights and peace - http://kvinnatillkvinna.se/en/2014/09/30/the-mobile-team-is-womens-only-chance-to-see-a-gynecologist/
ABKHAZIA – PROTRACTED CONFLICT – BREAKAWAY REGION FROM GEORGIA – TRADITIONAL VIEWS OF WOMEN – ISOLATED – STRUGGLES FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS
Working for
women’s rights in the breakaway region of Abkhazia in South Caucasus is an
uphill struggle. 20 years after the armed conflict ended, society is still
literally torn to pieces and violence against women is something you just don’t
talk about.
Earlier in
September, The Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation visited our partner organisations
in the breakaway region of Abkhazia, to strengthen their work with women’s
rights. We asked our Secretary General Lena Ag about her impressions of the
journey:
The
breakaway region of Abkhazia in connection with its declaration of
independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Georgia
suffered internal conflicts, which resulted in several breakaway regions, among
them Abkhazia and South Ossetia. They are outside the Georgian government’s
control and governed by their own de facto governments.
For some time,
solutions to the conflicts have been discussed in the Geneva talks on Georgia,
Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Russia. Women’s organisations have not been seen as
relevant actors in these talks and have mainly been excluded.
“The thing that
strikes you is that the material destruction from the armed conflict 20 years
ago, still is so evident: buildings abandoned from when people fled headlong
stand collapsing, there are wounds in the landscape and broken down roads. It
is all a strong reminder. Before the conflict, this area was a thriving holiday
paradise with a prosperous, cosmopolitan population; with many scholars and
intellectuals. It is a very beautiful region.
It is always sad
coming to regions where people who used to be neighbours have turned against
each other. We experienced this in the Balkans and we see it in Abkhazia. It is
a region that broke away from Georgia in 1991 and since then is de facto
autonomous. They see themselves as a separate country and Russia is
guaranteeing their safety.
This is a conflict
that has never been resolved. There are peace talks taking place in Geneva, but
not much is happening, which of course affects the Abkhaz society. Nothing
works properly. Our partner organisations asked us for example: ‘How are we
supposed to conduct our work on the basis of the UN’s Convention on the
Elimination of All Discrimination against Women, CEDAW, in a country that is
not a country?’ The de facto government has only been recognized by six
countries and can therefore not be held accountable to international bodies.
My impression is that
this is a region that everyone has forgotten. They receive no attention from
the international community.”
How does the
conflict affect the Abkhaz society?
“When people’s
loved ones are being killed and their property destroyed, the conflict deepens
and becomes more difficult to solve. That is what happened in Abkhazia. No one
is immune to that – nor women’s rights defenders. People get caught up in the
division of ‘us’ and ‘them’.”
How are our
partner organisations working to strengthen women’s rights in Abkhazia?
“The Abkhaz
society is very traditional, with many stereotypes of how women and men should
be; views that are rarely challenged. There is no real access to information –
the little you can get hold of is all originating from Russia. However, our
partner organisations visit schools to talk about gender roles, strengthen
young women’s leadership and are planning to work to get more women into
politics ahead of the next elections, both at local level and in the de facto
parliament. One of our partner organisations work with women’s reproductive
health and rights, for instance through a mobile health care team that visits
women in the mountain areas. For them, that is their only possibility to see a
gynecologist.
Violence against
women is not something that you talk about, it is not recognized as a social
problem. Kvinna till Kvinna’s partner organisations have tried to highlight
these issues and thanks to their efforts, the situation for women has slightly
improved. But there is a lot left to be done. Abkhazia has no functioning
institutions, which makes it difficult to work for a promotion of women’s
rights.”
What is Kvinna
till Kvinna’s most important task in Abkhazia?
“To challenge
habitual opinions and prejudices. We try to have a constructive dialogue with
our partner organisations and bring in new ideas, other ways of looking at
things, which are needed because they are so isolated from the outside world.”What
are your strongest impressions from the trip?
“I was struck by
how easy it is to tear down a society – in terms of human life as well as
historical and cultural values – and how incredibly difficult it is to rebuild
it. Despite this, women choose to get involved! They notice the problems and
try to correct them with their extremely limited resources, at the same time as
they are forgotten by everyone.”
Karin Råghall