Our partners in the South Caucasus promote women’s rights and peace in the face of unresolved territorial conflicts, conservative ideas and an ever-shrinking space for civil society. Together, we support women and build peace in the Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian and Abkhaz contexts.
The Kvinna till Kvinna Foundation has been working in the South Caucasus region since 2003 from the regional office based in Tbilisi.
Armenia is dealing with the aftermath of a resounding defeat in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War, and the displacement of the remaining Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023. Women have few opportunities to take part in peace talks, but are leading the work of supporting displaced Karabakh Armenians, as well as those communities most impacted by the effects of the war. We build trust across conflict lines, encourage women’s political engagement and support survivors of abuse.
We have supported women’s rights in the Azerbaijan since 2004. There is little space for activism in the country’s harshly repressive climate. Nevertheless, brave individuals and groups work to address gender-based violence, child marriage and femicide.
Georgian activists have relative freedom, but conservative ideas still hold back women. Recent political developments have led to a rapidly shrinking civic space, particularly impacting those groups that are most marginalised in society, such as women’s human rights defenders and LGBTQI+ activists. We promote peacebuilding, support IDPs and raise awareness of women’s rights.
In Abkhazia, we support WHRDs working on sexual and reproductive health rights, leadership skills for young women and supporting women’s initiatives based on community needs. We support the strengthening of the women’s rights movement in Abkhazia, encouraging raised awareness of different issues affecting women in their communities. *Geographical and political designations
We support Armenian and Azerbaijani women human rights defenders from Nagorno-Karabakh to work within their own communities, to address trauma advocate for peace. *Geographical and political designations
31 May 2024
2 October 2023
20 September 2023
They woke up to the sound of bombing. Just over a week later, Maryam fled from Nagorny-Karabakh with her daughter. Now, she’s supporting other displaced women and children in the aftermath of the war.
8 February 2021
18 November 2020
In Azerbaijan, gender stereotypes remain deeply rooted and limit women's life choices on many levels – not least psychologically. We met women’s rights activist Shahla Ismayil at the Swedish Forum for Human Rights in Stockholm.
18 June 2019