The head of the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) is in Georgia to help female internally displaced persons (IDPs) and meet with women's organizations, RFE/RL's Georgian Service reports.
UNIFEM Executive Director Ines Alberdi was in the eastern city of Gori on May 12 to initiate a project in support of women who fled Georgia's breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia after the August 2008 war between Georgia and Russia.
Alberdi said a main purpose of the visit is to research the current state of women's rights and gender equality in Georgia.
Alberdi said another UNIFEM project in Georgia will help prevent domestic violence against women. She said the project will provide legal assistance to victims of domestic sexual violence and offer them shelter.
Tamar Sabedashvili, a UNIFEM adviser in Georgia, said shelters to house victims of domestic violence will soon open in several Georgian cities, including Gori. She said unemployment remains the main problem for female IDPs in Georgia.
UNIFEM was founded in 1976 and operates in more than 100 countries. Its main priority is to defend gender equality and, in cases of violence, offer women the chance to contact the United Nations for help.
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