The program focuses on fostering gender equality and fighting violence against women, and this time it was held specifically for Georgian participants in the light of the upcoming parliamentary elections. CRISP conducted a simulation game with 25 participants as a laboratory for practicing newly gained knowledge from the Academy.
In the simulation game set in the fictional country of Transolvia, players navigate the challenges of a transitioning parliamentary democracy. The country is facing issues of corruption, minority rights, and gender inequality. With elections approaching, players – representatives of different parties and civil society movements – must balance alliances, address societal concerns, and decide the movement's political affiliation or independence, shaping the nation's future amidst rising tension and discontent.
The emphasis on combating violence against women in politics was particularly noteworthy, as it underscored the crucial need for a safe and inclusive political space. Positive feedback highlighted the importance of addressing gender-based violence to ensure that women can actively participate in political processes without fear of intimidation or harm.
The simulation game effectively demonstrated the significance of cross-party collaboration in promoting gender equality, emphasizing that transcending political divides is essential for creating lasting positive change.
And after the implementation of this activity we received the following feedback from our participants about their experience:
- ”After the simulation game my desire to participate in elections became even stronger as the events that unfolded during the simulation game made me more interested in experiencing the similar processes in practice. Besides, my desire to work on resolving the problems faced by the population also grew.”
- “I learned a lot of methods and negotiation tactics that I’m going to use in my work and next elections so that there are more women represented in local self-government bodies. I improved my pre-training knowledge through this format. Various activities, including the simulation game, better showed me what areas I should be focusing going forward.”
- ”During the simulation game, I played the role of the prime-minister. I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it, but I found/discovered strength in me and thank you for that strength. The experience I got from the training helped me with that.”
- ”The simulation game was quite close to the situation in our country. Nowadays, violence against women in politics is quite frequent, therefore, this training gives me an even bigger motivation for fighting against these problems and destroying existing stereotypes.”
