Tbilisi and Batumi shelter cities and Telavi art-residence: growing resilience of HRDs in the time of global crisis and aggressive war Tbilisi Shelter City is a project aimed to provide temporary relocation and rehabilitation for human rights defenders at risk. The program implies both a 3-month relocation to a safe place in Georgia and creating conditions for the professional development and psychological recovery of HRDs. It is also designed to reduce risks and help HRDs leave an unsafe environment for a while. During the program, the HRD is provided with accommodation in a safe place, receives opportunities for education and skill development, acquires new professional contacts, and if necessary, they are provided with psychological and medical assistance. The project also contributes to the international advocacy effort for the better protection of HRDs. The main beneficiaries of Tbilisi Shelter City are HRDs, civil activists, journalists, and cultural workers from Central Asia, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, and the South Caucasus. During the time of the project implementation, the program has provided the above-mentioned professional services to more than 200 HRDs and their family members. 
The shelter offers two programs for the relocation of human rights defenders: 
Short-term relocation (up to 3 months) designed for HRDs with low and middle-level threats. The primary goal of the program is to strengthen the capacity of the HRD and prevent professional burnout. 
Emergency relocation of HRDs under immediate threat. This program is designed for people who are directly threatened in their home countries. This program has no defined timeline. 

Application process:
The application process to the Tbilisi Shelter City is open to the public. The announcement is placed on social media and shared by partner organizations and through mailing lists. After the applications are received they undergo a thorough selection and vetting process. The first selection is done by the shelter staff. Shortlisted candidates are shared with an international selection committee comprised of key human rights organizations from different countries. In the case of doubt or contradicting information on an applicant, Tbilisi Shelter City seeks advisory opinions from international organizations working in the region (Frontline Defenders, Freedom House, People in Need, etc.).

Accommodation and subsistence: 
The Shelter has the main facility in Tbilisi with the capacity to host up to 30 human HRDs with branches in Batumi and Telavi, where up to 10 HRDs can be hosted annually. In Batumi, we house HRDs primarily need psychological healing and rehabilitation and who come with children. In Telavi, we host cultural workers and activists who are living under permanent stress and are in dire need of a peaceful environment in tune with nature. 
Medical assistance: 
The Shelter has established permanent cooperation with clinics that provide medical services to the participants of the program. 
The majority of HRDs use the time in the Shelter to care for their health condition. Besides medical check-ups, dental care, and other ordinary medical procedures, we helped people in the following complicated circumstances: mental health assistance, severe muscle-skeleton disorder, diabetes, complicated dental care/restoration after torture, hepatitis, tuberculosis, eye surgery, and other types of surgery. The clients also receive balneotherapy and medical spa treatment at the Tbilisi Balneological resort. 

Psychological assistance: 
Two key types of assistance are provided: work with crisis cases in narrative practice, which is suitable for post-trauma syndromes, nervous breakdowns, and panic/fear; permanent psychological assistance to increase resistance level prevention of traumatization and burnout. Special attention is given to the cases of women human rights defenders building their capacity to withstand blackmail, sexual harassment, and in case of need, to overcome the trauma after sexual assault. HRDs hosted by the Shelter have individual therapy sessions and also collective workshops are provided for them.

Education: 
Shelter designs workshops and training programs to strengthen the professional skills of the HRDs. Such training sessions can be tailored to meet the needs of individual participants or groups of participants. The topics of workshops and training include but are not limited to security, communications, advocacy, project management, first aid, and SMM. Participants are also able to develop their soft skills through the following educational activities: leadership, public speaking, language classes (English), and driving courses. The workshops are conducted by experts from leading NGOs from Georgia and Ukraine. 

Facilitation of networking and participation of HRDs in events: 
The Shelter offers the possibility for an exchange of experience between hosted HRDs and their counterparts in Georgia.  The Shelter team also encourages and supports participants to organize culture days. Those are mostly entertaining and relaxing events for the participants and the Shelter team to get to know each other better and to create a more relaxing and trusting atmosphere.
Monitoring and evaluation: 
There are regular evaluations conducted every three months after the group of HRDs leaves and fills in evaluation forms. The participants fill in an anonymous online survey evaluating the impact of the project and the level of satisfaction with training, counseling, and other services. The survey is developed to collect gender-specific data and information. In parallel, the team of the Shelter conducts self-evaluation tracking the progress toward the achievement of the project goals. The previous participants of the program clearly complemented the holistic approach of the program in regard to their psychological care and the facilitation of medical treatments.


In December 2022, we started complex preoperational work and announced an open call for the new enrollment of the Tbilisi Shelter City program. We received up to 30 applications from HRDs from Russia and Central Asian countries. As a result of the selection process, 9 participants were selected to participate in the 3-month relocation and rehabilitation program.
In February 2023, we relocated 9 selected candidates and 3 family members to Georgia. Three participants were placed in our facility in Telavi city and the remaining participants are accommodated in Tbilisi. 
HRDs who arrived for three months received the following services: accommodation, monthly scholarship, medical assistance, individual sessions with the psychologist, Spa and physiological treatments, networking events, and training packages.
During the reporting period, participants received training in psychological burnout prevention, digital security, and first aid. Apart from that, they are also benefiting from English classes twice a week. 
In the upcoming months, our participants will be provided with training in project management, stress management, and physical security, which also includes individual consultations with experts, including the development of individual security plans for those who face the most severe threats.
Social theater – is one of the successful activities for our clients which showed very positive results during the previous enrollments. In the framework of this activity, we provide a platform for practicing social skills and intercultural collaboration through role plays. 
The participants will also have pottery classes designed to help them to use clay and art to diminish stress and burnout and express themselves through art. 
Apart from our regular enrollment, in the framework of the project, we hosted 5 emergency clients - from Kyrgyzstan, Russia Belarus, and Iran, and 1 dependant. Emergency clients were provided with accommodation, monthly scholarships, medical insurance, and psychological support. 
In March 2023, Tbilisi Shelter City in partnership with Free Belarus Center conducted an online training on psychological assistance for the Belarusian HRDs “Vicarious trauma or witness trauma. Self-help methods”. Our psychologist also provided individual consultations for Ukrainian and Belarusian HRDs and civil activists suffering from trauma amidst the war in Ukraine, the unprecedented humanitarian crisis in the region, and the significant deterioration of the human rights situation in Belarus. 
During the reporting period, the medical consultant of Tbilisi Shelter City has provided  consultations on various health-related issues for the HRDs from Ukraine Belarus, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Russia. The intended project objectives are as follows: 

•	Organize relocation of the human rights defenders (including cultural workers working on human rights issues) under the threat to the safe space 
•	Provide conditions for physical and psychological rehabilitation of human rights defenders 
•	Strengthen capacity of human rights defenders through comprehensive security trainings including IT and physical security as well as in depth trainings in project management, advocacy, communication, or devoted to particular set of rights.
•	Develop the support network for human rights defenders through organization of seminars, workshops and meetings and facilitation of international contacts.
•	To raise awareness on the work of human rights defenders and their positive impact on society.