Invest in women. Accelerate progress.

This joint statement is issued by the United Nations system in Georgia, the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,  the Embassies to Georgia of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

On the International Women’s Day, we celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of women around the world, including in Georgia. We reaffirm our commitment to achieving gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls. 

At a time when the world is facing many crises, achieving gender equality is more vital than ever.  Despite progress over the last decades, full equality is clearly off track. Globally, at the current pace of progress, achieving full legal equality may take up to 300 years.[1]

In Georgia, women spend five times more time on unpaid domestic and care work than men.[2] This prevents women from pursuing their own professional success and from participating in political and public life.  Women's economic activity rate (41.5%) lags significantly behind men's (64%).[3] Nearly half of women aged 25-34 are not working. Thousands of women have migrated to support their families through remittances. Violence against women and girls remains one of the most pervasive human rights violations. Women's voices are often excluded from political participation and decision-making. Despite the implementation of mandatory electoral gender quotas, women in Georgia hold only one-fifth of parliamentary seats and one-fourth of local council seats. Fifty-four percent of women candidates in Georgia have experienced physical, psychological, economic, or sexual violence and harassment during their election campaigns or political careers.[4] 

To build stronger, fairer societies, we must ensure that the rights of women are safeguarded and promoted, that women have an equal seat at the table and an equal voice and agency in economic, political and social life. Public and private investments are needed to drive women’s inclusion across all sectors of the economy and to actively address all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls. Ensuring decent work for all women, including by closing gender employment gaps, ensuring fair wages, and formalizing women's informal work could significantly boost Georgia’s economy and lift women and their families from poverty. More support is needed for forcibly displaced women who have shown great resilience and taken on leadership roles in seeking solutions for their communities.

We hope to see strong, meaningful commitment by all political parties to gender equality and women’s political and economic empowerment.  We especially emphasize the urgent need to take concrete steps to eliminate violence against women in politics and strengthen efforts in combatting sexist hate speech against women politicians and women election officials. We must also support women’s rights organizations fighting against stereotypes and battling to make women’s and girls’ voices heard.

On this International Women’s Day, let us all join forces in building inclusive communities and societies with the full participation of women and girls of all backgrounds. 

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[1] Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The gender snapshot 2022. UN Women: https://rb.gy/9ku4b3

[2]  Time Use Survey, 2020-21, UN Women: https://rb.gy/oxenup

[3] Women’s Economic Inactivity in Georgia, UN Women:  https://t.ly/1_jEI

[4] Violence Against Women in Politics in Georgia, UN Women: https://rb.gy/me1h23