Georgia: Women‘s role in
peace-building
from a women‘s rights perspective
Mag.a Sabine Mandl
Women’s rights in Georgia
International level:
•UN-Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, 1979
•Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, 1995
•Millenium Development Goals and Millenium +5 Summit
Declaration
•UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and following
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Women’s rights in Georgia
National level:
•National Action Plan on the implementation of UNSCR
1325 in Georgia 2012-2015 (2011)
•National Action Plan on Gender Equality 2011-2012 (2011)
•National Action Plan for combating domestic violence and
measures to protect victims of domestic violence 2011-2012
(2011)
•Law against trafficking (2006)
•State concept of gender equality (2006)
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Women’s participation in
peace-building in Georgia
Formal level:
low participation, no peace delegation has more than one
female representative, the Geneva Talks – two women are
involved
Informal level:
women’s organisations are very active in peace-building
and democratization processes (political participation,
economic security, domestic violence, women’s rights, etc.)
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Women’s participation in
peace-building in Georgia
Examples of projects:
“Strenghtening women’s capacity in peacebuilding in
South Caucasus” (Care Austria, BIM, local NGO partners)
“Women for Equality, Peace and Development” (Taso
Foundation, Women’s Information Center, Government of Norway,
UNWomen)
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Participation of women in politics:
low level of participation of women in politics
parliament: 6% women (new election code for
parliamentary elections 2012 – incentives to include
women)
executive level: 5 female ministers out of 20
local level: no femal mayor
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Women’s involvement into the labour market:
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strong horizontal and vertical segregation
women are predominant in low paid sectors
women are less likely to occupy top positions < 10%
gender-pay-gap: women earn 49% compared to men
labour migration > often men are working abroad
poverty > female headed households are more affected
Conclusions:
In sum, Georgia provides widely legislative as well
as enforcement measures for achieving gender
equality and promoting women‘s rights but there is
still an imbalance between legal norms and real
opportunities for women to enjoy their rights in
the Georgian society.
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Conclusions:
Some possible reasons:
•no real political commitment
•lack of financial and human resources
•lack of effective instruments and mechanisms
•traditional gender roles and stereotypes impede women
to participate equally in public life (multiple burdens due
to family responsibilities)
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Have always in mind, that….
Gender equality and social justice are
significant preconditions for sustainable
peace
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