To raise public awareness and to mobilize public support for women’s increased participation in decision-making, UN Women Georgia Country Office implemented an awareness raising campaign “Change Requires the Voices of Women.”

With the invitation of UN Women, international expert Lolita Čigāne, a former journalist and a human rights activist who is a three-term member of the Latvian Saeima, visited Georgia from 17 to 19 October.

In Georgia, women represent more than half of the population - 52 per cent; however, their meaningful and equal participation in politics and electoral processes remains a significant challenge.

Women take an active part in Georgia’s political and public life and play an important role in the country’s development. They often handle quite difficult and high-level work; however, they are rarely seen in decision-making positions.

UN Women and the Civil Service Bureau hosted a presentation of the GIA of the Law of Georgia on Public Service. The results of the research aim to support the Government of Georgia in identifying existing gender gaps in the Law and informing legislative and policy initiatives on mainstreaming gender equality and promoting women’s leadership in public service.

Civil Service Bureau (CSB) with UN Women’s support continues its efforts to strengthen gender equality and promote women’s leadership in public service.

Nino Berikashvili, the head of the Conflict Resolution Policy Division, Political Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, is a member of the Georgian delegation to the Geneva International Discussions (GID) and is engaged in the humanitarian working group.

Ketevan Chumbadze, Deputy Political Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia (MFA), is a member of the Georgian delegation to the Geneva International Discussions (GID) and is engaged in the security working group.

Civil society representatives from the Balkans, South Caucasus and Central Asia called for a permanent coalition or network of women civil society organizations (CSOs) in the region to convene on a regular basis to consult on building sustainable peace in the region.

Though it has now been 20 years since the adoption of United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 (2000) on Women, Peace and Security, integrating a gender perspective into peace processes and negotiations still continues to be a challenge.

With the support of UN Women, regular meetings continue between the participants of the Geneva International Discussions (GID) and civil society. These meetings aim at sharing information and mainstreaming women’s priorities and needs in the peace negotiations.

For the fourth consecutive year, UN Women in cooperation with the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office, UNDP and DPA have organized an Open Day on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.

Giorgi Margvelashvili, the President of Georgia, who declared 2015 as the Year of Women, expressed his support for the increased participation of women in politics by introduction of mandatory quotas.