The President and Vice-Presidents of the Swiss National Council visited UN Women project in Marneuli
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UN Women’s 2014 study in Kvemo Kartli region, revealed that for local women lack of suitable employment opportunities (93.6%), absence of pre-school facilities (66.1%), bad roads (57.8%), patchy public lighting (56.8%) and waste disposal problems (54.9%) are the key concerns.
In 2019 many of these problems still exist, in Khuldara and Molaoghli villages in the Marneuli municipality. In the meeting with the Swiss parliamentarians, Khanifa Afandieva from the village Khuldara, said that the lack of kindergartens is one of the most crucial challenges for women who are looking for formal employment. Along with other women from Marneuli municipality, Khanifa participates in trainings that help the to understand how the local plans and budget are developed and how women can meaningfully participate in and benefit from the planning and budgeting processes.
The President of the National Council Ms. Marina Carobbio Guscetti and the two Vice-Presidents, Ms. Isabelle Moret and Mr. Hans Brand Ciocco together with the Secretary General of the Federal Assembly Philippe Schwab, H.E. Swiss Ambassador Patric Franzen and Head of Swiss Development Cooperation Daniele Meuwly visited one of the trainings organized by UN Women and conducted by Association of Finance Officers of Georgian Local Self-Governing Units.
Female parliamentarians met then separately with the group of women and discussed their views and experiences with some of the barriers for women’s participation, including those typical for the region: early marriages, persisting patriarchal norms, lack of job opportunities. “Despite obvious differences among the countries, there are some challenges that are common and exist everywhere”, one of the visitors stated after meeting women from the Marneuli villages.
Under the framework of UN Women Georgia’s regional project on “Women’s Economic Empowerment in the South Caucasus” funded by the Swiss Development Cooperation and the Austrian Development Cooperation, women from 9 municipalities are supported to participate in local planning and budgeting. In Marneuli meeting, the Mayor commit to address some of the problems women presented to him during the training, namely reconstruction of the local school in Khuldara village and reparation of the road in Khuldara and Molaogli villages.