Ministry of Internal Affairs strengthens its gender lens
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In its continuous efforts to promote the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, UN Women reinforced its cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia (MIA) to mainstream gender in the security sector.
In 2019 UN Women, in cooperation with the Nordic Centre for Gender in Military Operations, provided a Training-of-Trainers course to three MIA staff on gender equality and the WPS agenda in order to strengthen the capacities of several MIA structural units, including the Department of Human Rights, the Border Police, the Patrol and Criminal Police, and the Special Tasks Department operating in the regions of Shida Kartli, Imereti and Samegrelo. As a result, 60 MIA staff, among them senior management, participated in trainings designed to improve the gender balance at all levels of the institution. In addition, the trainings aimed at establishing a network of gender advisers within the MIA, as well as improving communication between the units operating along the Administrative Boundary Line and the local population, especially women.
“Due to the nature of our institution, and the fact that traditionally men are highly overrepresented within the system, it is crucial to integrate gender perspectives with a focus on increasing the recruitment, retention and advancement of women and their promotion to leadership positions in the MIA,” reflected Keti Abulashvili, a representative of the Human Rights Protection and Quality Monitoring Department of the MIA. “It is equally important to support the MIA staff in different structural units to understand the importance of gender-specific policies and their application, which will definitely contribute to better functioning and effective service delivery of the institution.”
These activities are part of UN Women’s technical support to the Government of Georgia to fulfil its commitments under the 2018-2020 National Action Plan of Georgia on the Security Council resolutions on WPS by assisting the MIA to advance its internal capacities, incorporate measures to promote gender equality, and undertake gender-responsive operations.
The trainings were organized within the framework of the UN Women project “Strengthening Women’s Meaningful Participation in Peacebuilding and Gender Mainstreaming in the Security Sector in Georgia”, funded by the UK Government, Conflict, Stability and Security Fund.