National Association of Local Authorities in Georgia Adopts Gender Equality Strategy and Action Plan
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As a result of strategic partnership with UN Women and to promote women’s leadership and participation in local self-governance, the National Association of Local Authorities of Georgia (NALAG) adopted its first internal Gender Equality Strategy and Action Plan in December 2020.
NALAG presented its Gender Equality Strategy and Action Plan on 28 December 2020. The presentation was attended by over 100 members of the local governments, representatives of civil society and development partners. These strategic documents outline NALAG’s gender equality and gender mainstreaming goals and objectives for 2021-2025 and further set targets to, among others, support all 64 municipalities in Georgia in strengthening policy and institutional mechanisms for gender equality, combating violence against women and domestic violence, implementing the UN Security Council Resolution on Women, Peace and Security and alike.
In addition to the presentation, the event also featured 14 local self-governments officially acceding to the European Charter for Equality Between Women and Men in Local Life. The joining of the Charter is a direct result of advocacy efforts by NALAG and UN Women thus, increasing the number of municipalities who have acceded to the Charter from 4 to 18 in 2020.
“The joining of the Charter demonstrates not only political commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment by 28% per cent of Georgia’s municipalities, but also their readiness to benefit from a set of practical tools and approaches offered by this instrument for realization of women’s rights and achievement of Gender Equality,” - said Tamar Sabedashvili, Acting UN Women Country Representative in Georgia in her welcoming remarks.
“The Gender Equality Strategy and Action Plan give our organization a clear roadmap for advancing gender equality and offer concrete strategies on how NALAG can support municipalities in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in a more systemic manner and in line with international benchmarks,” - remarked Natia Ghvinashvili, Deputy Executive Director of NALAG, - “In partnership with UN Women, NALAG plans to further accelerate its gender equality work in the coming years. This includes advocating with municipalities across Georgia to join the Charter for Equality Between Women and Men in Local Life and receive technical support in realizing their commitments under the charter.”
UN Women plans to further accelerate work on strengthening local-level gender equality initiatives in line with Georgia’s international and national commitments on women’s empowerment and the recommendations of the Public Defender’s Office issued under its “Assessment of Gender Policy of Local Self-Government Bodies”.
UN Women’s cooperation with NALAG is taking place within the framework of the project “Good Governance for Gender Equality in Georgia”, supported by the Government of Norway.