More than 100 business companies show support for the empowerment of women and gender equality
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For the support of women and gender equality, the companies that are signatories to the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) have laid the foundation for a number of interesting projects in Georgia. However, especially noteworthy are the collaborative initiatives that the private sector has implemented together in order to empower women. It is also noteworthy that the number of WEPs signatory companies in Georgia already exceeds 100, which is an important result.
It was such joint projects implemented in support of gender equality and the growth of the number of companies interested in the WEPs that became the main topic of an annual conference, which UN Women held for the fourth time. Among the submitted projects were We-Tech, a new educational platform for women implemented by Georgian-American University, Kant’s Academy and GeoLab for the development of technological and entrepreneurial skills; and the Coding School for Women by Liberty Bank and Business and Technology University in the regions.
“I am proud that Georgia is one of the leading countries in terms of supporting the Women’s Empowerment Principles,” said Kaori Ishikawa, UN Women Country Representative in Georgia, at the opening of the conference. “This has been due to the openness of the private sector and its desire to maintain a gender balance and empower women in the workplace. I think this is an excellent step and mutually beneficial for the companies and their employees.”
The conference presented the important results that could be achieved through the efforts of companies that are signatories to the WEPs. For example, since 2017, the projects that the signatories have implemented have changed the lives of more than 12,000 women: some have achieved professional development, some have received scholarships or grants, and some have completed mentoring programmes and internships. Between 2018 and 2021, only 35 companies spent more than GEL 1.7 million on women’s empowerment.
At the end of the conference, new companies reaffirmed their support for the WEPs with a symbolic signature. “Now our task is not to dismiss these commitments as a formality and to carry them out in our daily activities,” said Nino Suknidze, Vice President of the Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and moderator of the event.
UN Women has been working on the implementation of the Women’s Empowerment Principles since 2014, fulfilling this task with the support of the Government of Norway.