UN Women Launches “Share the Care” to Promote Care Work Equality in Georgia

In Georgia, women spend five times more time on unpaid care work than men - a staggering 2.5 billion hours annually, equivalent to approximately 10 billion GEL. This unequal distribution significantly hinders women’s professional development and quality of life, yet the value of their labor often goes unrecognized.

To bring visibility to this issue and inspire change, UN Women launched the “Share the Care” campaign in March to be concluded in June. The campaign is based on findings from the Time Use Survey conducted by UN Women and the National Statistics Office of Georgia, with the support of the Government of Norway and UN Women’s flagship programme Making Every Woman and Girl Count (Women Count).

“Share the Care” aimed to raise public awareness about the disproportionate burden of unpaid care work and to promote its fair redistribution. Through engaging multimedia content and the involvement of prominent influencers, the campaign highlighted the importance of unpaid care and called for collective action. The initiative also attracted participation from the private sector, including companies such as Veli Store, Alta, and Pharmadepot, who helped disseminate campaign materials among their customers, contributing to broader public outreach.

The campaign generated significant interest across both mainstream and social media. Coverage by 11 major media outlets - including TV programs, news reports, and interactive quizzes - helped amplify the message. Content created as part of the campaign reached nearly 5 million views, far exceeding initial expectations.

A key driver behind the unequal distribution of care work in Georgia is the persistence of gender stereotypes. According to UN Women’s “Gender Equality Attitudes Study in Georgia”, half of the population believes that tasks such as bathing, feeding, and changing diapers for children are primarily the mother’s responsibility. Moreover, 71% of respondents believe that women should work less and devote more time to family care. The lack of access to essential support services - such as kindergartens, day centers, after-school programs, and home care - further exacerbates the burden on women. Against this backdrop, the “Share the Care” campaign sought to challenge stereotypes, foster dialogue, promote shared responsibility, and advocate for supportive public policies.

“The unequal distribution of unpaid care work is a significant global challenge, especially in Georgia. Addressing it starts with raising awareness and fostering open, informed public dialogue. Our ‘Share the Care’ campaign aimed to bring attention to this important issue through positive and emotionally engaging storytelling. The campaign resonated deeply with audiences and received a strong response. We hope it will contribute to advancing the national conversation on unpaid care work and ultimately promote more equitable distribution of unpaid care work in Georgia,” said Kaori Ishikawa, UN Women Country Representative in Georgia and Liaison for the South Caucasus.

As part of the campaign’s final phase, UN Women will host a series of informational events and discussions with students across different universities in Georgia. These thematic sessions will focus on unpaid care work and explore collective solutions to achieving a more balanced approach.

The campaign was implemented by UN Women in partnership with the creative agency Leavingstone, as part of the “Women’s Leadership for Democracy in Georgia” project, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).