‘Ring the Bell for Gender Equality’: Financial sector unites to empower women

On 24 March 2025, UN Women and the Georgian financial sector once again joined an established global tradition and held the annual “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality” initiative for women’s empowerment.

This year’s event primarily highlighted the work of private sector companies that are signatories to the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs). The projects and initiatives that they are implementing not only have made it possible to improve the lives of certain women but also serve as examples of positive change. The event was attended by the Norwegian Ambassador to Georgia, Bergljot Hovland; IFC Regional Manager for the South Caucasus, Ivana Fernandes Duarte; UN Women Country Representative in Georgia, Kaori Ishikawa; Acting CEO of the Georgian Stock Exchange, Nino Kurdiani; representatives of the financial and banking sector; and local women entrepreneurs.

The event, which was held with the support of UN Women, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Georgian and Tbilisi Stock Exchanges, was hosted for the first time by the city of Kutaisi. The initiative responded to the theme of International Women’s Day this year: “For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.”

Part of the event was devoted to a panel discussion on ‘Empowering Women for Successful Business’. The discussion was attended by female entrepreneurs - Nino Kapanadze, head of the company Fruit Logistics; Sofio Gudadze, founder and head of Rbola Driving School; and Nadezhda Gogiberidze, founder of Strawberries from Guria - who told the guests about their work and also spoke about the role of the financial sector in the development of their businesses. Moreover, the Executive Director of the National Network for Protection from Violence, Eliso Amirejibi, drew attention to the social enterprise Gemometria, which is operated by a shelter for victims of violence and employs women who have experienced violence.

Ms. Amirejibi also spoke about the impact of the support that businesses give to social enterprises: “I have met women who have changed not only their own lives but also the lives of other women for the better. At the same time, I have had the opportunity to establish contact with people who will support the shelter for victims of domestic violence in the future [and] contribute to the development of this shelter and the social enterprise Gemometria.”

At the same time, the guests of the event were introduced to the new UN Women publication ‘Women’s Empowerment: A Key to Business Success’. The publication shares nine stories of how the private sector is striving to give women greater access to finance, engage them in technology and other high-paying industries, and help break down the gender stereotypes that hinder women’s professional and personal development.

During the second part of the event, Giorgi Bakradze, Advisor to the Board of Directors at ProCredit Bank, and Natia Skhvitaridze, founder of FAS Group, spoke to the attendees. To close out the occasion, the financial sector continued its tradition and this time rang the bell for all women and girls.

The initiative is part of the Women’s Economic Empowerment component of the UN Women project “Good Governance for Gender Equality in Georgia”, which is funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad).