NGO representatives acquire skills in gender research and analysis

UN Women in Georgia continues to support NGOs and implements initiatives to address their needs.

As part of this support, civil society representatives working on gender equality and women’s rights in Georgia attended an intensive training course on gender statistics, research and analysis from 23 to 27 April. The training was led by experts from CRRC-Georgia.

Over the five days, 23 participants gained detailed insight about finding and using the available gender data, quantitative and qualitative research methods, data analysis, visualization and interpretation, and how to present the results. The training sessions were comprised of both theory and interactive group work.

As demonstrated in the “Capacity and Training Needs Assessment of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) working on gender equality issues in Georgia” carried out by UN Women and CRRC-Georgia in 2023, it is often a challenge for NGO representatives to collect comprehensive and quality data that would allow for gender analysis. Due to limited resources and the lack of specific professional knowledge needed to conduct research, local NGOs find it difficult to study the detailed needs of their communities and to develop projects based on specific data, especially in the regions. The information received during the training will help civil society representatives to conduct research on topical issues and to carry out data-driven initiatives with limited resources.

“To me, the most interesting topics were [about] defining questions for the research [and] finding different data sources,” noted training participant Marika Vacharadze, who founded the Centre for Regional Initiatives “Bright Future” and works in the Imereti region. “It was also interesting that the sessions included practical exercises along with theory, as well as data visualization, report structure and format—the main elements that must be taken into consideration while conducting research. The obtained knowledge will help [me] study the needs and challenges of our organization’s target community and to plan future activities accordingly.”

It is noteworthy that the training participants will have an opportunity to continue working in this direction and implement specific research projects on gender equality under the mentorship of CRRC-Georgia.

The training was held within the framework of the project “Women’s Increased Leadership for Democracy in Georgia” (WILD) with financial support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and UN Women’s global flagship programme Making Every Woman and Girl Count.