During the first six months of Phase III (July - December 2022), the UN Joint Programme for Gender Equality (UNJP4GE) achieved results contributing to the achievement of the programmes planned outcome and outputs. Below are a some examples of results under each respective objective:
On enhancning legislative and policy frameworks, UNJP4GE provided technical assistance to the GoG in developing legislative amendments aimed at increasing access to VAWG/DV services for victims/survivors. Due to the amendment victims/survivors will no longer require any formal procedures to access state-run shelters, such as having a restraining/protective order, being recognized as a victim in a criminal case or being granted victim status by the DV status granting group. After a review by the Parliament and relevant stakeholders, the bill was adopted before the end of 2022.
UNJP4GE in cooperation with the Public Defenders Office of Georgia (PDO) and the NGO Center for Democracy and Governance, conducted a research study titled Harmful Practices of Early/Child Marriage in Georgia: Current Challenges and Solutions. Based on the findings, proposals were developed for both the legislative and executive branches that will contribute to the harmonization of the national legislation with international standards and to the enhancement of coordinated and proactive work by the relevant agencies. The findings were discussed during a dissemination conference, attended by all relevant line ministries.
UNJP4GE further continued its work to support the integration of comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) into the formal education system. UNFPA led several advocacy meetings with the chairman and the staff members of the Gender Equality Council of the parliament to ensure that the recommendations of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on CSE and harmful practices are substantially acknowledged by the relevant governmental agencies and, therefore, considered within ministries strategies and internal action plans.
On strengthening national institutions capacities to deliver on Georgia's commitments, UNJP4GE supported the LEPL Agency for State Care and Assistance For the (Statutory) Victims of Human Trafficking (ATIPfund) social workers in participating in validation workshops on the state guidelines on social work with LGBTQI communities and ethnic minorities. Twenty ATIPfund social workers were trained on how to communicate with LGBTQI and ethnic minorities. In addition, 75 social workers attended workshops on substantiating social work guidelines for LGBTQI and ethnic minority communities. UNJP4GE, ATIPfund and the Georgian Association of Social Workers (GASW) actively collaborated on the development of the guidelines.
UNJP4GE continued its partnership with the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia (MoES) and in cooperation with UNESCO, the regulatory framework of the general education system in Georgia was assessed using UNESCOs Sexuality Education Review and Assessment Tool (SERAT). The exercise revealed that despite improvements, the National Curriculum lacks information on gender, sexual orientation and gender identity, specifically at the primary education level (grades 16). Following the findings, the MoES re-opened the primary education level subject standards to integrate more CSE topics into the formal education system. With the technical assistance of the UNJP4GE, the standards were revised and approved by the MoES. UNJP4GE further held a capacity building session of the journalists and social media managers employed in both traditional and online media to shape public discourse on the benefits of CSE and debunk myths associated with it. Thirty journalists and social media managers attended the capacity development workshops and created a three-month action plan to cover CSE through online and/or traditional media. The media will actively start implementing the plan in 2023 within the framework of the communication campaign on CSE.
UNJP4GE continued to support the strengthening of systems for womens political empowerment by providing political parties with educational and knowledge-building activities to enhance womens representation and meaningful participation. In total, 130 women representatives of political parties participated. The UNJP4GE also supported inter-party cooperation by organizing the second Regional Forum on Womens Political Participation, which brought together representatives from the municipalities of Imereti and Racha, Lechkhumi, Kvemo Svaneti. The event brought together representatives of Georgias Government, Parliament, political parties, civil society, embassies and international organizations. The participants discussed perspectives and tools for increasing womens political participation at the central and local levels. In addition, the UNJP4GE supported inter-party seminars for the local representatives of four political parties (20 female councillors) to promote inter-party cooperation at the local level through consensus-building.
On strenghtening the capacities and opportunities of rights-holders, UNJP4GE further enhanced its cooperation with CSOs, NGOs and community-based organizations through needs-based capacity development and support to mission-driven programming. For example, UNJP4GE collaborated with Union Sapari to increase public awareness and strengthen strategic litigation on economic violence against women and led the coordination meetings on LGBTIQ rights and which bring together relevant stakeholders.
UNJP4GE supported a large-scale Feminist Forum hosted by the Womens Initiatives Supporting Group (WISG) for community-based organizations and activists in Georgia. UNJP4GE was among the supporters of the Feminist Forum, which concentrated on analysing concepts of how modern feminism is reflected in the Georgian reality.
In order to promote zero tolerance for the practice of VAWG in sports, the Georgia Rugby Union (GRU) with the support of UNJP4GE conducted the first-ever large meeting on the empowerment of women and girls in and through sport in Georgia. Importantly, during the event, the GRU made an official statement about the launch of a mechanism to prevent and eradicate sexual harassment within the organization, making it the first sports federation in Georgia to have an internal sexual harassment prevention mechanism.
