Local Governments Take on New Gender Equality Initiatives
National and local authorities in Georgia have united to discuss how to advance gender equality in local self-governments in line with the 2016 amendments of the Gender Equality Law. The first national conference on 15 May brought together representatives of the Georgian government and Parliament, as well as mayors of all self-governing cities and municipalities, chairs of local councils (sakrebulos), municipal gender equality councils, and local gender equality focal points.
The conference was visited by high ranked functionaries such as Tamar Chugoshvili, First Vice Speaker and Chairperson of the Gender Equality Council of the Parliament of Georgia, and Kakha Kaladze, Mayor of Tbilisi and President of the National Association of the Local Authorities of Georgia (NALAG).
Mzia Giorgobiani, Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia, joined Chugosvhili and Kaladze to welcome the other participants.
The 2016 amendments to Georgia’s Law on Gender Equality place gender equality at the center of local self-governance. According to the amendments, gender equality councils must be established at the local councils (sakrebulos) and mayors of each municipality shall appoint designated civil servants responsible for addressing the matters related to gender equality.
Practical implementation of this legislation, coordinated efforts and common strategies of the national and local governments, and the enhancement of institutional mechanisms for achieving gender equality at the local level were in focus of the discussions at the conference.
Mayors of Zugdidi, Ninotsimnda and Ozurgeti, and the local council head of Akhmeta shared experiences of their municipalities in achieving gender equality and discussed concrete ways of moving forward.
The event was organised by the Gender Equality Council of the Parliament of Georgia and National Association of Local Authorities of Georgia (NALAG) in partnership with NDI and UNDP.
By Benjamin Music