Experience of Visegrad for Eastern Partnership Countries

Aspiration towards EU membership is in the top agenda for Georgia. The recently signed Association Agreement makes this path more direct and goal-oriented. Among the cohesion aims toward the EU family are issues of gender equality. Reformation experience already accumulated in Visegrad countries makes it easier for EaP countries like Georgia and Ukraine to get preliminary insights on potential challenges that might occur when setting actions toward gender equality policies based on EU directives.

For insight into Visegrad experience, the expert opinion-sharing ‘Fund of Women Entrepreneurs’ (Georgia, Kutaisi), has been running the project: ‘Gender Policies and EU Integration, Experience of Visegrad Countries to EaP Countries’ since September 2015. The project has an international scope with the involvement of the following organizations and experts: GURT Resource Center - Ukriane, Gender Studies, o.p.s – Czech Republic, Hungarian Women’s Lobby – Hungary, Institute of Sociology Slocak Academy of Sciences – Slovakia, Professor of Jagiellonian University Katarzyna Zielinska – Poland, and Women’s NGO ‘Avangardi’ – Georgia.

The first pillar of the project envisages awareness-raising toward questions of gender equality and their importance in the democratic development of States. For this purpose round tables and public lectures were held at different universities and NGOs throughout Georgia and Ukraine, accompanied by radio and TV broadcasts. The second pillar activities are concentrated on comparative analysis of the gender equality status quos in Georgia and Ukraine, and on drafting recommendations for better gender equality policies based on the Visegrad experience. Systematic description of the reformation path of the Visegrad Four (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary), covering the issues of equal opportunities, will be available in English and Georgian. Broad public engagement is the means to setting a high priority score to gender equality issues.

The ultimate, long-term usable output of the project will be a bilingual publication describing the gender equality situation in Georgia and Ukraine, reformation experience of Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Czech Republic in creating national and regional mechanisms for gender equality, recommendations, and possible steps that Georgia and Ukraine should take to overcome the gender gap and create equal opportunities for all.

Project financed by the International Visegrad Fund (http://visegradfund.org)

Project Number: 31550123

web: www.fwevisegrad.ge

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Fund of Women Enterpreneurs, www.fwe.ge

Article Prepared by the Project coordinator:

Elena Kuparadze, elenakuparadze@gmail.com