Georgia Celebrates Mother’s Day Today

March 3 is a public holiday in Georgia, as the whole country marks Mother’s Day.

Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, however, in Georgia it is always celebrated on March 3 every year.

Georgia’s Prime Minister, Giorgi Kvirikashvili and President Giorgi Margvelashvili congratulated Georgian mothers on Facebook.

Public Defender of Georgia, Ucha Nanuashvili dedicated a statement to Mother’s Day and congratulated Georgian mothers on this holiday.

“I want to congratulate on this wonderful holiday - Mother's Day to the whole country, all mothers, especially single mothers and mothers with many children, who, due to the existing social and cultural reality in Georgia, often face gender inequality problems,” the statement reads.

Nanuashvili says that more attention and assistance is needed from the state and the society in order to ensure better protection of the rights of single parents and children of large families.

The Ombudsman says that the assessment of the socio-economic conditions of vulnerable families, carried out in 2016, revealed 4,379 single mothers.

Nanuashvili underlines that the country does not have specific social programs and social assistance is not gender-sensitive and does not envisage the needs of single mothers. In addition, the legislation does not define who is considered a mother of many children, and as a result, such mothers remain beyond the Government's attention.

“I again call on the Government to take effective steps to ratify the International Labor Organization’s Maternity Protection Convention No 183 and I once again congratulate all mothers on the March 3 holiday,” the statement of the Public Defender reads.

By Thea Morrison