Rural Women in Georgia Make Strides towards Economic Empowerment

Education and economic activities empower and equip women to make life-determining choices and secure abrighter future for their country,- said Esabelle Dingizian, Third Vice Speaker of the Swedish Parliament, while meeting women farmers in Kachreti community college “Aisi”.

Representatives of the Parliament of Sweden, Embassy of Sweden to Georgia and Armenia, United Nations and the Parliament and Government of Georgia visited Kachreti on 14 April 2018.

Esabelle Dingizian, Third Vice Speaker of the Parliament of Sweden; H.E. Martina Quick, Ambassador of Sweden to Georgia and Armenia; Tamar Chugoshvili, Georgian Parliament Vice Speaker and Chairperson of the Gender Equality Council; Natia Natsvlishvili, Assistant Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Georgia; and Ketevan Natriashvili, First Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Georgia, met college students and teachers, and members of the Women Farmers’ Association.

The high-level guests visited the college premises, classrooms, workshops and training sites, as well as the small farms and agricultural cooperatives managed by women farmers.

“Rural women are the backbone of the local economy and the agents of transformational change for better life and sustainable development. The assistance provided by the UNDP and the Government of Sweden aims to equip them with the knowledge and skills needed for entrepreneurship and decision-making. In 2017 alone, up to 300 rural women trained in different vocations found jobs in local businesses, 22 out of 41 women-led local projects got state funding, and 14 women started new businesses,” said Natia Natsvlishvili, UNDP Assistant Resident Representative in Georgia.

The discussions in the community college focused on the challenges faced by rural women in Georgia, education and other opportunities empowering women for economic activities, and on Georgia’s progress in achieving gender equality in every area of life.

“Meaningful gender equality is one of the vital preconditions for the sustainable development of Georgia. The country has made notable progress in the past years and we keep moving forward to address the remaining challenges,” said Tamar Chugoshvili, Georgian Parliament Vice Speaker and Chairperson of the Gender Equality Council.

The day in Kachreti was organized by the UNDP, Government of Sweden and Parliament of Georgia under the Sweden-funded UN joint program for Gender Equality.

Visiting the community college was part of Esabelle Dingizian’s official visit to Georgia at the invitation of the Georgian Parliament.