Georgia Gender Analysis May 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACRONYMS . 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . 7 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . 8 INTRODUCTION . 14 Purpose and Scope of the Gender Analysis . 14 Methodology and Limitations . 14 USAID MISSION CONTEXT. 15 GEORGIA’S PROGRESS TOWARD GENDER EQUALITY . 16 Population Data . 16 International Indices . 18 International Obligations and Gender Equality Goals . 19 National Law, Policy, and Institutions on Gender Equality. 20 Gender Stereotypes . 24 Donor Coordination and Gender Mainstreaming . 25 SECTOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS . 26 Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance . .. 26 Women in Government . 26 Incentivizing Women’s Participation . 29 Women in Civil Society and Media . 30 Violence Against Women (VAW), Gender-Based Violence (GBV) . 31 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Persons (LGBTI) . 33 Trafficking In Persons (TIP) and Outmigration . 33 Women, Peace, and Security . 33 Economic Growth and Opportunities . 35 Poverty and Women . 35 Labor Market and Migration . 35 Discrimination in the Workplace . 37 Horizontal and Vertical Segregation . 38 Pay Gap. 39 Family Obligations . 40 Loans and Credit . 41 Land and Agriculture. 41 Entrepreneurship and Business Climate . 41 Social Development . .. 43 Georgia Gender Analysis - 2 - USAID/Georgia Health . 43 Education . 44 Cross-Cutting Findings . 48 Men and Gender Relations . 48 Women in Minority Communities . 48 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) . 49 Female Youth and Early Marriage . 49 SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS. 52 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GENDER INTEGRATION . 54 General Recommendations . 54 Programmatic Recommendations . 54 Organizational Recommendations . 56 ANNEX 1: LIST OF KEY DECISIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT OF GEORGIA RELATED TO GENDER EQUALITY AND FEMALE EMPOWERMENT. 57 ANNEX 2: WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT ACT . 60 ANNEX 3: THE WOMEN’S GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT AND PROSPERITY (W- GDP) INITIATIVE. 61 ANNEX 4: BIBLIOGRAPHY. 63 Georgia Gender Analysis - 3 - USAID/Georgia ACRONYMS ABL Administrative Boundary Line ADB Asian Development Bank ADS Automated Directives System AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome AOR Agreement Officer’s Representative BPFA Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action CDCS Country Development Coordination Strategy CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women CIS Commonwealth of Independent States COBERM Confidence Building Early Response Mechanism COR Contracting Officer’s Representative DO Development Objective DV Domestic Violence E&E Europe and Eurasia EU European Union FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FGM/C Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting GBV Gender-Based Violence GDP Gross Domestic Product GEC Gender Equality Council GEL Georgian Lari GIA Gender Impact Assessment GII Gender Inequality Index GIS Geographic Information System GTG Gender Theme Group GYLA Georgian Young Lawyers' Association HDI Human Development Index Georgia Gender Analysis - 4 - USAID/Georgia HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus HR Human Resources IDP Internally Displaced Persons ILO International Labour Organization INL Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (U.S. Department of State) IOM International Organization for Migration IPU Inter-Parliamentary Union IPV Intimate Partner Violence IRI International Republican Institute LGBTI Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex MES Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sport of Georgia MDG Millennium Development Goals MMR Maternal Mortality Ratio MOIA Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia MP Member of Parliament NAP National Action Plan NCD Non-Communicable Disease NDI National Democratic Institute NGO Nongovernmental Organization OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development OPIC Overseas Private Investment Corporation PITA Promoting Integration, Tolerance, and Awareness Program professional skills PWD People With Disabilities RF Results Framework SDG Sustainable Development Goal SIGI Social Institutions and Gender Index STEM Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Georgia Gender Analysis - 5 - USAID/Georgia UN United Nations UNAIDS Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNFPA United Nations Population Fund UNSCR U.N. Security Council Resolution U.S. United States USAID United States Agency for International Development VAW Violence Against Women V-DEM Varieties of Democracy WDI World Development Indicators W-GDP Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative WHO World Health Organization WIC Women’s Information Center WISG Women's Initiatives Supporting Group WEF World Economic Forum WPS Women, Peace, and Security WWD Women With Disabilities WWEI Women’s Workplace Equality Index Georgia Gender Analysis - 6 - USAID/Georgia ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report draws on the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of USAID/Georgia’s multiple gender and youth analyses. In this respect, special thanks go to Sarah Richardson, Brent Edelman, and Jay Totte with USAID/Georgia for their work over the last few years. The Mission recognizes the valuable research efforts of the Georgian and international organizations cited in the footnotes and fully referenced in the bibliography. Maia Khatiashvili, USAID/Georgia’s GIS Specialist, has greatly assisted the analysis by creating geospatial maps on women’s political participation at the local level and the incidence of intimate partner violence against women in Georgia. Finally, sincere thanks to Lubov Fajfer—the Senior Education, Gender, and Vulnerable Groups Advisor with USAID's Bureau for Europe and Eurasia—for her overall guidance, feedback, and insights. Cover photographs: Provided by USAID’s implementing partners in Georgia. Georgia Gender Analysis - 7 - USAID/Georgia “When women do better, countries do better, communities do better, and families do better." Mark Green, USAID Administrator EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Georgia is a steadfast U.S. ally in the region. Building on more than 25 years of partnership, the U.S. government remains committed to supporting Georgia’s democratic development, sustainable reforms, and Euro-Atlantic integration. Accordingly, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has worked with local institutions to strengthen and sustain Georgia’s democratic, free-market, and Western-oriented transformation. As a matter of policy, USAID has ensured gender integration into its development projects and strategies, including the 2013-2020 Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) for Georgia. Embarking on the development of a new, five-year CDCS for Georgia, USAID seeks to advance Georgia’s journey to self-reliance through partnerships that bolster its capacity to plan, finance, and implement solutions to the country’s development challenges. In this regard, women can play a paradigmatic role as agents of development. USAID’s Mission in Georgia has carried out a macro-level gender analysis to identify the main gender inequalities and barriers, as well as opportunities to advance gender equality and female empowerment across all sectors of the CDCS. The analysis synthesizes research findings from a range of internal and third-party data sources in the form of a desk study, and the Mission plans to integrate them, along with the related recommendations, into the strategy. Over the past few years, Georgia has made notable progress in furthering gender mainstreaming efforts, demonstrating the type of commitment that is crucial to turning the tide for disadvantaged women and girls. In terms of Georgia’s journey to ultimate self-reliance, these efforts are critical steps in the right direction. Georgia is a signatory to many international human rights instruments, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The Parliament of Georgia has set up institutional mechanisms, such as the Gender Equality Council (GEC), to improve the legislative and regulatory framework for gender equality; the Georgian government has worked with civil society and donor agencies to address some of the most pressing issues, including violence against women; the judiciary has achieved near equality in its judicial branch; and the discourse on gender equality has been gaining ground steadily in the public and private sectors. Regardless, Georgia lags behind many of its neighbors in Eastern Europe and post-Soviet space in international gender-related indices. To name a few, Georgia’s ranking in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index dropped from 54th in 2006 to 99th in 2018; it ranks as low as 139th in the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s list of 193 countries classified by the percentage of women in national legislatures; and its ranking in the UNDP’s Gender Inequality Index dropped from a score of 0.426 in 1995 to 0.350 in 2017 (ranked 78th out of 160 countries). Those on the margins of mainstream society (e.g. people with disabilities, internally displaced persons, and others) deal with dual discrimination caused by their identity and status, and Georgian youth face persistent challenges in finding employment. The conclusions below provide further details based on the findings of the study.1 1 Detailed findings can be found in the main body of the report. Georgia Gender Analysis - 8 - USAID/Georgia Conclusions Laws, policies, regulations, and institutional practices & patterns of power and decision-making Georgia has made great strides in improving the enabling environment for gender equality and female empowerment.