Country Gender Assessment Georgia This publication provides a gender analysis of socioeconomic areas and issues in Georgia and relevant operations of the Asian Development Bank. Georgia has advanced its gender equality agenda but progress is still needed to achieve some key gender equality outcomes. Georgia continues to fare poorly on key global indicators of economic status and political voice. Violence against women also remains a pervasive issue in the country, affecting one in seven women. Some gender-responsive practices were identified, but significant gaps and missed opportunities for women’s empowerment and inclusion were also identified. Recommendations include the need for capacity-building on gender mainstreaming, increased human and financial resources, and an improved evidence base. About the Asian Development Bank ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members— 48 from the region. Its main instruments for helping its developing member countries are policy dialogue, loans, equity investments, guarantees, grants, and technical assistance. GEORGIA COUNTRY GENDER ASSESSMENT DECEMBER 2018 ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK 6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City 1550 Metro Manila, Philippines ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK www.adb.org GEORGIA COUNTRY GENDER ASSESSMENT DECEMBER 2018 ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO license (CC BY 3.0 IGO) © 2018 Asian Development Bank 6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City, 1550 Metro Manila, Philippines Tel +63 2 632 4444; Fax +63 2 636 2444 www.adb.org Some rights reserved. Published in 2018. ISBN 978-92-9261-472-0 (print), 978-92-9261-473-7 (electronic) Publication Stock No. TCS189794-2 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22617/TCS189794-2 The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) or its Board of Governors or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by ADB in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. By making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area, or by using the term “country” in this document, ADB does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area. This work is available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO license (CC BY 3.0 IGO) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/. By using the content of this publication, you agree to be bound by the terms of this license. For attribution, translations, adaptations, and permissions, please read the provisions and terms of use at https://www.adb.org/terms-use#openaccess. This CC license does not apply to non-ADB copyright materials in this publication. If the material is attributed to another source, please contact the copyright owner or publisher of that source for permission to reproduce it. ADB cannot be held liable for any claims that arise as a result of your use of the material. Please contact [email protected] if you have questions or comments with respect to content, or if you wish to obtain copyright permission for your intended use that does not fall within these terms, or for permission to use the ADB logo. Notes: In this publication, “$” refers to United States dollars. ADB recognizes “Russia” as the Russian Federation. Corrigenda to ADB publications may be found at http://www.adb.org/publications/corrigenda. On the cover: Empowering women and girls. ADB projects in Georgia help improve women’s access to jobs and livelihood opportunities through education and training in non-traditional occupations, and creating an enabling environment for women’s economic empowerment (ADB Photo Library; Ketevan Chkheidze; United Water Supply Company of Georgia). Executive Summary iii Contents Tables and Boxes iv Acknowledgments v Abbreviations vi Terminology viii Executive Summary x I. Introduction 1 . A Purpose of the Report 1 . B Methodology 1 II. Background and Context 2 . A Economic and Political Context 2 . B International Ranking and Indicators on Gender 5 . C Gender Equality Policies and Commitments 6 III. Cross-Cutting Gender Issues 11 . A The Persistence of Traditional Gender Stereotypes and Norms 11 . B Women and Political Representation 14 . C Women’s Economic Empowerment 15 . D Human Development 20 E. Violence against Women 23 . F The Sex Ratio Gap 28 . G Specific Challenges for Conflict-Affected Women and Girls 28 H. Activism on Gender Equality and Women’s Rights 30 IV. Asian Development Bank in Georgia 32 . A ADB Gender Policy and Processes 32 . B ADB in Georgia 34 . C Mainstreaming Gender in ADB’s Operations and Priority Sectors in Georgia 34 Conclusion 59 References 62 Appendix: List of Key Informants 67 iii iv Executive Summary Tables and Boxes Tables 1 Key Indicators for Georgia, 2018 4 2 Comparative Gender Equality Ranking of Georgia for South Caucasus Region 5 and Central Asia Former Soviet Union Countries 3 Comparative Ranking of Georgia for Women’s Political Representation 15 for South Caucasus Region and Central Asia Former Soviet Union Countries Boxes 1 Georgia State Concept on Gender Equality 7 2 Engaging Georgia’s Rugby Players in Shifting Gender Norms and Assumptions 13 3 The United Nations Global Compact 16 4 Current Status of Domestic Violence Shelters and Crisis Centers in Georgia 26 5 Some Key Gender Statistics for Georgia 31 6 Key Elements of ADB’s Gender Policy 32 7 Testimonial of a Female Public Transport Customer in Tbilisi 38 8 Addressing Social Dimensions of Transport 42 9 Water Supply in Poti: Impacts for Women and their Families 46 10 Gender Entry Points for Project Designs in Energy Subsectors 54 11 Supporting Female Entrepreneurs through a Targeted Approach 56 iv Executive Summary v Acknowledgments The Country Gender Assessment (CGA) was prepared under the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Regional Technical Assistance (RETA) 9088: Strengthening Gender-Inclusive Growth in Central and West Asia. The overall CGA process was supervised by the Central and West Asia Department (CWRD) gender team, comprising Mary Alice Rosero (social development specialist on gender and development); Ketevan Chkheidze (international implementation consultant and gender specialist based in Georgia); and Leavides G. Domingo-Cabarrubias, (gender consultant). Maria Ava Golda Destura and Fritz Tadeo Tuliao provided invaluable assistance to navigate ADB’s financial and logistical systems. We also acknowledge the important contributions of staff from ADB’s Resident Mission in Georgia, specifically Michiel Van der Auwera, head of portfolio administration unit; George Luarsabishvili, economics officer; and Tea Papuashvili, associate project analyst—for providing guidance and constructive inputs to improve the writing and presentation of data in various sections of the document. Alyson Brody (gender and social development consultant) researched and wrote the CGA. We are grateful for the full support of the CWRD management team: Yesim Elhan-Kayalar (Georgia Resident Mission country director); Nianshan Zhang (advisor and head of the Portfolio, Results, Safeguards and Gender Unit); Hong Wei (deputy director general); and Werner Liepach (director general). The report benefited from valuable inputs of sector specialist peer reviewers: Atsumasa Sakai, energy specialist, CWEN; Priyanka Sood, senior financial sector specialist, CWPF; Kenji Takamiya, principal economist, CWRC; and Maureen Mamayson, project analyst, CWTC. ADB’s Gender Equality Thematic Group and SDTC–Gender team, led by Sonomi Tanaka, provided insightful comments, specifically from reviews by Keiko Nowacka, social development specialist (gender and development), and Malika Shagazatova, gender consultant. The CGA team would like to convey appreciation and gratitude to the Government of Georgia and the staff and representatives from the various ministries and government agencies for their support, technical inputs, and participation during interviews and focus group discussions. We would like to recognize members of the Inter-Agency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence for their detailed comments on the document: Sopio Japaridze, chair of the commission and assistant to the Prime Minister of Georgia on Human Rights and Gender Equality Issues; Mariam Jajanidze, advisor to the Human Rights Secretary, Prime Minister’s Office of Georgia; Margaret Shakarashvili, European Union project expert; and Marika Jobava, consultant, UN Women Project Component on Supporting the Commission. We are also grateful to our development partners and civil society organizations for sharing their expertise and experiences in advancing women’s empowerment and gender equality in Georgia. v vi Executive Summary Abbreviations ABL Administrative Boundary Line ADB Asian Development Bank BPFA Beijing Platform for Action CEDAW Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women CPS Country Partnership Strategy EDA Entrepreneurship Development Agency of Georgia EGM Effective Gender Mainstreaming EU European Union EWH East–West Highway FGD focus group discussion FGM female genital mutilation GAD Gender and Development GAP Gender Action