Referring to the campaign for local elections to be held in Georgia on 2 October 2021, Jelena Drenjanin, Congress Thematic Spokesperson on Gender Equality (Sweden, EPP/CCE) welcomed the launch of the Congress Guide to prevent and combat sexism at local level. “The guide comes at a particularly useful time” stated Jelena Drenjanin during the online workshop on 13 September 2021. It includes a number of concrete measures for combating sexism at local level, which, she stressed, “is a major obstacle for women’s political participation”
Andreas Kiefer, Secretary General of the Congress opened the workshop, which was attended by over 50 participants, representing more than 20 municipalities, most of which are signatories to the European Charter for Equality of Women and Men in Local Life, as well as representative from the Parliament of Georgia, the Public Defender’s Office, and civil society organisations. They agreed that fighting sexism is a shared responsibility and that the measures proposed in the Guide are of particular interest for Georgian authorities, in particular the development of legislative tools, the creation of local Codes of Ethics, the need for adequate collection of data, and the inclusion of men in the fight against sexism.
This Guide on “Preventing and Combatting Sexism at Local Level in Georgia” aims to equip local politicians with the knowledge necessary to recognise sexism in their institutions and administrations, and to take appropriate measures. It is part of the Congress efforts to ensure the implementation of the recommendation on “Fighting sexism against women in politics at local and regional level”. The Congress will continue its active work in Georgia jointly with the National Association of Local Authorities of Georgia (NALAG) to support women in local political life and upholding human rights in local communities, through awareness raising and capacity development activities as well as expert support.
The Facebook livestream can be found here.
Guide on “Preventing and Combatting Sexism at Local Level in Georgia”:
English version | Georgian version soon available
This event was organised jointly with the National Association of Local Authorities of Georgia (NALAG) in the framework of the project “Strengthening participatory democracy and human rights at local level in Georgia”, implemented by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and the Directorate General of Democracy, Division Elections and Civil Society, within the Council of Europe Action Plan for Georgia 2020-2023 with the financial contribution of the Government of Austria. The project aims to strengthen institutional frameworks for citizen participation, support local authorities and their national association in their efforts to protect and promote human rights and enhance civil society organisations to have real impact on local decision making.
