On 17 February, the Council of Europe project “Advancing Gender Equality, Strengthening Justice and Support for Women in Georgia” held its first Steering Committee Meeting with relevant project partners to review progress achieved during the previous years and set priorities for 2026.

The meeting served to align efforts and discuss core priorities. These included promoting women’s economic empowerment as a means of preventing violence and improving access to justice through victim-centred legal aid provided by university-based legal aid clinics. Meeting participants highlighted the need to strengthen prevention work with law students, media representatives and ICT (information and communications technology) professionals using behavioural and social change approaches. Project partners underlined the importance of advancing evidence-based policy development through targeted studies on victim support services and programmes for perpetrators of sexual violence.

Building on the discussions, all stakeholders reaffirmed their commitment to continued cooperation to ensure that the standards enshrined in the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) translate into real protection and support for women in Georgia.

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