Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1694868357204.pdf (Georgia)
ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTIVENESS OF GENDER EQUALITY INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISM IN GEORGIA 2021 Authors: LIKA JALAGANIA TAMAR DEKANOSIDZE This publication was prepared in the framework of the UN Women project “Good Governance for Gender Equality in Georgia” generously funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of UN Women, the United Nations or any of its affiliated organizations or that of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Public Defender of Georgia 2021 CONTENTS Methodology 1.

Overview of International Indicators of National Institutional Mechanisms for gender Equality 2.

Gender Equality Institutional Mechanisms in Georgia 2.1.
Interagency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence 2.2.

Member agencies of the Interagency Commission on Gender Equality 2.3.

The Permanent Parliamentary Gender Equality Council 3.

Summary and Recommendations Annex 3 4 6 6 16 21 30 32 INTRODUCTION Achieving the transformational goal of gender equality is possible through the interaction of well planned, systemic and complex measures by the state.
The state institutional mechanisms play a key role in protecting women rights and improving their situation.
Their proper functioning is critically important for the realization of women’s rights in all fields of public and private life.1 In order to achieve this, the structure of national gender equality mechanisms is essential and implies the establishment of these mechanisms at a high structural level of the government, providing with resources and support of effective work, inclusion of civil society organizations and opportunity to influence the development/formulation of all policy areas and programs of state government.
National institutional mechanisms for gender equality have traditionally been seen as central policy coordinating agencies in national or regional government administration, the main function of which is to introduce and implement the mainstream perspective of gender equality in all areas of state policy.2 In order for these mechanisms to be effective it is essential that there is political will to allocate adequate resources (human and financial) to the mechanisms and to ensure their sustainability.
The smooth and systematic work of national mechanisms is also a prerequisite for the effective implementation of gender equality mainstreaming, which means the evaluation process of any planned event, including legislation, policy direction or program development, at each area and stage.
Mainstreaming is a strategy that highlights the experiences and needs of women and transforms them into an integral dimension of any policy direction or program development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation stages.3 Georgia has made a number of international commitments to establish and strengthen effective institutional mechanisms for gender equality.
This commitment stems primarily from the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA) as well as the general obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
In 2014 the Committee on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was concerned about the absence of a comprehensive institutional mechanism in the executive branch and recommended the government of Georgia to create this mechanism and ensure its effective work.4 In 2021 the Public Defender of Georgia prepared the first special report on gender mainstream in order to assess the status of enforcement of these obligations,5 state policy on gender mainstreaming and the effectiveness of gender mainstreaming mechanisms in the country were assessed.
In contrast to this study, the purpose of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of the National Gender Equality Mechanisms – The effectiveness of the steps taken by the Permanent Parliamentary Gender Equality Council, Interagency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against women and Domestic Violence and its member agencies to achieve gender equality in all policy areas.
Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action (BPfA), 1995 Council of the European Union, 2006 UN Economic and Social Council, 1997 CEDAW, Concluding observations on Georgia, 2014 See: https://ombudsman.ge/geo/190306081201spetsialuri-angarishebi/genderuli-meinstrimingi-sakartvelos-mier- aghiarebuli-valdebulebebisa-da-mati-shesrulebis-statusis-mimokhilva METHODOLOGY The present study relied on the indicators developed by the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA) and European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) to evaluate the work of the National Gender Equality Mechanisms in Georgia - the Interagency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence - and the Permanent Parliamentary Gender Equality Council.
The indicators are analyzed in details in the reports - Effectiveness of Institutional Mechanisms for the Advancement of Gender Equality Review of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in the EU Member States (2014).6 EIGE used preliminary developed questionnaire for drafting this report.
In order to carry out the present assessment, the research was based on this questionnaire, it was adapted to the context of Georgia, international and national indicators were determined, and also the target agencies of the questionnaire were identified.
Thus three in-depth questionnaires were developed based on this tool: ✦ ✦ ✦ To assess the work of the Interagency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence To assess agencies that are members of the Interagency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence To assess the Permanent Parliamentary Gender Equality Council The questionnaire is attached to this document in annex.
In order to obtain information and relevant materials on the main issues identified in the questionnaire, the assessment was based on public information requested and received from the agencies subject to assessment, already existed secondary data (researches, reports and etc.)

and information received as a result of the qualitative research methodology.
Two focus groups were conducted with the agencies that are members of the Interagency Commission, one interview with the Interagency Commission and one focus group with the Parliamentary Gender Equality Council.

6 EIGE, Effectiveness of Institutional Mechanisms for the Advancement of Gender Equality Review of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in the EU Member States, Report, 2014 3 1.
OVERVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL INDICATORS OF NATIONAL INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS FOR GENDER EQUALITY Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA) is the landmark document adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women, that applies to all UN members states.7 The document determined the commitment of the members states to support advancement and protection of women’s and girl’s rights.
In 2000 during the global five year review of progress the members states (including Georgia) have pledged to expedite the implementation of the platform-defined activities through a review process every five years.8 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA) determine changes for the achievement of gender equality and represents important instrument in planning and implementing gender equality policies.
Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action says that in addressing the inequality between men and women in the sharing of power and decision-making at all levels, Governments and other actors should promote an active and visible policy of mainstreaming a gender perspective in all policies and programmes so that before decisions are taken, an analysis is made of the effects on women and men, respectively.9 Particularly noteworthy are the articles of the Beijing Declaration concerning the commitment of government bodies and other actors to strengthen institutional mechanisms for gender equality and to promote gender mainstreaming in all areas of policy.
According to paragraph 205 the state is obliged to facilitate the formulation and implementation of government policies on equality between women and men, develop appropriate strategies and methodologies, and promote coordination and cooperation within the central Government in order to ensure mainstreaming of a gender perspective in all policy-making processes.
In addition, while addressing the issue of mechanisms for promoting the advancement of women, Governments and other actors should promote an active and visible policy of mainstreaming a gender perspective in all policies and programmes so that, before decisions are taken, an analysis is made of the effects on women and men, respectively.10 The government is also obliged to report, on a regular basis, to legislative bodies on the progress of efforts, as appropriate, to mainstream gender concerns, taking into account the implementation of the Platform for Action.11 According to Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action a national machinery for the advancement of women is the central policy-coordinating unit inside government.
Its main task is to support government- wide mainstreaming of a gender-equality perspective in all policy areas.12 According to the report of the European Institute of Gender Equality (EIGE) The functions and role of national government mechanisms for gender equality in EU countries have been expanded and specified over time to include the following tasks: policy analysis to assess gender impact, monitoring and assessment of reforms, law drafting (initiating laws) 7 8 9 UN, Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPfA), 1995.
See: https://beijing20.unwomen.org/~/media/ headquarters/attachments/sections/csw/pfa_e_final_web.pdf ibid BPfA, paragraph 189 10 Ibid, paragraph 202 11 Ibid, paragraph 203 (e) 12 Ibid, paragraph 201 4 and/or reviewing legislation, forming separate government policy targeted on gender equality, information dissemination and raising public awarness, research and development, promoting implementation of government decisions.13 According to Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action the mandate of the national institutional machineries for the advancement of women gender analysis, monitoring, assessment, advocacy and establishment- enforcement of gender mainstreaming.14 Beijing Platform for Action also underlines that existed national mechanisms are not predictable with regard to its effectiveness.
Such mechanisms are often marginalized in national government structures, these mechanisms are frequently hampered by unclear mandates, lack of adequate staff, training, data and sufficient resources, and insufficient support from national political leadership and lack of political will to work on this issue.15 Subsection/priority direction “H” of the Beijing Action Platform focuses on the importance of institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women and identifies three main strategic objectives in order to successfully achieve this goal: H1.
Create or strengthen national machineries and other governmental bodies H2.

Integrate gender perspectives in legislation, public policies, programmes and projects H3.

Generate and disseminate gender disaggregated data and information for planning and evaluation Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action identifies indicators under each strategic objective16, The performance and fulfilmeny of which ensure the achievement of the objective defined by a specific strategic task.
The indicators cover the general mandate of the mechanisms, the powers conferred on them by law, as well as the practice of using specific instruments to ensure gender equality, resource allocation and accountability to relevant agencies.

The assessment of the National Gender Equality Mechanisms in Georgia in relation to the above-mentioned strategic objectives and the attached specific indicators is analyzed in detail in the following chapters.

13 Ibid, pg.

34 14 Ibid; paragraph.


196 15 Ibid; paragraph 197 16 See: https://eige.europa.eu/gender-statistics/dgs/browse/bpfa/bpfa_h/bpfa_h_offic 5 2.

GENDER EQUALITY INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS IN GEORGIA 2.1.
Interagency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence17 Indicator 1: There is a responsibility to ensure gender equality at the highest level of the government hierarchy – the Cabinet of Ministers Assessment: Partially fulfilled Analysis: There is a mechanism for gender equality at the governmental level, though not at the level of the Cabinet, but at the level of the Prime Minister’s Advisor and Deputy Ministers.
Consequently, the government mechanism for gender equality is placed at the high, though not the highest (cabinet on ministers) level of the government hierarchy.

The Commission is accountable to a Human Rights Council chaired by the Prime Minister.
Indicator 2: There is permanent government mechanism at the national level Assessment: fulfilled Analysis: Inter-Agency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence represents permanent national mechanism ensuring gender equality on government level.
Interagency Commission was established in 2017 based on the government regulation #286, in accordance with the Article 12, paragraph 6 of the existing Law on Gender Equality and Article 161 paragraph 2 of the Law on the Elimination of Violence against Women and/or Domestic Violence, and the Protection and Support of Victims of Such Violence.
The chairman of the Commission is the Assistant to the Prime Minister on Human Rights and Gender Equality Issues and the co-chair is the deputy Minister of Justice.18 The members of the Inter-agency Commission include representatives of different government institutions and the composition is determined by the Regulation: ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ Ministry of Justice of Georgia Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs of Georgia Ministry of Internaly Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia 17 Proposed indicators are in compliance with the BpfA Strategic Objective H.1.
Create or strengthen national machineries and other governmental bodies; BPfA Strategic Objective H.2.

Integrate gender perspectives in legislation, public policies, programmes and projects; and also, BPfA Strategic Objective H.3.
Generate and disseminate genderdisaggregated data and information for planning and evaluation 18 The Decree (N286) of the Government of Georgia approves the statute of the Inter-Agency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence Issues; Article 1 6 ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia Ministry Finance of Georgia Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Ministry of Defense of Georgia Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia State Ministry of Reconciliation and Civil Equality Chief Prosecutor’s Office LEPL State Fund for Protection and Assistance of (Statutory) Victims of Human Trafficking LEPL Civil Service Bureau LEPL National Statists Office of Georgia Indicator 3: Gender equality government mechanism has clear mandate Assessment: Partially fulfilled Analysis: According to the Law of Georgia on Gender Equality states that the Government of Georgia in order to ensure systemic and coordinated work on gender and other issues determined under the legislation creates the Inter-agency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence Issues,19 the specifics of work and its obligations are determined by the Regulation.20 According to Article 4 of the Regulation on of the Interagency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence the objectives of the Commission include: a) Development of action plans for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions on gender equality, violence against women an domestic violence, “women, peace and security”; b) Coordination of executive government work targeted on implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions on gender equality, violence against women and domestic violence, as well as “women, peace and security”.
c) Promotion of enforcement of gender “mainstreaming” within the executive government institutions and sectoral policy; d) Monitoring and periodic accountability on the enforcement of policy and action plans on UN Security Council Resolutions on gender equality, violence against women and domestic violence, as well as “women, peace and security”; e) Support collection and analysis of gender “segregated” data; f) Support effective enforcement of functions determined for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions on gender equality, violence against women and domestic violence, as well as “women, peace and security” and coordination of their work.
g) Development of proposals on the enforcement of UN Security Council Resolutions on gender equality, violence against women and domestic violence, as well as “women, peace and security” and presentation to the Government of Georgia for review.
19 Law of Georgia on Gender Equality; Article 12; paragraph 6 20 Decree # 286 of the Government of Georgia On Establishment of Interagency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence Issues and Approval of its Regulation; June 12, 2017 7 h) Close cooperation with non-governmental organizations as well as international and local organization in the process of review of issues related to the enforcement of UN Security Council Resolutions on gender equality, violence against women and domestic violence, as well as “women, peace and security”; i) Study and monitoring of current situation in the field of enforcement of UN Security Council Resolutions on gender equality, violence against women and domestic violence, as well as “women, peace and security”; j) Support the implementation of international obligations of the Government of Georgia on gender equality, violence against women and domestic violence, as well as “women, peace and security”; k) Perform functions of coordination agency, which will be responsible for the coordination, implementation, monitoring and assessment of policy and measures targeted towards the prevention and elimination of all forms of violence determined by the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, Istanbul May 11, 2011.
To accomplish these tasks, the Commission works with a specific agency on a specific need.

According to the information received from the Commission, state agencies do not regularly apply to the Commission for support.
This is usually done on a case-by-case basis, mainly when government agencies need relevant gender equality expertise and advice in the development of action plans.21 In addition, the above-mentioned task of the Commission, which aims to promote the enforcement of gender mainstreaming in the executive branch of government and sectoral policy (paragraph (c)), is general in nature, does not specify mainstream mechanisms and does not reflect the obligations determined under the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
Accordingly the mandate of the Commission is not completely clear and is characterized by certain ambiguity and shallowness.
Indicator 4: There is national action plan on gender equality Assessment: Partially fulfilled Analysis: There is no national action plan on gender equality in the country but the issues of the gender equality are part of the National Strategy for the Protection of Human Rights and thematic action plans focused on the women rights, in particular: ✦ ✦ ✦ National Action Plan for 2018-2020 on the Measures to be Implemented for Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and Protection of Victims/Survivors National Action Plan for 2018-2020 on the Implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions on Women, Peace and Security National Human Rights Action Plan of the Government of Georgia for 2018-2020 21 Interview with the Chairperson of the Interagency Commission, 08.09.2021 8 Chapter 12 of the National Human Rights Action Plan of the Government of Georgia for 2018-2020 applies to gender equality, accordingly the measures taken by the Commission fall under this section.
The status of the fulfilment of obligations is given in the reports on the implementation of the above-mentioned action plans.22 During the drafting this report the term of all three above mentioned action plans expired and new action plans have not been developed yet.

So we can conclude that on this stage the state doesn’t have gender equality enforcement plans.
Although, according to the information received from the Interagency Commission by the decision of the Prime Minister of Georgia, in parallel with the development of the National Human Rights Strategy, the Gender Equality Commission, with the assistance of the Human Rights Secretariat, started working on two separate national action plans for 2022-2024: The UN Action Plan for the Implementation of UNSCR 1325 on Women, Peace and Security and the Action Plan for Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and for the Protection of Victims (Victims).
Indicator 5: Government Mechanism on Gender Equality reports to the Parliament on achieved progress Assessment: fulfilled Analysis: According to the information received from the Commission,23 in 2020 the report on the implementation of the Government Action Plan for Human Rights for 2019 was prepared and submitted to the Parliament, as well as 2019 reports on implementation of action plans on UNSCR 1325 Women, Peace and Security and the Action Plan for Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and for the Protection of Victims (Victims).
Indicator 6: National Governmental Mechanism on Gender Equality determines country gender equality policy on government level Assessment: Partially fulfilled Analysis: Despite the systemic coordinating role imposed on the Commission by law, the National Governmental Gender Equality Mechanism in Georgia is largely consultantive and supportive, and its role in defining the government’s vision or strategy and in coordinating its role is relatively weak, which would be able to create a unified governmental policy of the state on gender equality through the implementation of a systemic and coordinating function.
It should also be noted that before the appointment of a new Adviser to the Prime Minister on Human Rights in August 2021 (the previous Adviser left the position in February 2021), the work of the Commission was virtually suspended, which affected the introduction of the mainstream tool and other ongoing processes.
Indicator 7: National Governmental Mechanism on Gender Equality analysis the policy directions pursued by the government agencies, monitors and evaluates reforms on gender equality 22 See: http://myrights.gov.ge/ka/reports/progress%20reports/ 23 Response letter of the Interagency Commission to the Public Defender; GOV 6 21 00035612, 07.10.2021 9 Assessment: Partially fulfilled Analysis: On December 20, 2019, the Government of Georgia adopted Resolution №629 on the Approval of the Rules for the Development, Monitoring and Evaluation of Policy Papers.
Accordingly, before the start of work on the new Human Rights Action Plan, a methodological assessment of the existing Action Plan in relation to Resolution № 629 was put on the agenda.

The assessment was done by the UNDP, UNFPA and UN Women independents experts Specific topics were selected for methodological and technical evaluation and specific chapters of the document were evaluated, including the chapter on gender equality.
The evaluation aimed at gathering experience of the agencies, analyzing international best practices, including the civil society sector, and sharing experiences in the implementation of action plans.
As a result, methodological recommendations have been developed based on international guidelines and best practices, as well as information provided by government agencies and non-governmental organizations involved in the evaluation process, which will be considered in the process of working on the new Human Rights Action Plan.
Indicator 8: National Governmental Mechanism on Gender Equality has legislative/normative obligation to review the legislation and to initiate legislative changes and to implements them accordingly.

Assessment: unfulfilled Analysis: Interagency Commission doesn’t have legislative/normative obligation to review the legislation and initiate legislative changes.
This is not included either in the gender equality law or in the Government Regulation on the Inter-Agency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence Issues.

Indicator 9: National Governmental Mechanism on Gender Equality conducts studies and prepares development programs on gender equality Assessment: unfulfilled Analysis: Commission is not responsible for organization of studies.
Indicator 10: National Governmental Mechanism on Gender Equality collects and publishes information Assessment: Partially fulfilled Analysis: As part of the preparation of action plan implementation reports, the Commission collects information from relevant agencies, sorts it out and reflects it on performance reports.

Action plan reports are published on the relevant official website (yourhumanrights.ge).
10 However, it should be noted that information is not processed and published in a form intended for the customer.

The analysis of the collected information, as well as its disclosure, does not serve to provide information to the public on existing trends, achievements or challenges in terms of gender equality.
Indicator 11: National Governmental Mechanism on Gender Equality works on awareness rising of government agencies on gender equality issues and ensures organization of trainings Assessment: Partially fulfilled Analysis: According to the information received from the Commission24, during the reporting period, in-depth information on human rights issues was provided to more than 800 civil servants in cooperation with the LEPL Civil Service Bureau.
Among them were public servants’ forums on sexual harassment, violence against women and domestic violence, a forum on “Gender in Public Service”, a webinar on human rights and the environment, and a series of seminars on “Business and Human Rights” was initiated.

According to the letter, during the reporting period, several international visits were organized to various European countries with the participation of public officials.
Among them is one of the virtual visits with the representatives of the Kingdom of Spain, during which Georgian and Spanish colleagues shared their experiences of working with violence against women and domestic violence.

In addition, regional meetings with teachers and school principals were held on various topics related to human rights and gender equality.

Meetings were held in Batumi, Zugdidi, Telavi, Borjomi, Gardabani, etc.
As a result, more than 250 teachers and principals participated in in-depth discussions on human rights issues, including mechanisms for the protection of the rights of the child, equality and domestic violence.
Indicator 12: Meeting of the Interagency Commission on Gender Equality are held regularly Assessment: Partially fulfilled Analysis: According to the Regulation on Interagency Commission the meetings of the Commission shall be conducted minimum twice a year.25 In 2021 only one meeting was held, in 2020 Commission met twice26, in 2019 according to the information on website myrights.gov.ge meeting was held once.
However, due to the fact that the minutes of the meeting on the activities of the Interagency Commission are sometimes uploaded late on the relevant page of the above-mentioned website, the number of meetings may differ in reality.

Indicator 13: A Consultative Group to the Interagency Commission has been established, which includes representatives of non-profit (non-commercial) legal entities and international organizations carrying out activities within the competence of the Interagency Commission.
The Commission holds regular meetings with the Consultantive Group 24 Response letter of the Interagency Commission to the Public Defender; GOV 6 21 00035612, 07.10.2021 25 Article 6, Paragraph 3 26 See: http://myrights.gov.ge/ka/reports/სხდომის-ოქმები/ 11 Assessment: Partially fulfilled Analysis: Article 3 of the Interagency Commission Regulation determines the opportunity to create the Consultative Group, the members of which can be the representatives of non-entrepreneurial (non-commercial) legal entities and international organizations that perform the work that falls within the scope of Interagency Commission.
According to the information received from the Interagency Commission,27 Commission identified 9 priority directions in the field of human rights based on which 9 working groups were established.

Representatives’ of non-governmental organizations are members of these working groups.

Among the thematic groups is domestic violence working group and working group on enforcement of gender mainstreaming obligation, but due to COVID 19 pandemic the work of the thematic working groups was hindered in 2020.
It is also important to underline that the Commission co-chairs were changed and their vision, in what form and composition thematic groups will continue their work isn’t clear.

According to the information received from the Interagency Commission,28 by the end of 2019 9 working groups started to operate within the Interagency Commission on Gender Equality.
During the reporting period working groups were working actively on women economic empowerment, reflecting gender aspects in the budget, cooperation with local government, mainstreaming of gender equality and etc.
According to the letter the meetings of the Gender Equality Commission, as well as 9 working groups within the Commission, were held, including: Information meeting of the members of the Platform for Cooperation with Municipalities; Workshop on eliminating child marriage and other harmful practices; Meetings of the Interagency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence on the Challenges for Persons with Disabilities in relation to the new Coronavirus (COVID-19); Workshop on the introduction of a system of sexual harassment in the public sector; Coordination meeting on the legal status of the LGBT community during the COVID-19 crisis period; Protection of human rights during Covid-19, etc.29 Due to the pandemic conditions, the outreach activities planned by the Commission for 2020-2021 were changed to mainly online coordination activities involving non-governmental and international organizations in addition to government officials.30 Indicator 14: The number of staff at the central level of the National Governmental Mechanism on Gender Equality is sufficient to support gender equality and implementation of planed activities (The number of employees of the government mechanism for gender equality in relation to the population of the country (EU average 2.5, 2012)) Assessment: unfulfilled 27 Interview with the Chairperson of the Interagency Commission, 08.09.2021 28 Response letter of the Interagency Commission to the Public Defender; GOV 6 21 00035612, 07.10.2021 29 ibid 30 ibid 12 Analysis: According to the methodology developed by EIGE31, in order to assess the present indicator and to determine the number of employees in the National Government Gender Equality Mechanism and, consequently, the adequacy of human resources in the country, it is necessary to compare the number of employees in the Government Mechanism with the population of the country.32 Using the same methodology, a median value for the EU was developed, which equals 2.15.
EU countries have evaluated this indicator in relation to this median (deviation).
Georgia used the following methodology to assess this indicator: ✦ According to Geostat data of 2020, the population of Georgia is 3.716.900 ✦ Two (2) people are employed at the National Governmental Mechanism on Gender Equality 2 / 3.716 900 = 0.53 – 2.15 = -1.61 Thus, according to this methodology, the median deviation rate of Georgia in relation to 2.15 is -1.61, which means a negative evaluation (value) according to the EIGE methodology.
This, in turn, implies that the human resources of the National Government Mechanism on Gender Equality in Georgia are disproportionately small compared to the population.

Indicator 15: The total annual budget allocated to the Interagency Commission on Gender Equality (including salaries, grants and project funding) is sufficient to promote gender equality and to carry out planned activities.
Assessment: unfulfilled Analysis: The issue of financing the Commission’s activities remains a challenge, the Commission needs additional financial support to implement the activities specified in its statute and action plans, although most of the work of this mechanism are completed with the support of international donors that make a significant contribution to the work of the Commission and the implementation of its activities.
This obviously has a negative impact on the Commission’s performance of its obligations and the sustainability of its activities.
Indicator 16: Interagency Commission on Gender Equality has a secretary Assessment: unfulfilled Analysis: According to Article 7 of the Regulation on Interagency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence Issues: 31 EIGE, Effectiveness of Institutional Mechanisms for the Advancement of Gender Equality, Review of the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action in the EU Member States, 2014, Chapter 4.2 32 ibid 13 1.
The Interagency Commission has a secretary, who is appointed to the position by the Chairman of the Interagency Commission; 2.

The Secretary of the Interagency Commission provides technical support to the Commission’s work, prepares the meetings of the Commission, drafts the minutes of the meetings, provides technical support to the consultative group of the Interagency Commission and provides organizational-technical support for calling the meetings of the Interagency Commission.
However, despite the above wording, the Interagency Commission does not have a secretary, which significantly hinders the effective performance of its duties.
Indicator 17: The readiness of the Government Mechanism on Gender Equality to enforce gender mainstreaming - Gender mainstreaming is a statutory obligation declared by the government Assessment: unfulfilled Analysis: According to the Regulation on Interagency Commission the Commission’s tasks directly related to the implementation of gender mainstreaming in practice include the following measures:33 ✦ ✦ ✦ Promotion of enforcement of gender “mainstreaming” within the executive government institutions and sectoral policy; Support collection and analysis of gender “segregated” data; Support the implementation of international obligations of the Government of Georgia on gender equality, violence against women and domestic violence”.
The statute does not further impose an obligation on the use of mainstreaming tools; therefore, the Commission does not clearly set out in the document what specific measures should be taken to encourage gender mainstreaming in executive bodies and sectoral policies, and what specific mechanisms are needed to coordinate agencies.
In general, there is no normative record in the f Georgian legislation and policy documents that explains what gender mainstreaming is, what methodologies it includes and / or what is the state’s view on the implementation of gender mainstreaming methodologies.

Although the Georgia has a number of commitments to implement gender mainstreaming - including gender mainstreaming and gender budgeting.

Nor are these issues addressed in the Gender Equality Law.
Indicator 18: Gender mainstreaming methodologies such as gender responsive budgeting (GRB) and gender impact assessment (GIA) are introduced Assessment: unfulfilled Analysis: Some initiatives on gender responsive budgeting and gender impact assessment have been implemented in Georgia for many years, although these initiatives are entirely pilot in nature and are supported by donors / international organizations.
Gender mainstreaming methodologies such as gender responsive budgeting and 33 Article 4 14 gender impact assessment are not established as normative.

Legislation and policy documents governing public administration, policy development, and public finance management do not provide for the use of appropriate gender mainstreaming tools.

At the time of writing this report, the Commission has not developed any initiatives to facilitate the introduction of gender mainstreaming methodologies.
However, the information provided by the Commission34 reveals that the Gender Equality Commission, in cooperation with the UN Women, started developing gender mainstreaming tools / instructions for public officials in 2020.

The working version of the document has been completed and its implementation and consideration are planned in the National Action Plan for the Protection of Human Rights.
Indicator 19: There is a legislative / normative obligation to regularly produce and disseminate gender- disaggregated data by national statistical offices or other national government agencies Assessment: fulfilled Analysis: The collection of statistics under the goals of gender equality is provided by the LEPL - National Statistics Office (Geostat).

Geostat is considered as a data receiving agency after the development of a unified standard for gender-segregated data collection.
The work of Geostat is based on the Strategy for the Development of the National System of Official Statistics of Georgia for 2020-2023, approved by the Resolution #585 of the Government of Georgia of November 29, 2019, which includes issues related to the development of gender statistics on various issues.35 According to the report on the implementation of the Action Plan of Human Rights of Georgia for 2018-2020, Geostat, within its competence, performs the function imposed by the Action Plan -after developing a unified standard for gender-segregated data collection and within the scope of its competence, it will consult the relevant agencies.
However, information on the consultation with the agencies is not available at this stage.
Indicator 20: There are regular / up-to-date publications on gender-segregated data and there is a website or a dedicated section of the website for posting gender-segregated data Assessment: fulfilled Analysis: Statistical data processed by Geostat is regularly published on website: www.geostat.ge Indicator 21: The Commission facilitates the collection and analysis of sex / gender segregated data, including the concept of statistics production and administration.
Assessment: unfulfilled 34 Response letter of the Interagency Commission to the Public Defender GOV 6 21 00035612, 07.10.2021 35 See: https://www.geostat.ge/ka/modules/categories/630/statistikis-ganvitarebis-strategia 15 Analysis: Interagency Commission aims to facilitate the collection and analysis of gender-segregated data.36 However, as it is clear from the communication with the Commission,37 its work is limited to receiving statistical data from the relevant agencies and then, their reflection in the relevant reports.
There is no standard and methodology for how this data should be collected and what indicators it should cover, which hinders the effective implementation of gender mainstreaming by both the national mechanism and its agencies.

2.2.
2.2.

Member agencies of the Interagency Commission on Gender Equality38 The primary purpose of this report was not to examine the effectiveness of the work of the member agencies of the Interagency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence with regard to gender equality and the empowerment of women.

Nevertheless, the study also provided an overview about the Commission’s constituent bodies national institutional mechanism for gender equality.
As part of the research, information was collected on the following indicators: Indicator 1: There is sufficient human resources (allocated to Focal Point) within the agencies of the Interagency Commission on Gender Equality to effectively implement gender equality measures Assessment: Partially fulfilled Analysis: There is no specific staff member in the member agencies of the Commission whose work focuses only on gender equality issues, except in the Ministry of Defense, which has established the position of Gender Advisor.39 In the case of other agencies, usually agency staff (mainly one (1) staff member), in addition to their core business activities, take on issues related to gender equality.
Indicator 2.

Gender Impact Assessment (GIA) is used to initiate changes in legislation, as well as during the development of laws, policies, programs, action plans and projects Assessment: unfulfilled Analysis: Gender impact assessment of programs, action plans, strategies or projects by the agencies within the Commission is not implemented in practice.
As the focus groups with the commission agencies show, they 36 Decree # 286 of the Government of Georgia; On Establishment of Interagency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence Issues and Approval of its Regulation; June 12, 2017 Article 4, paragraph (e) 37 Interview with the Chairperson of the Interagency Commission, 08.09.2021 38 Proposed indicators are in compliance with BPfA Strategic Objectives - Strategic Objective H.2.
Integrate gender perspectives in legislation, public policies, programmes and projects; and also, BPfA Strategic Objective H.3.

Generate and disseminate genderdisaggregated data and information for planning and evaluation 39 See: https://mod.gov.ge/uploads/archive/pdf/gender/Tavdacvis-saministro-genderuli-mrCevlis-samuSao-aRwera.

pdf 16 are implementing these mainstreaming tools with Ad hoc and mainly donor support, and plan to give them an institutional form to use in the future.
Therefore, for the current stage, it should be noted that important methods of gender mainstreaming, such as gender impact assessment, are not actively used in practice, which influences the integration of gender equality issues by a particular agency and the identification of needs in different areas.

It should be noted that the Regulation of the Interagency Commission on the use of gender mainstreaming does not refer to the powers and responsibilities of specific agencies.
The Regulation of the Interagency Commission does not specify what concrete and proactive measures are needed to achieve the commission’s tasks at the agency level, including the fact that the document does not specify gender mainstreaming tools and indicate the obligation or methodology for agencies to use it in practice.

These obligations are also not included in the Gender Equality Law, which is the main legal framework for gender equality policy in the country.
It is true that the law in certain areas, namely education, labor, health and other areas, indicates certain measures, but it does not specify the methods and tools on how to achieve the ultimate goal of gender equality.

The law also ignores the issue of gender mainstreaming, does not define it, and does not allocate its tools.
The law applies only to the collection of gender-segregated data in terms of gender mainstreaming.40 Consequently, Georgia does not have a relevant legal framework in terms of establishing gender mainstreaming practices.

In addition to the above, it is noteworthy that there is no binding legal norm or policy document for the agencies, which obliges them taking into account their gender specifics in their particular field (agriculture, health, employment policy, etc.)
and developing intra-departmental action plans and concepts.
The only document that defines the development of action plans by public agencies is Resolution №629 approved by the government in 2019, “On the approval of the rules for the development, monitoring and evaluation of policy documents.”41 As stated in the resolution, its purpose is to introduce results-oriented policy planning, monitoring and evaluation and to establish quality assurance mechanisms in these areas.42 However, it should be noted that the rule set out in the resolution does not include a gender perspective and does not provide, for example, for a gender analysis of policy documents and a gender assessment obligation.
According to the resolution, the public agency, within its competence, shall develop policy documents, in which it shall define the short, medium and long term goals and objectives, to solve specific problems, however, none of the provisions includes the tools and goals necessary for gender mainstreaming.
Part of this resolution is the “Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Guide”“43, which also does not take into account the gender perspective in the policy planning or evaluation process.44 The handbook makes only a general note, stating that cross-cutting issues must be taken into account when 40 Law of Georgia on Gender Equality, Article 5 41 Resolution №629, “On the approval of the rules for the development, monitoring and evaluation of policy documents , 2019, December 20, see: https://matsne.gov.ge/ka/document/view/4747283?publication=0 42 Ibid; Article 1.1 43 Ibid, Article 5 44 Public Defender’s Office, Gender Mainstreaming - Overview of the obligations recognized by Georgia and the status of their fulfillment , 2020, see: https://ombudsman.ge/geo/190306081201spetsialuri-angarishebi/genderuli- meinstrimingi-sakartvelos-mier-aghiarebuli-valdebulebebisa-da-mati-shesrulebis-statusis-mimokhilva 17 formulating goals and objectives in sectoral policy documents.
Among them is the Human Rights-Based Approach.
For example, gender issues, issues of minorities and other vulnerable groups.“45 With regard to indicators, the handbook is limited to the consultative notes only, namely, “special attention should be paid to cross-cutting issues such as human rights, gender issues, minority and people with disabilities”.46 Such a mechanism could not be considered as a systematic mechanism for policy planning, monitoring and evaluation in the context of gender mainstreaming.47 Indicator 3: Regular or ad hoc trainings on gender equality are being organized Assessment: Partially fulfilled Analysis: A small number of agencies within the Commission, with the support of the Commission and donor / international organizations, train staff on gender equality and other cross-cutting issues, although this is not regular and is usually done in an ad hoc format.
See Table №1.
Table #1: Status of participation in trainings on gender equality All employees of the state agencies People of the highest political positions (ministers, vice minister, other members of the cabinet of ministers, deputies) Employees of the Interagency Commission on the Gender Equality Majority of the employees at the Ministries and Departments Some employees of the Ministries and Departments None of the relevant government agency Regular Ad hoc Yes ✔ ✔ No ✔ ✔ ✔ Yes No ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ The fact that some agencies have actively started future planning of awareness-raising courses on gender equality and mainstream is to be welcomed.
For example, one of the projects of the Ministry of Finance developed a guide for employees on border security and management, “GENDER MADE EASY” and “Gender Mainstreaming in Border Security and Management” online course.48 45 Government Administration, Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Guide, pg.
21 46 Ibid, pg 23 47 Public Defender’s Office, Gender Mainstreaming - Overview of the obligations recognized by Georgia and the status of their fulfillment , 2020 48 Response letter from the Ministry of Finance, №08-02/112202, 10/09/2021 18 Indicator 4: Gender budgeting (GB) or gender impact assessment of ministries budgets is widely used Assessment: unfulfilled Analysis: Like other tools of gender mainstreaming, agencies do not address gender budgeting.
According to the information requested from the agencies within the commission, some of them are currently in the process of implementing a similar instrument in practice.
For example, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, in cooperation with the UN Women, plans to conduct a participatory gender audit in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs this fall.49 According to the letter from the Ministry, the gender audit will enable the drafting of the Gender Equality Strategy developed by the Ministry to be revised and updated, and finally an internal evidence based gender policy document will be approved which is developed through gender audit.
Indicator 5: Ministries have established an effective internal mechanism for the prevention and response to sexual harassment Assessment: Partially fulfilled Analysis: By the time of preparation of this report, nine (9) agencies within the Interagency Commission have already developed internal mechanisms for the prevention and referral of sexual harassment.50 This tool was also developed by the LEPL Educational Institution Service, the State Inspector’s Service and the LEPL National Intellectual Property Center of Georgian, which should be considered as a substantial step forward.
See.

Table №2.

Table №2.
Introduction of sexual harassment mechanisms by the agencies within the Interagency Commission Commission member agencies Sexual harassment internal mechanisms Ministry of Justice of Georgia Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs of Georgia Ministry of Internaly Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia Ministry Finance of Georgia Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia - - - - - Drafted - Drafted 49 Response letter from the Ministry of Internal Affairs MIA 7 21 02380321, 08.09.2021 50 Interview with the Interagency Commission, 08.09.2021 19 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Ministry of Defense of Georgia Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia State Ministry of Reconciliation and Civil Equality Chief Prosecutor’s Office LEPL State Fund for Protection and Assistance of (Statutory) Victims of Human Trafficking LEPL Civil Service Bureau LEPL National Statists Office of Georgia Drafted Drafted Drafted - Drafted Drafted Drafted Drafted Indicator 6: Ministries have developed internal action plans and strategies on gender equality Assessment: Partially fulfilled Analysis: Out the Commission member agencies, only the Ministry of Defense of Georgia has developed a separate gender equality strategy (2014) and the concept of gender equality.
(2021).51 The Civil Service Bureau of Georgia’s has integrated its gender equality policy vision into the Civil Service Bureau’s 2020-2021 Institutional Action Plan.52 According to information received from agencies, some of them are currently working on gender equality action plans and strategies (eg, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
Indicator 7: Ministries have staff designated for the strengthening the gender statistics program, coordinating, monitoring, and liaising with all areas of statistical work; There are also permanent / up-to-date publicly available publications on gender-disaggregated data Assessment: Partially fulfilled Analysis: Out of the Commission’s agencies the Civil Service Bureau is responsible for collecting and disseminating sex / gender-disaggregated data.
As for the collection of statistics within the agencies, the information received from the agencies of the Commission shows that some of them use the tool for the production of gender statistics.
For example, according to the information received from the Ministry of Finance of Georgia, the data of the staff of the central office of the Ministry are processed in the gender context and published proactively, also, various statistics on gender is produced (statistics on professional staff evaluation, salary statistics, statistics on participation in professional development programs, statistics on hospitalization, employment and employee outflow statistics).53 51 Response letter of the Ministry of Defense, MOD 7 21 00895468, 03.09.
2021.

See “Gender Equality Strategy of the Ministry of Defense of Georgia” approved by the Acting Minister of Defense №544 of April 29, 2014 and “Concept of Gender Equality of the Ministry of Defense” approved by the Order №453 of the Minister of Defense of June 3, 2021 52 Response letter of the Civil Service Bureau, №გ11094, 03.09.2021.
See Civil Service Bureau Institutional Action Plan 2020-2021, Task 3: Define Gender Equality Goals and Activities in the Civil Service Bureau; Human resource development to achieve gender equality goals; Information processing and internal communication to achieve gender equality goals.

53 Government Human Rights Action Plan Implementation Report 2019, Objective: 12.2.3.
20 Systematically updated information is also posted on the website of the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia on gender-segregated statistics of employees in the Ministry.

2.3.
2.3.

The Permanent Parliamentary Gender Equality Council54 Indicator 1: The Council has a clear mandate Assessment: fulfilled Analysis: The Permanent Parliamentary Gender Equality Council is responsible for overseeing the protection of gender equality in Georgia.55 It defines major directions of the state policy in the area of gender equality and ensures creation and development of the legislative framework on gender equality issues.
The Council also has to control the work of bodies accountable to the Parliament on gender equality issues.56 It was created to ensure regular and coordinated work on gender equality issues.57 The Parliament Speaker or one of the Council members assigned by him chairs the Council.

The Speaker defines the number of Council members and the composition of the Council.

A member’s awareness and experience in the area of gender equality shall be considered.
At the Council Chair’s invitation, the members of the Cabinet, heads of agencies, representatives of nongovernmental and donor organizations may participate in the Council’s work.58 The Council’s mandate is defined by the Parliament Rules of Procedure and the Council’s Bylaws.

The Parliament Rules of Procedure mandates the Council to analyze the legislation and develop proposals to address gender inequality in the legislation.
The Council shall also analyze the initiated legislative drafts through the lens of gender equality; plan various activities to advance gender equality; develop and introduce a system for monitoring and evaluating activities aimed at ensuring gender equality, and develop relevant recommendations.59 The Council Bylaws also mandate the Council to monitor the executive branch’s activities related to gender equality, hold a hearing of the report by the Inter-agency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence; supervise the implementation of the National Action Plan on Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women.60 54 Assessment of the Permanent Parliamentary Gender Equality Council according to the developed indicators.
The assessment covers the period from January 2018 to October, 2021.

The suggested indicators are relevant to the BPfA Strategic Objective H.1.

to create or strengthen national machineries and other governmental bodies; as well as the BPfA Strategic Objective H.2.

to integrate gender perspectives into legislation, public policies, programmes and projects.

55 Law of Georgia on Gender Equality, Article 12 56 Parliament of Georgia Rules of Procedure, Article 76.1.
57 Parliament of Georgia Rules of Procedure, Article 76.2.

58 Bylaws of the Permanent Parliamentary Gender Equality Council (approved by the Parliament Speaker’s Decree №41/3, 16.02, 2017), Article 7.

59 Parliament of Georgia Rules of Procedure, Article 76.4 60 Gender Equality Council Bylaws, Article 3.
21 Indicator 3: The Council has an action plan Assessment: fulfilled Analysis: The Gender Equality Council’s Action Plan for 2017-2020 includes the following areas: ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ Define major directions of the state policy Refine the state gender equality mechanism Create and develop a legislative framework for gender equality; monitor activities aimed at ensuring gender equality and develop recommendations Institutional strengthening of the Gender Equality Council Raise public awareness.
The 2021 Plan includes issues, which were not completed in 2017-2020.

Afterwards the Council is planning to develop an action plan for 2022-2024.61 Indicator 3: The Council annually arranges hearings of the executive branch’s progress reports on the action plans on gender equality and women’s empowerment issues.
Assessment: partially fulfilled Analysis: According to the information received from the Council, in 2020, the hearing of the progress report on the Government’s action plan was not arranged and recommendations were not issued because the Council did not have a Chair.

As for the other years, in 2018 the Council held a hearing of the Director of Human Rights Department at the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
In 2019 the hearing of the 2018 annual report of the Inter- agency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence was held.

In 2021 the Council held a hearing of the 2020 annual report of the Inter-agency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence.
In the same year the Council members heard an account of the Head of the Social Statistics Department, National Agency of Statistics on the methodology for calculating wage gaps and the situation with this regard, as well as the report of the Deputy Minister of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labor, Health, and Social Affairs of Georgia on the importance of the membership of the Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC).62 The reports presented by the above-mentioned agencies (except for the Inter-agency Commission) were thematic and did cover an agency’s work in the area of gender equality.
Also, the hearing of reports by Prosecutor General and Ministry of Education and Science – the agencies, which are critically important for ensuring gender equality did not take place in the period of 2018- October, 2021.

The Council also did not arrange a hearing of the Public Defender’s reports.
However, according to the information provided by the Council, they regularly review the Ombudsman’s reports and refer to these 61 The information is accessible at the link: https://parliament.ge/media/news/genderuli-tanastsorobis- mudmivmokmedma-saparlamento-sabchom-akhali-samokmedo-gegmis-shemushavebaze-imsjela 62 Permanent Parliamentary Gender Equality Council’s Letter to Public Defender’s Office №10772/4-1/21, October 29, 2021 22 reports when studying specific issues (e.g., in the process of identifying areas for thematic inquiries).63 Indicator 4: The Council creates/develops the gender equality legislative framework Assessment: fulfilled Analysis: The Council plays an important role by developing legislation and supporting legislative changes to fight gender inequality, violence and discrimination against women.
In the assessment period the Council achieved the following: in 2018-2019 it developed legislative amendments on sexual harassment (with the support of USAID/PROLoG and UN Women), developed amendments to the Labor Code to support economic empowerment of women (with the support of USAID/PROLoG), worked on the bill on mandatory gender quotas, as well as the bill on parental leave and the methodology for calculating gender wage gaps (the latter work was done with the support of UN Women and the UN development Programme).64 In 2019 the concept of amendments to the Law on Gender Equality (with the support of UN Women) was developed.
No progress has been made with respect to this concept so far.

In the same year, the Council supported the bills on gender equality issues, which were initiated by the Human Rights and Civic Integration Committee on the basis of the Public Defender’s proposal.

In 2020 the Council worked on the equal pay amendments to the Tax Code.

The amendments to the Election Code on gender quotas were approved.65 By October 2021, the State Concept on Gender Equality was finalized.
The Council had been revising this concept with the support of the Swedish government, UN Women, and the UN Development Programme, and the UN Population Fund since 2018.

The concept has not been adopted yet.

Currently, the Council is working on the legal regulations prohibiting “virginity tests”, and regulations on supporting services for individuals who do not have a status of a victim and regulations concerning the status of single papers (with the support of UN Women).
In 2021 the Council also worked on the amendments to the Law of Georgia on Official Statistics (based on the legislative proposal of the Women’s Information Center).

Indicator 5: The Council will develop thematic inquiries Assessment: partially fulfilled Analysis: The Council has an important role in developing thematic inquiries.
In the first half of 2019 the Council carried out thematic inquiries on “Women’s participation in state economic programs” and “Accessibility of vocation education for women’s economic empowerment”,66 as well as “Accessibility of healthcare services for women and girls with disabilities.” Such inquiries are usually carried out with the involvement of external experts, while Council members ensure coordination with agencies.
According to the Council, the implementation of 63 Interview with the staff of Gender Equality Council, September 8, 2021 64 Permanent Parliamentary Gender Equality Council’s Letter to Public Defender’s Office №10772/4-1/21, October 29, 2021 65 Ibid.
66 The 2019 Report on the Implementation of the Gender Equality Council’s Action Plan for 2018-2020, p.5; Permanent Parliamentary Gender Equality Council’s Letter to Public Defender’s Office №10772/4-1/21, October 29, 2021 23 the recommendations is monitored through hearings involving agencies, roundtable discussions, meetings, and information requests.67 In 2018 and 2020 no thematic inquiries were carried out.
In 2021 the following thematic inquiries were initiated: “Women’s participation in the shadow economy and COVID-19 effects” (with the support of USAID/PROLoG) and “Effectiveness of the implementation of the Convention against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention), (with the support of GGI).68 These inquiries are currently underway.
Indicator 6: the Council issues recommendations on the issues of gender equality for state bodies Assessment: fulfilled Analysis: The Council issues recommendations on gender equality issues for state bodies mainly through thematic inquiries.

In 2018, no recommendations were issued for state bodies.

However, in 2019, within the framework of three thematic inquiries, the Council applied to state agencies with several recommendations.
These are: ✦ ✦ ✦ 90 recommendations were issued for different state bodies within the framework of the thematic inquiry “Accessibility of healthcare services for women and girls”; 21 recommendations were issued for LEPL Enterprise Georgia and Rural Development Agency within the framework of the thematic inquiry “Women’s participation in state economic programs”; 14 recommendations were issued for various state bodies within the framework of the thematic inquiry “Accessibility of vocational education for women’s economic empowerment”.69 In 2020 the Council developed recommendations to be considered in the process of managing the pandemic - 17 recommendations were submitted to the Government of Georgia.
The document envisioned initiatives aimed at the economic empowerment of women and initiatives aimed at the prevention of and response to violence against women and domestic violence.70 According to the information provided by the Council, two more thematic inquiries are currently underway and will be completed by the end of 2021.

As a result of these inquiries the recommendations will be developed for relevant bodies.
The Council is also updating the report on “Gender Equality in Georgia: Barriers and Recommendations,” which will include recommendations for the Parliament, Government, and Ministries of Georgia.71 Also, the Council does not issue recommendations concerning gender equality issues for agencies after hearing reports of executive bodies.
67 Interview with the staff of Gender Equality Council, September 8, 2021 68 Permanent Parliamentary Gender Equality Council’s Letter to Public Defender’s Office №10772/4-1/21, October 29, 2021 69 Permanent Parliamentary Gender Equality Council’s Letter to Public Defender’s Office №10772/4-1/21, October 29, 2021 70 Ibid.

71 Ibid.
71 Ibid.

24 Indicator 7: The Council monitors implementation of its recommendations Assessment: partially fulfilled Analysis: It is important for the Council to have a unified and structured approach to the monitoring of thematic inquiries, recommendations, and statements it disseminates, allowing it to evaluate the outcomes of its activities.
According to the information provided by the Council, in 2021 it started to monitor the implementation of recommendations issued within the framework of three thematic inquiries completed in 2019: ✦ ✦ ✦ Women’s participation in state economic programs – 7 letters were sent to relevant agencies to request information on the implementation of the Council’s recommendations: Accessibility of vocational education for women’s economic empowerment – 70 letters were sent to 64 municipalities and relevant agencies to request information on the implementation of the Council’s recommendations; Accessibility of healthcare services for women and girls with disabilities – 6 letters were sent to relevant agencies to request information on the implementation of the Council’s recommendations.72 The monitoring of the implementation of other recommendations, including recommendations related to COVID-19 has not been completed.
Indicator 8: The Council develops and presents a report on gender equality to the Parliament once in a year Assessment: unfulfilled Analysis: The Parliament Rules of Procedure mandate the Council to present a report on gender equality once a year.73 In previous years the Council did not develop and present such annual reports to the Parliament.

In 2021, with the support of UNDP, a report assessing the state of gender equality in 2020-2021 was developed.
According to the information provided by the Council, the report was supposed to be presented to the Parliament at the end of the Spring session, but the presentation was postponed until the end of the year.74 Indicator 9: The Council meets once in a quarter Assessment: partially fulfilled Analysis: According to the Parliament Rules of Procedure, the Council shall meet at least once in a quarter at the 72 Permanent Parliamentary Gender Equality Council’s Letter to Public Defender’s Office №10772/4-1/21, October 29, 2021.
73 Parliament Rules of Procedure, Article 76.5.

74 Interview with the Gender Equality Council’s staff, September 8, 2021.

25 invitation of the Council Chair.75 According to the information provided by the Council, this obligation was met in 2018, as well as in 2021 (the target was exceeded), while in 2019 and 2020 the number of meetings fell short of the target.
In 2018 four meetings were held, in 2019 – 2, and in 2020 – no meetings were held, while in January-October 2021 – 6 meetings were held.76 In 2019, after the Chair left the Council, the Council’s work was considerably interrupted – it is not allowed to hold meetings in the absence of a chairperson.

Starting from February 2021, with the designation of the new Chair, the Council’s meetings and activities in different areas were restored.
Indicator 10: The Council creates a consultative group, which includes representatives of non-profit (noncommercial) legal entities and international organizations working in the areas within the scope of the Council’s competence Assessment: fulfilled Analysis: The consultative group, including representatives of local and international organizations, experts and organizations providing technical assistance, is created at the Council.77 Indicator 11: Meetings with the Consultative Group are held regularly.
Assessment: fulfilled Analysis: The Council regularly meets the Consultative Group in various formats.

In 2018 two such meetings were held – one with the involvement of nongovernmental and international organizations (to present a vision and plans for the implementation of the gender policy at the local level) and the second meeting – with the involvement of donors.
According to the information provided by the Council, in the first half of 2019, the members of the Consultative Group at the Gender Equality Council created the following thematic working groups, which held regular working meetings during the year: ✦ ✦ ✦ Labor Rights Consultative Group, which worked on the package of amendments to the Labor Code; Working Group for the Reduction of the Gender Pay Gap and Development of the Pay Gap Methodology; Working Group for the Regulation of Sexual Harassment.78 According to the information provided by the Council, in 2019, as well as in 2020, the members of the Consultative Council attended the meetings of the Gender Equality Council.
They received and shared information on their initiatives with the Council members.79 75 Parliament Rules of Procedure, Article 8.

76 Permanent Parliamentary Gender Equality Council’s Letter to Public Defender’s Office №10772/4-1/21, October 29, 2021.

77 The 2019 report on the implementation of the Gender Equality Council’s Action Plan for 2018-2020, p. 4.

78 Permanent Parliamentary Gender Equality Council’s Letter to Public Defender’s Office №10772/4-1/21, October 29, 2021.

79 Ibid.
79 Ibid.

26 As of October 2021, four coordination meetings are held.

Three out four were held with donor organizations only, the fourth – with both donors and local nongovernmental organizations.

At the last meeting, the NGOs’ letter, written for the attention of the Parliament Speaker was considered.
The letter concerned the alleged harassment of female members of the opposition party by male members of the ruling party at the July 18, 2021 Parliament Plenary session.80 The Consultative Group involving the NGOs met to discuss thematic issues less frequently in 2019 and 2021.

Indicator 12: The Council has adequate human resources for effective work Assessment: partially fulfilled Analysis: Since 2019 the Council Secretary is no longer a temporary staffer of the Parliament.

This is a step forward.


Despite this, the Council’s increased obligations and high expectations associated with its work create a critical need for more human resources.

It is particularly important for the Council to have a lawyer (to avoid dependence on the other departments of the Parliament and external experts), a communications officer and a person responsible for management.
Nowadays, the persons working for the Council have to combine their responsibilities with such tasks as designing newsletters, communication, and social media management, while this work requires special expertise and additional time.81 Indicator 13: The Council has adequate and independent resources for its effective work Assessment: unfulfilled Analysis: The Council faces challenges with financing its activities.

The Council closely cooperates with donors and organizations providing technical assistance.
These organizations play a significant role in the Council’s work and activities.

However, currently the Council’s work is fully dependent on donors.

It does not have its own financial means.

This may negatively affect sustainability of the Council’s work.

Also, the Council always has to seek an organization to assist it with the implementation of specific activities.
According to the information provided by the Council, the Parliament Financial Department expressed readiness to allocate a budget for the Council – however, this creates an additional reporting obligation, which may require extra human resources.

Increased obligations create the need for more human resources.82 Indicator 14: The Council ensures institutionalization of the gender impact assessments in the legislative activities Assessment: unfulfilled 80 Ibid.
81 82 Interview with the Gender Equality Council’s staff, September 8; Tsurtsumia – Zurabishvili, A.

Assessment of the Gender Equality Council’s Activities in 2017-2020 and Recommendations for Future Activities, 2021, NDI, Ukaid.

Interview with the Gender Equality Council’s staff, September 8; Tsurtsumia – Zurabishvili, A.

Assessment of the Gender Equality Council’s Activities in 2017-2020 and Recommendations for Future Activities, 2021, NDI, Ukaid.
27 Analysis: The institutionalization of gender impact assessments is not completed as of October, 2021.

However, the Council is working in this direction.

According to the information provided by the Council, with the support of UN Women, in 2021 the Council created a working group to introduce gender impact assessments in the legislative work.
The group includes the members of the Council, representatives of partner donor organizations, Prime Minister’s Advisor on Human Rights, and representatives of the Government Administration.

In 2021 four meetings were held.

A proposal to conduct a two-stage process of gender impact assessments was developed.

Its introduction requires amendments to the Organic Law on Normative Acts.83 According to the information provided by the Council, the bill will be finalized by the end of 2021.
Afterwards it will be initiated.

Indicator 15: The Council applies gender impact assessments Analysis: partially fulfilled Analysis: An obligation to conduct gender impact assessments is not established in the Georgian legislation, including the law on gender equality or Parliament Rules of Procedure.

The Council made such a commitment based on the action plan and assumed the leading and coordinating role in relation to gender impact assessments.
According to the information provided by Council, in 2018, with the support of USAID Good Governance Initiative (GGI), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and National Democratic Institute, a gender impact assessment methodology was developed.

In 2019, based on this methodology, five committees of the Parliament, in partnership with Gender Equality Council and with the support of partner international organizations, conducted gender impact assessments.
These include: ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ Sectoral Economy and Economic Policy Committee – gender impact assessment of the taxation of small enterprises and certain aspects of income taxes; Human Rights and Civic Integration Committee – gender impact assessment of the amendments to the Law on Violence against Women and Domestic Violence; Legal Committee – gender impact assessment of the bill against domestic violence and gender-based crimes; Health care and Social Issues Committee – gender impact assessment of the draft law on work security; Sports and Youth Issues Committee – gender impact assessment of the draft law on Physical Education and Sports.
In 2020 and 2021 no gender impact assessment was carried out.

However, in 2021 the Council actively worked on the institutionalization of gender impact assessments.

Despite significance of piloting gender impact assessments by the Council, the recommendations from these assessment reports have not been mostly reflected in the adopted laws.
This points to the need to introduce gender impact assessments as a mandatory part of the legislative process and designate an initiator, quality 83 Permanent Parliamentary Gender Equality Council’s Letter to Public Defender’s Office №10772/4-1/21, October 29, 2021.

28 monitor and other responsible persons.

According to the information provided by the Council, they actively work on these issues with the involvement of the Government Administration and Prime Minister’s Advisor on Human Rights.
Indicator 16: The Council issues recommendations on the collection of gender-disaggregated statistics and monitors the implementation of these recommendations Assessment: partially fulfilled Analysis: The Council does not have an obligation to produce statistics on the issues of gender equality.
However, it has an important role with respect to the dissemination of such statistics, as well as development of recommendations on the production of statistics for agencies and monitoring of the implementation of these recommendations.

The Council analyzes the existing statistics in the reports (e.g., the Council’s Gender Equality Report for 2020-2021 includes gender statistics on different issues), as well as public awareness materials disseminated in social media (the Council’s Facebook page).
According to the information provided by the Council, in 2019 the Council issued the following recommendations concerning the production of statistics, within the framework of the thematic inquiry on the accessibility of health care services for women and girls with disabilities: ✦ ✦ For the National Statistics Office of Georgia - „produce official statistics on the employment of persons with disabilities in the private sector, including gender statistics”; For the Parliament of Georgia- „introduce a statutory obligation to produce statistics related to the persons with disabilities for the effective control of the protection of their rights.”84 Also, in 2019 within the framework of the thematic inquiry on women’s participation in state economic programs, the Council issued recommendations for the LEPL Enterprise Georgia and Rural Development Agency to produce gender-disaggregated statistics on their projects, more specifically, to produce gender statistics concerning submitted applications, rejected and financed projects.”85 In 2018, 2020, and 2021, no recommendations were issued in relation to the production of gender-disaggregated statistics.
Also, no meetings were held with Geostat to advocate for the production of gender-disaggregated statistics.

One meeting was held on the production of statistics on persons with disabilities.

However, according to the information provided by the Council, in 2021 it is working on the legislative initiative on the production of gender statistics, which will involve several meetings with representatives of the National Statistics Office of Georgia.
84 Permanent Parliamentary Gender Equality Council’s letter to Public Defender’s Office №10772/4-1/21, October 29, 2021 85 Ibid.

29 3.

SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS This report assesses the work of the national gender equality institutional mechanisms based on the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) indicators as well as commitments defined in the national legislation and action plans/strategies.
The report found that Georgia has to a certain degree fulfilled the Beijing Platform for Action indicators related to the existence, mandate and supervisory functions of gender equality institutional mechanisms.

However, there is also a visible pattern of the state creating mechanisms in accordance with international obligations without putting enough effort into effective application of these mechanisms and fulfillment of its commitments.
This is obvious from the non-fulfillment or partial fulfillment of a large part of Beijing Platform for Action qualitative indicators.

The report reveals a persistent need for institutional strengthening and firm structures for national gender equality mechanisms to ensure their smooth and systemic operation.
Questions arise in relation to what extent the Inter-agency Commission and Parliamentary Gender Equality Council are perceived as policy-making and coordinating mechanisms of executive and legislative branches in the area of gender equality, having capacity and a status to influence development of state policies.

The study found that at this stage, the role of the mechanisms is mainly limited to administrative support and consultative functions.
They have a relatively weak influence on policy-making and coordination.

The effective operation of institutional mechanisms is challenged by the lack of adequate human and financial resources, as well as the absence of a state vision of gender mainstreaming.

The lack of the gender equality mechanisms’ readiness and coordination to introduce gender mainstreaming instruments is problematic.
The study also found that although certain state bodies applied important measures to integrate gender mainstreaming instruments in their intra-agency policies and programs, these measures are still chaotic and non-systemic, are not based on a unified approach, thus, indicating that gender equality issues are not a priority area for the agencies.
This also causes a misbalance between different agencies’ internal policy making processes as well as different fields, thus, negatively affecting the state of women in Georgia.

The state should have a well-thought-out vision and strategy to achieve different gender equality objectives and effectively apply the gender mainstreaming framework in practice.

The vision and strategy should ensure the strengthening of national gender equality mechanisms and their stable and systemic work.
The study found that the national gender equality mechanisms developed a number of measures providing a basis for the introduction of mainstreaming instruments.
Thus, in order to ensure effectiveness of national gender equality mechanisms, the following recommendations should be considered: For Inter-agency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence: Develop a legislative initiative to amend the Commission’s bylaws with an aim of defining the mandate, authority, and responsibilities of the national gender equality government mechanism more clearly, in accordance with international commitments, including commitments arising from the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action Support gender mainstreaming at all stages of the public policy cycle (development, implementation, ✦ ✦ ✦ 30 and monitoring), including development of a gender mainstreaming guide and a unified standard for the gender mainstreaming methodological framework and incorporate gender impact assessments in the policy development cycle Ensure introduction of the gender budgeting in the public finance management system in accordance with the commitments arising from the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the Sustainable Development Agenda Ensure smooth operation of the Commission by providing it with adequate human and financial resources.
It is particularly important to assign a Commission Secretary envisioned in the bylaws to technically support the Commission’s work Ensure timely development, implementation and monitoring of thematic action plans concerning women’s empowerment and gender equality issues Ensure fulfillment of Georgia’s international commitments related to the implementation of gender mainstreaming and study the best practices.
✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ For agencies—members of the Inter-agency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence: ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ The agencies, members of the Commission should ensure the introduction and application of gender mainstreaming instruments in practice.

The agencies should conduct a gender impact assessment prior to and after the development/implementation of any internal action plan, strategy, concept or program related to human rights.
The agencies should ensure the application of gender budgeting and gender analysis in relation to their work The agencies should collect gender statistics in accordance with the preliminarily developed methodology Agencies should regularly train their staff in gender equality as well as gender mainstreaming instruments and methodologies for how to apply these instruments to ensure effective gender mainstreaming The agencies should also ensure close cooperation with the other agencies represented in the Commission to develop a joint vision of gender mainstreaming and cooperation in the implementation of policies.
For the Permanent Parliamentary Gender Equality Council: ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ To reflect indicators provided in this report in the 2022-2024 action plans and continue making efforts to ensure their fulfillment Once in a year submit a report on the state of gender equality to the Parliament.
Once in a year arrange a hearing of the Public Defender’s report on gender equality issues and take adequate actions based on the recommendations Control the work of the executive branch by holding a hearing of a report on the implementation of action plans related to gender equality issues.
Monitor the fulfillment of its recommendations, including recommendations related to the collection of gender statistics, through thematic inquires or other formats Ensure institutionalization of gender impact assessment instruments Ensure strengthening of the Council’s financial and human resources.

31 ANNEX I, Assessment of the Inter-agency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence The assessment instrument is developed based on the BPfA indicators and EIGE methodology.
The study has analyzed the Law of Georgia on Gender Equality (2010) and Government of Georgia Decree on the Creation and Approval of Bylaws of the Inter-agency Commission on Gender Equality, Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (№286, 2017).

The following questions will be answered based on these normative acts: 1.

Which of the government bodies (Cabinet of Ministers, Deputy Minister etc.)

is responsible for gender equality?


Is this body at the highest level of the government and what kind of additional obligations does it have?

2.

Is there a governmental body, which ensures development, coordination, monitoring, and implementation of gender equality-related plans and programs?

Where is this body located in the governmental hierarchy?

A.
A.

Status of Inter-agency Commission’s work and fulfillment of commitments promoting gender equality (questionnaire) Please provide information concerning the following issues by years (from 2018 until now): 1.

Number of people responsible for gender equality issues, employed by the Inter-agency Commission at the central and local levels; 2.

Total annual budget allocated to the Inter-agency Commission (including salaries, grants, and funds allocated for the implementation of action plans); 3.
Inter-agency Commission’s total annual budget for the implementation of activities at the regional level (including salaries, grants, and funds allocated for the implementation of action plans); 4.

In practice, what kind of work does the Inter-agency Commission do to advance gender equality at the central and local levels?

How intensive is this work?

a.

Development of policies for the government b.


Working on legislative drafts/providing comments c. Ensuring implementation of government decisions d. Creation, development and coordination of the gender mainstreaming process e. Analysis, monitoring, and evaluation of gender equality aspects of reforms and policies f. Studuies and analyses g. Dissemination of information, trainings, awareness raising h. Other (please specify) 5.
How often do different state bodies approach the Inter-agency Commission to receive advice on plans related to gender equality policies?

3.

How often do different state bodies approach the Inter-agency Commission to develop and assess action plans on gender equality?

To what extent are the Inter-agency Commission’s opinions considered and reflected in this process?

32 4.

Has a Consultative Group been created at the Inter-agency Commission?

Who are the members of the Group?


Are there representatives of non-profit (noncommercial) legal entities and international organizations working in areas falling in the Commission’s scope of competence?

5.

How frequently are meetings with the Consultative Group held?

6.

Has the Consultative Group developed proposals and recommendations on issues falling in the Commission’s scope of competence?

How many and on what topics?

To what extent have these suggestions been considered?
Assessment of the accomplishment of objectives and commitments outlined in the Inter-agency Commission’s Bylaws: 1.

Does the Inter-agency Commission develop action plans on gender equality and fight against violence against women and domestic violence?

How often?

2.

What types of activities does the Commission implement to coordinate the executive branch’s work for advancing gender equality and fighting against violence against women and domestic violence?

3.
3.

Does the Commission monitor implementation of policies and action plans on gender equality, violence against women, and domestic violence?

How intensive is this monitoring?

Does it report on its work and how regularly?

4.

Has the Commission developed proposals on gender equality and fight against violence against women and domestic violence – if yes, what kind of proposals have been developed and have they been submitted to the Government for review?

5.
5.

What activities has the Commission implemented to study and monitor the status of the advancement of gender equality and fight against violence against women and domestic violence?

6.

What actions does the Commission take to support fulfillment of international commitments taken by the Government of Georgia in the area of gender equality, women’s rights, violence against women and domestic violence?

7.
7.

What actions does the Commission take to assume the role of a coordinating body coordinating, monitoring, and evaluating policies and activities aimed at the prevention and eradication of all forms of violence in the scope of the May 11, 2011 Council of Europe Istanbul Convention against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence?

8.
8.

Has the Commission created thematic working groups or does it invite independent experts to study issues and develop recommendations and reports within the scope of its competence?

In case of a positive answer, please describe the composition of the groups and the work they have completed.

9.

Does the Inter-agency Commission have a Chair and Secretary?

What functions do they perform?

10.

How regularly are the Inter-agency Commission’s meetings held?

11.
11.

Please provide reports describing plans aimed at the achievement of gender equality and their implementation for the period from 2018 until now, also the plan of activities for the next two years.

Cooperation with civil society: 12.

How intensive is the Commission’s cooperation with the nongovernmental sector and international and local organizations working in the area of gender equality on issues of gender equality, violence against women, and domestic violence?
33 Nongovernmental organizations promoting women’s rights Other nongovernmental organizations, working with different groups (children, persons with disabilities, LGBT+, ethnic minorities, religious minorities - please, specify) Yes No Yes No Type of involvement Civil society is permanently represented in the consultative body legally established at the Inter-agency Commission Civil Society actors are invited to participate in policy making, monitoring and assessment of measures for the advancement of gender equality in various councils, committees, commissions or working groups The mechanism of consultations with the civil society is regularly used in the process of development of gender equality reforms (legislative changes, national action plans etc.)
Meetings, hearings, and other activities are regularly organized with the civil society representatives to promote discussions on the government measures and policies advancing gender equality Conferences, seminars and other activities are organized in cooperation with civil society Information and publications are shared with civil society.
Other important measures are undertaken to promote civil society’s participation in policy making 34 B. he application of gender mainstreaming instruments by the Inter-agency Commission (questionnaire) 1.

How will the Commission promote gender mainstreaming in the executive bodies and sectoral policies?

2.
2.

Indicate the Commission’s readiness/commitments related to gender mainstreaming at central and local levels: ✔ The gender mainstreaming commitment is established at the statutory level ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ There is a government’s de facto decision on compulsory gender mainstreaming A recommendation is given to the Commission to conduct gender mainstreaming The Commission has made other types of commitments related to gender mainstreaming There are no formal commitments 3.
How does the gender mainstreaming structure look like?

4.

There is an inter-agency coordinating structure promoting gender mainstreaming in the government 5.

There are contact persons in the ministries or in some other form, in the government 6.

There is no gender mainstreaming structure in the government 7.

Is there a gender mainstreaming methodology (manuals on gender mainstreaming strategies, indicators, reporting systems)?
✔ Does the Commission conduct gender impacts assessments when laws and policies are initiated/ developed?

On what legal basis and how often?

Does the gender-based analysis of budgets affect the development of programs, action plans, projects?

Which evaluation instruments have been used in the last few years?
Gender impact assessment prior to the development of a legislative draft/project/strategy/plan Monitoring of gender impact in the process of implementation of a legislative draft/project/ strategy/plan Gender impact assessment after completion of a project/strategy/plan other none ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ 8.

In which areas (agriculture, education, health, employment etc.)

have these assessment reports been completed?

Where are they accessible?

Awareness raising: 9.


Does the Commission carry out awareness raising activities on gender equality?

Describe these initiatives.

10.

Are the employees working for the Commission and all governmental bodies involved in the trainings on gender equality?

Please indicate the number of employees, the bodies/departments they work for.

In case of a positive answer, please indicate the frequency of these trainings – are they regular or ad hoc?
35 Regularly Ad hoc Yes No Yes No Participation in gender equality trainings: All persons working for govern- ment bodies Persons holding high political po- sitions (ministers, vice ministers, other members of the Cabinet of Ministers, deputies) Employees of the Gender Equality Inter-Agency Commission Majority of employees of the ministries and departments Some employees of the minis- tries and departments No employees of the relevant government bodies C. Production of statistics disaggregated by sex by the Inter-agency Commission (questionnaire) The data and information disaggregated by sex should meet the needs associated with the advancement of gender equality.
According to BPfA, central and regional statistics bureaus and relevant government offices should collect gender statistics.

The gender statistics are based on data disaggregated by sex and reflect the condition of women and men.

1.

What actions does the Commission take to collect and analyze data disaggregated by sex; Does the Inter-agency Commission have an official agreement with other agencies for the collection of data/ statistics disaggregated by sex?

Describe how these data are collected.

2.


Does the Commission have an obligation to disseminate gender statistics?

If not, which body has this obligation?

3.

Is there an agreement between the Commission and other agencies, based on which the gender statistics are disseminated?

4.

Do national statistics offices or government bodies develop publications dedicated to gender statistics?

How frequently are these data collected and disseminated?
Is there a website or a website section reflecting these data?

II.

Assessment of gender mainstreaming institutional guarantees of bodies/ministries - members of the Inter-agency Commission General questions for individual bodies/ministries – members of the Commission.

Please reply based on the state of affairs from 2018 until now.

1.

Are the gender equality and gender mainstreaming objectives reflected in key documents related to a body’s work (e.g., strategy, action plan etc.)?

2.
2.

What institutional mechanisms has the body created for the practical application of gender 36 mainstreaming?

When were these mechanisms created?

What mechanisms are intended to be created in the future and when?

3.

Does the body have a special action plan for the advancement of gender equality (or are these issues included in a general plan)?

What is the timeline of the plan and what issues does it cover?

4.
4.

Does the body have an obligation to collect data disaggregated by sex and what is the legal basis of this obligation?

Does the body collect gender statistics?

How are the data disaggregated (sex/gender, age, ethnicity, religion, disability status etc.)?

What kind of analysis is carried out on the basis of these data?

5.

Do the employees working for the body receive information through trainings/seminars on gender equality (frequency of trainings, topics covered, the employees who are involved)?

6.
6.

How many employees are responsible for tasks related to gender equality issues, what kind of training have they received on this topic and what is their job description?

7.

While designing a strategy/legislative draft/program or prior to, during or after implementation of the strategy/program do you conduct gender impact assessments (in case of a positive answer, provide additional information (number, themes, persons responsible for assessments etc., where are these reports accessible))?

8.
8.

Has the gender impact assessment affected the program, policy or plans, in relation to which it was conducted?

9.

Does a body’s budget reflect the issues related to gender equality (gender budgeting)?

In case of a positive answer, what percentage of the existing budget is allocated for addressing these issues; also, from 2018 up to now has the budgetary gender analysis been conducted and how many times?

10.

Is there a mechanism for addressing sexual harassment in the agency?
When was it/will it be introduced?

11.

Have the employees working for the body participated in the trainings on sexual harassment?

12.

Has a participatory gender audit been conducted?

What is done for this audit?

What percentage of recommendations has been implemented?

13.

Does the body have publications dedicated to gender statistics?

How frequently are these statistics collected and disseminated?

Is there a website or a section of the site reflecting these data?

14.
14.

Please present reports on the implementation of plans for the advancement of gender equality from 2018 up to now, as well as the list of planned activities for the coming 2 years.

III.

Assessment of the Permanent Parliamentary Gender Equality Council Please answer the questions on the state of affairs from 2018 until now and provide information disaggregated by years A.

Assessment of the Council’s work and the status of implementation of commitments related to gender equality (questionnaire) 1.
Does the Council conduct a gender equality analysis of initiated draft legislative acts?

What kind of drafts are analyzed and how often?

2.

What kind of activities is the Council planning/has planned for the advancement of gender equality and the realization of equal rights of women and men?

3.

What kind of monitoring and evaluation system has the Council developed and introduced to monitor activities for the achievement of gender equality?

37 4.
37 4.

Does the Council consider submissions, documents and other types of information on violations of gender equality?

Please list examples and also describe how the Council reacts to this information within the scope of its competence and what kind of recommendations it makes.

5.

Does the Council engage representatives of international or local organizations or/and experts working in relevant fields?

How are they involved?

6.


Does the Permanent Parliamentary Gender Equality Council present an annual report on the state of gender equality in Georgia to the Parliament once in a year?

Does it develop a report addressing international commitments related to gender equality?

Where can these reports be found?

7. Who performs the role of the Chair of the Permanent Parliamentary Gender Equality Council?

8.

Please indicate the number of staff working for the Parliamentary Gender Equality Council.

9.
9.

Please indicate the annual budget allocated to the Gender Equality Council (including salaries, grants, funds designated for the implementation of plans) and funds allocated from the budget for the advancement of gender equality.

10.

What activities are implemented by the Gender Equality Council to advance gender equality at the parliamentary level?

How intensive are these activities?

b.


Development of legislative initiatives; c. Legislative review; d. Creation, development and coordination of the gender mainstreaming process and methodology, analysis of reforms and policies, monitoring and assessments; e. Studies and analyses; f. Provision of information, trainings, and awareness raising; g. Other (please specify).

11.
11.

How often do parliament members and their assistants, committees and their staffers receive consultations from the Council in the process of developing legislative initiatives (legislative drafts, which do not directly address gender issues).

12.

How often do parliament members and their assistants, committees and their staffers receive consultations from the Council in the process of developing legislative initiatives (legislative drafts, which directly address gender issues).

13.
13.

Does the Council’s involvement entail amendments to bills/action plans/strategies?

14.

Does the Parliament have a gender equality concept and how regularly is it adopted?

15.

Does the Parliament have a smooth system for monitoring the government’s work for the advancement of gender equality?

Does this system ensure periodic and regular hearings of the government reports on gender equality issues?

16.

Is there a mechanism for fighting sexual harassment in the Parliament?
When was it introduced/will be introduced?

17.

Have the Council staff and the Parliament’s other employees undergone a training on sexual harassment?

In case of a positive answer – which/how many employees attended a training and what kind/how regular was it?

18.

Please present reports on the activities planned by the Council and the status of their implementation from 2018 until now, as well as the plans for the next two years.

38 B.
38 B.

Application of gender mainstreaming and its instruments (questionnaire) 1.

Describe the Council’s readiness/commitments related to gender mainstreaming –what kind of commitments does the Council have with respect to gender mainstreaming and what is the legal basis of these commitments?

2.

What is the structure of gender mainstreaming?


✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ There is a coordinating arrangement promoting gender mainstreaming in the Parliament Committees designate contact persons or there is a different mechanism of coordination Other (please specify) There is no gender mainstreaming arrangement in the Parliament Is there a gender mainstreaming methodology (manuals on gender mainstreaming strategies, indicators, reporting systems)?

3.
3.

Is there a commitment to conduct a gender impact assessment when a law is initiated/drafted and what is the legal basis for the assessment?

4.

How often are gender impact assessments conducted when legislative drafts are developed?

This question refers also to laws that are not directly addressing gender equality.

5.

How many committees conduct gender impact assessments while initiating and developing bills?

6.

Have gender impact assessments affected bills, laws or action plans?

7.
7.

Is there a commitment related to gender budgeting and gender impact assessment funding in committee budgets and what is its legal basis?

8.

Does the gender analysis of budgets affect programs, actions plans, and projects?

9.

Does the gender impact assessment in the evaluation phase entail changes to relevant laws and action plans?

10.

Which assessment instruments have been used from 2018 until now?

11.
11.

Gender impact assessment prior to the development of a draft law/project/strategy ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ Gender impact monitoring in the process of implementation of a draft law/project/strategy Gender impact assessment after the implementation of a project/strategy/plan Other None 12.

Which spheres are addressed in the assessment reports (agriculture, education, health care, employment etc.)

and where are they accessible?

Awareness raising: 13.


Do Gender Equality Council and Committee conduct awareness raising initiatives related to gender equality?

14.

Are the Council members and Parliament staffers involved in gender equality trainings?

If the answer is positive, specify intensity of this engagement – regular or ad hoc?

Please indicate the number of employees and the committees they work for.
39 Regularly Ad hoc Yes No Yes No Participation in gender equality trainings: Parliament Speaker and Speaker’s Office Members of the Parliament Assistants to the Members of the Parliament Committee staffers Gender Equality Council staffers only Other (please specify) C. Collection and dissemination of gender statistics (questionnaire) All types of data concerning individuals should be disaggregated by sex.
Gender statistics are based on data disaggregated by sex and reflect the condition of women and men as well as those policy issues that are related to gender.

1.

Does the Council have a commitment to disseminate gender statistics and what is its legal basis?

What kind of data are collected?

Do these data refer to the monitoring of the gender balance in the Parliament?

2.

Is there an agreement based on which gender statistics are collected/disseminated?

3.
3.

Does the Council develop publications dedicated to gender statistics?

How often are the data collected and disseminated?

How is the public’s access to these publications ensured?

40 ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTIVENESS OF GENDER EQUALITY INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISM IN GEORGIA 2021