Management Response

: Georgia
: 2021 - 2025 , Georgia (CO)
: Final Evaluation for the Good Governance for Gender Equality in Georgia project
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Georgia

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The overarching goal (impact level) of the GG4GEG project is to ensure that governance systems, programmes, and policies along with private sector partners are gender sensitive and enable women’s economic empowerment and broader gender equality in Georgia. The project had two outcomes: (1) Governance systems are gender-sensitive and enable gender equality in Georgia and (2) Women in rural areas benefit from increased income-generation opportunities in the agrotourism and ICT sectors and fully realize their economic rights with the support of a gender-responsive private sector. Interventions developed in the framework of the project had nation-wide coverage and, in case, of the second outcome, more emphasis was set on more economically disadvantaged and conflict affected regions of Western Georgia (Imereti, Guria, Ratcha-Lechkhumi, Samegrelo and Shida Qartli). The project design targeted gender mainstreaming across a broad scope of reforms, such as decentralization, public service reform and public finance management reform, economic diversification (entrepreneurship), tourism (agritourism), financing, vocational education and training (work-based training), startups development, ICT industry, trade (value chain) and other. Due to that fact, the project implementation benefited from strategic partnerships developed with a large number of representatives from the Government, public administration institutions, non-governmental sector – CSOs and professional associations, and private enterprises. As a result of the evaluation, the project received six broad recommendations that have been all accepted by the Country Office.
: Approved
Recommendation: Continue with mainstreaming of GEWE into existing broad-scale reforms such as Public Administration Reform, systemic land registration process, also lawmaking around agrotourism and agriculture i.e., farmers’ status to accelerate achievement of all GEWE targets and SDG 5
Management Response: UN Women supports the Administration of the Government of Georgia in implementing gender mainstreaming commitments under the Public Administration Reform Strategy and Action Plan, namely in the area of mainstreaming gender in policy making, public finance management and public service. The effort is taking place within the framework of the “Increased Women’s Leadership for Democracy in Georgia” project launched in April 2023 with the generous funding from SDC
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Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Leadership and political participation (SPs before 2018), Women economic empowerment (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Capacity development, National ownership
Organizational Priorities: Partnership
UNEG Criteria: Sustainability, Impact
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
1.1.Continue building national capacities to ensure effective utilization of gender equality mainstreaming tools such as GIA, GRB, prevention of sexual harassment and to use gender disaggregated data for decision making UN Women GEO CO 2027/11 Initiated Capacity development of public servants as well as civil society organizations on gender mainstreaming tools and methodologies such as GIA, GRB, prevention of sexual harassment and gender data is already taking place within the framework of the “Increased Women’s Leadership for Democracy in Georgia” project launched in April 2023 with the generous funding from SDC.
1.2. Continue building the evidence base of benefits of integration of gender equality mainstreaming tools in the public and the private sector such as sexual harassments prevention mechanisms, GRB, GIA etc. UN Women GEO CO 2027/11 Initiated Capacity development of public servants as well as civil society organizations on gender mainstreaming tools and methodologies such as GIA, GRB, prevention of sexual harassment and gender data is already taking place within the framework of the “Increased Women’s Leadership for Democracy in Georgia” project launched in April 2023 with the generous funding from SDC.
1.3. Disseminate further the results of the Time Use Survey and advocate for amendments in relevant legislation and institutional practices to accelerate achievement for women work and life balance UN Women GEO CO 2027/11 Initiated This work is ongoing. Already in 2023, targeted presentations were organized with various target groups including the public servants, development partners and private sector sparking a national debate about the value of care and the gender inequality crisis in Georgia. The TUS findings are to further inform government policies to reduce the disproportionate share of unpaid care work carried by women and girls and to redistribute care responsibilities equitably between women and men in households, communities, the world of work and the State. This work is captured under the SDC funded WILD project as well as the 2nd phase of the GG4GEG project currently being fundraised for.
1.4. Use opportunities of participating in the ongoing dialogue on the status of gender advisors and Gender Equality Councils to strengthen capacities of these structures to promote GEWE UN Women GEO CO 2027/11 Initiated This work is ongoing under the SDC funded WILD project. A new partnership agreement has already been negotiated with NALAG and the formalization of the partnership agreement with NALAG will be finalized by mid-June.
Recommendation: Increase involvement of CSOs and women from SHGs, through the grant schemes and targeted funding, in promoting of gender mainstreaming tools and capacities to use these tools at the local governance level
Management Response: This approach has been incorporated by UN Women in the design of its new cost-share project Women’s Increased Leadership for Democracy (WILD) launched in April 2023 with financial support of Swiss Development Cooperation. More specifically, through WILD local women's CBOs and SHGs will receive small grants to engage in advocacy around greater gender mainstreaming and increased protection of women’s rights. GRB discussions and advocacy has been also an integral part of UN Women social mobilization work through GRB roundtables initiated by SHG members with local government representatives and will be carried on also in the next phase of GG4GEG project.
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Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Leadership and political participation (SPs before 2018), Women economic empowerment (SPs before 2018)
Operating Principles: Oversight/governance, Capacity development, National ownership, Advocacy
Organizational Priorities: Partnership
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Human Rights, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
2.1. Integrate into the grant schemes for CSOs activities to develop capacity of duty bearers at the local governance level in GIA, GRB and use of gender disaggregated data for policy planning UN Women GEO CO 2027/11 Initiated UN Women has been training representatives of local government in GRB for quite some time though its partnership with the Ministry of Finance Training Center using specially dedicated GRB training course. This work will continue also in the second phase of GG4GEG project. Further, SDC supported WILD project will be providing small grants’ opportunities to women’s CBOs and SHGs for advocacy initiatives around gender mainstreaming and women’s rights protection topics.
2.2. To enable women at the grassroot level to address the barriers to their economic empowerment, provide them with communication and advocacy skills to influence decision making at local governance UN Women GEO CO 2027/11 Initiated This work is ongoing under the SDC funded WILD project and WEESC project through capacity development component of social mobilization work, so called Women’s Community Academy. UN Women plans to further advance the trainings provided to women through the social mobilization process under the Women’s Community Academy - a comprehensive capacity development framework that will include the adult education curriculum for women in – a) civic education module consisting of: a) 1) human rights, women’s rights and gender equality, 2) violence against women and girls (domestic violence & sexual harassment), 3) property & labour rights, 4) democracy, political rights and active citizenship; b) Women’s economic empowerment module consisting of: 1) basic financial literacy, 2) how to start the business and 3) how to develop the business and c) Women, Peace and Security module consisting of: 1) gender and mediation/negotiations and 2) human security - basic life skills and disaster/crisis/conflict preparedness.
2.3. Increase accountability of local governance for implementation of gender equality plans by involving local CSOs into their monitoring UN Women GEO CO 2027/11 Initiated In the frameworks of the WILD project and also the planned GG4GEG second phase, UN Women plans to deepen on the one hand its partnership with the National Association of Local Authorities of Georgia, while on the other hand with local CSOs. These partnerships will enable UN Women to create sustainable and effective platforms of dialogue between CSOs and local authorities for increased accountability of local government for implementation of gender equality plans.
Recommendation: Expand further successful cooperation with stakeholders representing different sectors and IFIs
Management Response: For the next years UN Women Georgia CO plans to build multi-stakeholder collaborative partnerships for gender equality and women’s empowerment, where representatives from government, private sector, CSOs, academia and investor groups are welcomed either as partners or as allies. UN Women’s vision is to encourage more and more stakeholders to join a network of organizations with similar values and take a greater ownership of the gender equality work by investing in their commitments.
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Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: National ownership, Advocacy
Organizational Priorities: UN Coordination, Partnership
UNEG Criteria: Sustainability, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
3.1. Enhance participation of high-level management, CEOs, heads of municipalities in UN Women and partners’ advocacy and capacity building activities UN Women GEO CO 2026/11 Completed UN Women strengthened the engagement and ownership of private sector stakeholders in advancing gender equality by expanding the network of companies committed to shared values and supporting them in translating their commitments into concrete action. As a result, during the last two years, 153 new companies signed the Women’s Empowerment Principles, all committed to promoting non-discrimination and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community. In addition, 811 new representatives of WEPs companies participated in capacity-building and awareness-raising activities and are now more aware of the relevance of gender equality to their work and better equipped to support its integration into corporate policies, practices and operations.
3.2. Continue liaison with IFIs, UN agencies and other actors/ donors to ensure sustainability of support for women -entrepreneurs and to upgrade their businesses UN Women GEO CO 2026/11 Completed UN Women convened four meetings of the Working Group on Promoting Gender Equality in Decision-Making Positions in Georgia’s Financial Sector, composed of leading international financial institutions operating in Georgia, including the EBRD, World Bank, IFC, ADB, EIB and IMF. The meetings provided a platform to coordinate actions and align commitments aimed at advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment across the financial sector. UN Women continues to support women’s economic empowerment through a range of interventions aimed at improving women entrepreneurs’ access to both financial and non-financial products and services. Building on the segmentation study conducted by UN Women in partnership with the German Sparkassenstiftung, UN Women has organized and continues to facilitate joint workshops bringing together commercial banks and women entrepreneurs, including those from regions across Georgia. These workshops provide a platform to discuss the study’s key findings, explore the implementation of its recommendations, and ensure that regional perspectives are reflected in proposed solutions. The initiative promotes direct dialogue between financial institutions and women entrepreneurs, helping to identify persistent barriers to accessing finance and generating practical recommendations for improving existing financial products and services. The process remains ongoing and continues to support the development of more inclusive and accessible financial opportunities for women. Furthermore, one of the key approaches has been facilitating free product exhibitions and sales opportunities for women entrepreneurs in partnership with WEPs signatory companies, demonstrating the private sector’s continued commitment to advancing women’s economic empowerment. Direct engagement with women entrepreneurs through these initiatives has enabled UN Women to better understand their needs and challenges, informing the design of responsive and needs-based interventions. As a result, UN Women organized practical three-day workshops focused on strengthening women entrepreneurs’ access to finance by enhancing their skills in product photography, social media management, and brand identity development. In addition, partnerships with commercial banks have expanded opportunities for women entrepreneurs to access tailored financial products and services, including cashback schemes, bonus point programs, and personal brand photography support. Awareness-raising activities have also emphasized the importance of business formalization as a pathway to accessing finance, existing support programmes, and broader market opportunities. As a result, a number of women entrepreneurs have initiated the formalization of their businesses. A strong demand for mentoring and individual support is further identified. Priority areas include step-by-step guidance throughout the business formalization process, sector speficic technical support, brand development, product packaging and labeling, participation in international exhibitions and sales platforms, sales and marketing strategies, compliance with hygiene and quality standards in the agri-food sector, and . UN Women will continue working with partners to address these needs and strengthen women entrepreneurs’ capacity to grow sustainable and competitive businesses.
3.3. Use the WEPs Council as a platform to expand public-private partnerships and dialogue and engage WEPs Council /thematic groups and CSOs to work together and provide input in relation to desirable changes in sectoral strategies and relevant legislation and inform where GIA would be most relevant. UN Women GEO CO 2026/11 No Longer Applicable No substantive progress has been made to date in using the WEPs Council as a platform to expand public-private partnerships and dialogue or to engage its thematic groups and civil society organizations in providing input on sectoral strategies, relevant legislation and areas where gender impact assessments would be most relevant. This is largely due to the UN Women operating in an increasingly complex and evolving environment marked by political polarization, institutional restructuring, shrinking civic space and growing backlash against gender equality. While earlier stages of implementation were characterized by constructive engagement the operating environment became progressively more restrictive, creating additional barriers to advancing gender equality reforms and sustaining meaningful civic participation.
3.4. Support joint advocacy initiatives of WEPs companies and CSOs with relevant duty-bearers (national and local governments) to address the challenges that prevent women from equal participation in the economy such as lack of childcare facilities, social care infrastructure, in particular in rural areas, etc. UN Women GEO CO 2026/11 Completed UN Women supports the private sector in integrating care economy principles by strengthening companies’ capacity to introduce inclusive, care-responsive workplace policies and practices. In 2025, UN Women organized a two-day “Care-Responsive Workplaces” certificate programme for private sector representatives, based on a practical guide developed by a national consultant, through which 22 representatives from WEPs signatory companies gained practical knowledge on parental leave, flexible working arrangements and other measures supporting work–life balance. UN Women also delivered an interactive workshop for 35 technology-sector corporate leaders combining research on unpaid care work, international good practices, panel discussion and group exercises to help businesses identify challenges at the intersection of work, care and gender roles and develop actionable, gender-sensitive workplace solutions. In addition, a meeting involving 42 representatives of WEPs companies introduced the “Share the Care” campaign and encouraged businesses to address gender stereotypes and promote a more equal distribution of care responsibilities.
3.5. Continue advocating for recognition of the private sector’s contribution to gender equality and women’s economic empowerment and SDGs i.e., awarding additional points in procurement processes, through allocation of targeted grants etc. UN Women GEO CO 2026/11 Completed UN Women Georgia continues to advocate for recognition of the private sector’s vital role in advancing gender equality by generating and disseminating evidence on how the integration of the Women’s Empowerment Principles contributes to business productivity, economic diversification, employment and women’s participation across different sectors of the economy. To showcase tangible results, UN Women published a brochure featuring nine strong business cases of WEPs-aligned initiatives implemented by companies in Georgia. The publication was also presented during the “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality” 2025 event, where participating companies and women beneficiaries shared their experiences and reflected on the impact of these initiatives. GITA - To support the implementation of the Women’s Empowerment Action Plan 2025- 2027 of GITA, UN Women’s WEE team continues close collaboration with GITA on revising and updating progress indicators, including the integration of sex-disaggregated data collection, analysis, and use across the full programme cycle (design, planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation). A revised framework of indicators has already been presented and is currently under review. In addition, UN Women will participate in the GITA working group to support gender mainstreaming in the development of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy, which has been initiated by GITA but is not yet formally approved. Within this process, UN Women will provide recommendations to ensure the integration of gender perspectives into the AI Strategy and its corresponding Action Plan. EG - Collaboration with Enterprise Georgia remains ongoing. Following the completion of internal structural changes within the agency, UN Women will continue its engagement to further mainstream gender across Enterprise Georgia’s programmes and services. Planned areas of cooperation include supporting the formal adoption and implementation of the entrepreneurship mentoring programme developed with UN Women’s support, facilitating dialogue on introducing gender-responsive measures such as quotas for women entrepreneurs in the selection process for international sales and exhibitions, and advocating for more accessible participation conditions for women entrepreneurs. This includes exploring options to reduce the percentage of required financial contribution and replacing advance payments with reimbursement mechanisms following participation in international exhibitions and trade fairs.
3.6. During the stakeholder analysis, consider mapping of stakeholders and partners around the project results (Outputs and Targets) indicating towards which nationalized and/or global SDG targets these partnerships will be contributing (e.g., SDGs 5.4) UN Women GEO CO 2026/11 Initiated UN Women conducts regular stakeholder mapping exercises - in line with its Strategic Note as well as with its cost-share projects. The partnerships have not been mapped out against SDG targets; the CO may consider doing this in the coming years.
3.7. Increase visibility of partnerships for GEWE and SDGs in online reporting and communication campaigns by adding hashtags next to information on partners/ partnerships under the project e.g., #SDG 5.4 UN Women GEO CO 2026/11 Completed SDGs have been clearly highlighted in the Country Gender Equality Profile 2025, with SDG indicators consistently integrated throughout the main text, as well as in a dedicated annex presenting all gender-specific indicators. To further strengthen the visibility of partnerships for GEWE and the SDGs, we will incorporate relevant SDG hashtags (e.g., #SDG5.4) into CGEP-related social media campaigns when disseminating key findings and partner contributions.
Recommendation: Strengthen RBM capacity of UN Women project staff and partners and promote consistency of partners’ reporting towards the project results and indicators including on informing on the progress in achievement of HR and GEWE
Management Response: UN Women provides regular capacity development to is staff on RBM and will continue doing so. UN Women will further ensure that its responsible parties undergo RBM trainings as a part of capacity development support provided by UN Women on a periodic basis. From the middle of 2023, UN Women Georgia CO will also be joined by Monitoring and Reporting Specialist who will further accelerate the implementation of this recommendation.
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Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Capacity development, Knowledge management
Organizational Priorities: Culture of results/RBM
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Efficiency, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
4.1. Provide a training for the project team (and partners) in RBM and Theory of Change and in mainstreaming of HR and GE into the project design and implementation UN Women GEO CO with the support of RO and HQ 2026/11 Completed RBM capacity building was continuously provided to the Project team and project partners, as relevant. The trainings covered overall RBM principles as well as project specific details related to the project TOC, Logframe and indicators. Special training sessions were organized covering data collection and reporting using special internal monitoring software of UN Women Georgia CO applied for monitoring & reporting purposes against project indicators.  
4.2. Developing simple reporting templates for each of indicators and providing guidelines for reporting on LNOB e.g., disaggregation of data. UN Women GEO CO 2026/11 Completed The project indicator data collection was guided by UN Women LNOB data disaggregation requirements and guidelines, as relevant. Reporting templates and data collection tools were developed, in a participatory process in close consultation with project partners, for indicators requiring primary data collection; these tools were primarily integrated into special internal monitoring software of UN Women Georgia CO applied for monitoring & reporting purposes against project indicators.
Recommendation: To avoid overstretching of human resources of UN Women, keep a manageable scale of interventions during the next phase of the Good Governance project
Management Response: In 2022-2023 UN Women carried out robust fundraising for the Governance & Participation in Public life (G&PPL) portfolio. As a result, UN Women was able to launch a new project “Women’s Increased leadership for Democracy in Georgia” (WILD) generously funded by the Swiss Government. The combination of WILD and the 2nd phase of the GG4GEG, along with two project teams will ensure that UN Women has adequate human resources capacity to reach ambitious goals and objectives of the G&PPL programme without compromising quality of work and or well-being of staff.
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Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Internal coordination and communication
Organizational Priorities: Culture of results/RBM, Organizational efficiency
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Efficiency
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
5.1. Prioritize interventions to pilot tools e.g., GIA, GRB in order to demonstrate their relevance and effectiveness in the areas targeted by the project (e.g., PAR, agrotourism and agriculture, unpaid work) UN Women GEO CO 2027/11 Initiated GIA and GRB are priority tools applied and promoted by the CO not only in its programming but also in the operations of its national and local level state partners. UN Women will continue its advocacy and capacity development efforts to ensure institutionalization of GRB and GIA and their sustainable application.
5.1. Prioritize interventions to pilot tools e.g., GIA, GRB in order to demonstrate their relevance and effectiveness in the areas targeted by the project (e.g., PAR, agrotourism and agriculture, unpaid work) UN Women GEO CO 2027/11 Initiated GIA and GRB are priority tools applied and promoted by the CO not only in its programming but also in the operations of its national and local level state partners. UN Women will continue its advocacy and capacity development efforts to ensure institutionalization of GRB and GIA and their sustainable application.
5.2. Integrate in the design use of capacities developed during this project such as of ToTs in GRB and GIA, CSOs in monitoring of international HR and GE obligations etc. UN Women GEO CO 2027/11 Initiated This recommendation was put in practice already during the 1st phase of the project implementation. e.g. a national expert who was trained on GIA under ToT conducted within the framework of GG4GEG is now a lead expert in carrying out GIA on the Law of Georgia on Public Service. Similarly, several CSOs trained on monitoring gender equality commitments under the project took part in the development of the Alternative report to CEDAW Committee – also prepared within the framework of the project. UN Women will make sure to continue building on the results of the 1st phase of the GG4GEG under its 2nd phase as well.
Recommendation: Emphasize under the next phase maximum use of results from application of innovative methodologies, products and initiatives
Management Response: Application of innovative methodologies, products and initiatives has been given due consideration in the design of the next phase of GG4GEG project.
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Description:
Management Response Category: Accepted
Thematic Area: Not applicable
Operating Principles: Capacity development, Knowledge management
Organizational Priorities: Partnership, Culture of results/RBM
UNEG Criteria: Effectiveness, Relevance, Impact, Gender equality
Key Actions
Responsible Deadline Status Comments
6.1. Continue integration of innovative methodologies into relevant strategies and action plans at the national policy level UN Women GEO CO 2026/11 Completed To support the implementation of the Women’s Empowerment Action Plan 2025- 2027 of GITA, UN Women’s WEE team continues close collaboration with GITA on revising and updating progress indicators, including the integration of sex-disaggregated data collection, analysis, and use across the full programme cycle (design, planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation). A revised framework of indicators has already been presented and is currently under review. In addition, UN Women will participate in the GITA working group to support gender mainstreaming in the development of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy, which has been initiated by GITA but is not yet formally approved. Within this process, UN Women will provide recommendations to ensure the integration of gender perspectives into the AI Strategy and its corresponding Action Plan.
6.2. Integrate innovative products and concepts and models developed under both components of the project through (1) own interventions and (2) at partners’ institutions, for example through gender equality strategies and action plans UN Women GEO CO 2026/11 Completed A total of 124 women and girls graduated from the nine-month-long “Women in AI” and “Women in Web Development” programmes, under a comprehensive skills-building initiative offered by Business and Technology University (BTU) in 2024 and 2025. The participants engaged in practical components of the programmes in collaboration with partner private sector partner companies to facilitate real-world learning experiences; as a result, they are now equipped with the necessary skills to secure in-demand jobs in their respective fields. The programme offered a structured curriculum combining essential AI and web development knowledge with practical learning, aimed at boosting employability, fostering industry partnerships and promoting gender equality in Georgia’s tech sector.