The 16-day campaign against gender-based violence, which is observed worldwide from November 25 to December 10, concludes today on International Human Rights Day.

The National Association of Local Authorities of Georgia (NALAG), together with its member municipalities, actively participated in this campaign again this year and organized various thematic activities from November 25 to December 10, focused on overcoming challenges in the field of combating violence against women.

As Natia Ghvinashvili, Deputy Executive Director of ATOA, National Coordinator and Expert at CEMR, and Coordinator of the project “Localization of Gender Policy” noted in her assessment of the 16-day campaign, the organization’s goal is to ensure gender equality in all spheres of society and eliminate inequality. Accordingly, it is important for the organization uniting all municipalities to involve self-governing units in this process.

It is noteworthy that the Association, in collaboration with UN Women and the central government of Georgia, developed a supporting instruction for the 16-day campaign against violence for member self-governing municipalities, which was provided to the local governments in an updated form this year as well.

“As you know, incidents of domestic violence have increased against the backdrop of the pandemic, so the main topics of the guide were precisely informing about state services and implementing various measures tailored to the needs of women victims of violence. Almost every municipality actively used this material and distributed thematic posters prepared in collaboration with ATOA’s partner, UN Women, on their web platforms and social media.

On November 25, the capital’s tower was once again illuminated in orange. In all district administrations of Tbilisi, meetings with the target audience were organized by the municipality’s city hall.

It is noteworthy that, like Tbilisi, activities were held in municipalities of both Western and Eastern Georgia. Due to restrictions imposed by the pandemic, most events were conducted online, but this format did not hinder the dissemination of key messages aimed at supporting victims.

“Online trainings were organized in almost every municipality for various target audiences, and events were held dedicated to women’s rights defenders, the fight against AIDS, people with disabilities, volunteers, and International Human Rights Day,” stated Natia ღვინაშვილმა.

The ათეა-ს representative also spoke about the activities implemented by the association and highlighted several important events held within the framework of the აქტივობებზეც campaign.

“It is noteworthy that ATOA held numerous meetings to eliminate inequality and protect human rights, but I would specifically highlight the public discussion on the topic of violence against women and domestic violence, which was conducted via Facebook Live. This discussion, which UN Women helped us organize, allowed people interested in the topic to gain a more in-depth understanding of detailed information about human rights, as well as the rights and obligations of local self-government.

We also held a working meeting with representatives of local civil and non-governmental organizations, as we believe that sharing experiences and recommendations of civil sector working on women’s issues will positively impact both the municipality and each citizen.

I cannot fail to mention the large-scale event held on December 9 in collaboration between the National Association of Local Authorities of Georgia (NALAG) and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, dedicated to International Human Rights Day.

At the meeting, which was attended by representatives of the Council of Europe, executive and legislative authorities, local self-governments, the Public Defender’s Office, and the non-governmental sector, I had the honor to speak about the role and goals of the National Association and to emphasize gender-based უთანასწორობაზე as one of the fundamental principles of human rights.

I believe that women’s empowerment plays one of the most important roles in achieving sustainable development of the country, therefore ათეა, will continue to work in this direction with member municipalities and promote the strengthening of gender equality.

During the 16-day campaign, ATOA’s media network facilitated daily sharing of events and good practices. Also, various information about forms and types of violence was posted on the organization’s portal.

An infographic was published reflecting gender-segregated statistics of sexual harassment victims/perpetrators, and importantly, an article was prepared telling the stories of women who won the grant competition under the program of the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) to support women’s economic empowerment,” noted Natia Ghvinashvili. 

The 16-day campaign against violence, which has been held worldwide since 1991, begins on November 25 – the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and ends on December 10 – International Human Rights Day.

During the campaign period, International Women Human Rights Defenders Day (November 29), World AIDS Day (December 1), International Volunteer Day (December 5), and the Day of Remembrance for the Montreal Tragedy (December 6) are observed.

It is noteworthy that the supporting events for the 16-day campaign are being conducted by ათეა-ს in collaboration with UN Women, within the framework of the project “Good Governance for Gender Equality in Georgia,” which is implemented with the support of the Norwegian government.