About Project

Good governance and gender equality are among the top priorities for Georgian reform agenda under the European Association Agreement. However, despite the declared commitments, putting the stated goals into practice remains an uphill struggle. Women’s participation in political decision-making are very low. The local governments remain disempowered and lack public participation.

The project is based on a conviction that promoting gender-sensitive local governance reform can be a powerful force for bringing Georgia closer to its European aspirations. European and in particular Visegrad experience in gender-sensitive governance can also serve as a neutral confidence-building platform for Georgian and Abkhaz women leaders to jointly learn from.

The project aims at studying the experience of the Visegrad 4 (V4) in gender mainstreaming and public participation in local governance reform. V4 have successfully used such reforms for promoting regional cooperation and European integration.

Georgia can greatly benefit from this experience. Through study tour, research and series of follow-up public and expert consultations, the project will develop a policy-oriented strategy for reforming local governance and gender mainstreaming.

Involvement of Abkhaz NGO in the project will allow them to better understand European standards of good governance. It will contribute to building trust between Georgians and Abkhaz civil societies by uniting them around a common cause which is a central ingredient for peacebuilding.