Father’s Day celebrated in Georgia for the first time

Fathers all over Georgia are being celebrated today by their loved ones as the country celebrates Father’s Day.

This year is the first time Georgia celebrates Father’s Day, and the initiative of celebration came from the Georgian office of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and local organisation We Care.

Within the celebrations all fathers and children of the country were invited to Tbilisi’s largest shopping mall East Point where they were promised a day of fun and entertainment.

UNFPA Georgia said the initiative aimed to encourage fathers to be more involved in the upbringing of their children.

In 2013 UNFPA conducted a survey named ‘Men and gender relations in Georgia’ which highlighted that in traditional Georgian families, it was the women’s job to raise children.

The survey showed that only 11 percent of interviewed fathers believed it was important for males to be involved in their children’s upbringing. This small group of male respondents said they shared the parental duties, such as feeding, babysitting, and walking daily with their child.

Conversely, 70 percent of men surveyed believed it was a women’s role to look after the children, keep the house in order and cook food for the family, while it was a man’s job to financially support the family. Despite this, men believed there was gender equality in Georgia.

The organisers believed the existing stereotypes prevented men from taking responsibility to be more caring fathers, husbands and partners.

Father’s Day aimed to destroy these stereotypes and represent fathers as an important part of upbringing children.

The event was held in the framework of the UN Joint Program for Gender Equality.

Meanwhile Mother’s Day is observed in Georgia on March 3 every year and the day is a public holiday.