UNDP: women’s participation in Georgian parliament stagnated, only 8% increase since 1995

UNDP says that women's participation in Georgian parliament has been ‘mostly stagnating’ over the past 25 years, rising only to 15 per cent in 2019 from seven per cent in 1995. 

According to the UNDP’s new #EqualFuture platform Georgia ranks at a ‘worrying 53rd place out of 56 countries’ in Europe and Central Asia, stating that if current trends prevail, ‘the country stands almost no chance’ of reaching the Sustainable Development Goal target of gender parity in parliamentary representation by 2030. 

Looking at Georgia’s place at the low end of the rating and with parliamentary elections just around the corner, we call for resolute action to reverse this trend,” said Louisa Vinton, UNDP Head in Georgia.  “It’s staggering to see that the vast potential of Georgia’s capable, courageous and well-educated women is still not being recognized and leveraged for the political, social and economic advancement of the country.”

The new UNDP platform shows that 25 years after the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action, ‘politics still remain overwhelmingly a man’s domain. More women are in parliament and government, but globally women are not even a quarter of all elected politicians.’ 

UNDP reports that covering the 56 countries in the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) region, #EqualFuture uses up-to-date data, estimated projections, as well as personal stories to provide country-by-country snapshots of women’s participation in parliament.