The Embassy of France and the offices of UN Women and the United Nations Population Fund are joining the new global movement for the protection of women’s rights and gender equality in Georgia – “Generation Equality”.
The presentation of the movement was held at the Civil Society Forum “Generation Equality Movement for the Local Context”, which was conducted today online within the framework of Gender Week. The Generation Equality campaign, initiated by the United Nations, launched this year. It is taking its first steps worldwide and is creating a new space in the fight for women’s rights and gender equality in a reality transformed by the challenges brought about by COVID-19. The global initiative is based on the comprehensive document on the protection and promotion of women’s rights – the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
The objective of the online forum held in Tbilisi was to introduce the Generation Equality movement, to integrate it into the Georgian reality and to involve civil society in this process. Solidarity and coordinated actions are of crucial significance in overcoming the crisis caused by the pandemic, building an inclusive and sustainable world where gender equality is the driving force behind politics, development programmes and daily life. That is why UN Women, the United Nations Population Fund and the Embassy of France in Georgia will make a joint attempt to develop the Generation Equality movement in Georgia.
According to the UN Resident Coordinator, Sabine Machl, the Generation Equality movement “gives us an opportunity to rethink the commitments made by States to protect women’s and girls’ rights at the 1995 Beijing Conference. Right now is the historic moment when we need to analyse what has been done, how far we have come, what remains a challenge still and, at the same time, take future steps to ensure that every woman and girl has the opportunity to live with dignity and protection. We all need to work together to achieve gender equality.”
In his introductive speech, the Ambassador of France in Georgia, H.E. Diégo Colas, stressed France’s commitment to Gender Equality, insisting that “President Macron has decided to make gender equality the great cause of his term, and a priority for the French foreign policy. Today, as women’s rights are particularly suffering during the current covid-19 pandemic, France stands firm and committed to this fight for equality and humanity.” Illustrating this commitment, H.E. Diégo Colas briefly presented the multiple initiatives France is carrying out in the framework of the Generation Equality Forum to promote and defend Gender Equality and announced the launch of the annual Human Rights Prize of the French Embassy in Georgia, which, in 2021, will be dedicated to promoting universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights – one of the most pressing topics for women and girls.
The online event was attended by representatives of civil society and women’s rights organizations, the Gender theme Group, UN agencies, and international and donor organizations.
