“For humanity to progress, people must be counted, wherever they are and whoever they are – in all their diversity. To go uncounted is to be made invisible and, as a result, left unserved,” says Dr Natalia Kanem, UNFPA Executive Director, in her statement dedicated to the World Population Day. 

Heeding the call of the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, societies around the world have made tremendous strides in improving population data gathering, analysis and use. 

As Dr Natalia Kanem stated on July 11, “New population numbers, disaggregated by age, ethnicity, gender and other factors, reflect the diversity of our societies. To take just one example, approximately two thirds of countries now include questions on disability in their censuses.” And Georgia is among these countries.

Quality Data - A Prerequisite for Policy Formation

To ensure availability of accurate and high-quality data on the population, the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat) will conduct the Population and Agricultural Census from November 14 to December 19, 2024. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which has been supporting the conduct of censuses in Georgia since 2002, will provide technical assistance to Geostat in both conducting the census and analysing the data. 

“Census is the only and unique way to collect comprehensive data at a local level… It is conducted once every 10 years and requires substantial human and financial resources,” says Alexandre Arabuli, Head of the Population Census and Demographic Statistics Department at Geostat.

The census enables to collect unique information about employment, education, disabilities, and reasons for migration, which is crucial for developing relevant policies. 

“We collaborate with state agencies responsible for developing strategies and action plans, and which use the information to make and incorporate correct decisions in the policy-making process. When the data is reliable, it can be used with confidence,” he says.

Based on the data on the number of the population, gender-age structure, employment, education, health status, sources of livelihood, housing, and agricultural activities, acquired as a result of the 2014 census, UNFPA conducted an in-depth analysis in five main areas: gender, sex ratio at birth trends, population dynamics, population aging and older people and youth.

In-depth data analysis allows for proper emphasis and prioritization in decision-making. Based on the results of the 2024 census, an in-depth analysis will be conducted again in various directions, as evidence-based actions should form the foundation for policy-making in any country.

The MenCare Campaign to Break Gender Stereotypes 

UNFPA programmes rely on research-based data to promote genuine equality in Georgia. 

A 2013 study - Men and Gender Relations in Georgia - highlighted the need to work equally with women and men to challenge and change some deeply rooted harmful social norms.

A later study conducted in 2019 - Men, Women, and Gender Relations in Georgia - showed that some deeply rooted social norms concerning the roles of women and men were slowly changing.             

Compared to 2013, in 2019, the percentage of respondents who believed that childcare is solely a woman's responsibility decreased from 81% to 69% among men, and from 76% to 54% among women. Additionally, if in 2013, 1 in 2 respondents believed that a law guaranteeing leave for new fathers was not necessary, and nearly the same proportion did not support the idea of employers being mandated to provide parental leave for fathers, in 2019, both women and men (67.3% and 64.6%, respectively) supported the adoption of the law guaranteeing shared parental leave.

This is how, in 2016, the MenCare campaign was launched in Georgia in partnership with the NGO We Care (later Care Together) aimed at the involvement of men as caring fathers and spouses for the health and well-being of families, that would enable them to better support gender equality and, thereby, contribute to women's social and economic empowerment and thus to the empowerment of the society as a whole.

To make changes to social norm universally tangible, UNFPA also collaborates with the private and public sectors to implement family support programmes and ensure equal opportunities for parents in the workplace.

According to Florence Bauer, UNFPA Regional Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, “Investing in gender equality is crucial for addressing demographic change.” 

Removing “motherhood penalties” and distributing care roles more equally between women and men would go a long way in creating societies where having children is not penalized, but valued as a contribution to the sustainable future of society.

Both Girls and Boys are Valuable

For years, son preference has been one of the widely spread gender norms in Georgia, reflected in the harmful practice of gender-biased sex selection. 

To open up a broad discussion on this issue, based on the 2014 study, UNFPA concluded that sex selection is closely linked to gender norms and partly to cultural, religious, and socio-economic norms, with significant urban-rural differences in the prevalence.

According to the 2017 data, from 1990 to 2015, an estimated 31,446 girls were not born in Georgia due to son preference. That was when UNFPA launched the campaign Do Not Differentiate: A Girl and a Boy Are Both Your Future, reminding everyone that girls and boys are equally valuable and precious assets for their families, communities, and the country as a whole.

Through these and other campaigns, the work of the UNFPA and its partner organizations has gradually changed attitudes. According to the Caucasus Barometer, if in 2010, 44% of people did not care about the gender of their child if they had only one, by 2019, this figure increased to 57%. According to the same survey the number of people preferring sons decreased from 46% to 31%, while the number of people preferring daughters increased from 9% to 11% over the years.

However, despite the progress, different trends persist among various social groups: son preference still substantially prevails in certain geographic areas (Kakheti, Samtskhe-Javakheti, and Kvemo Kartli) and the difference in this regard between rural and urban areas is also substantial.

According to the 2019 data, for the majority of women (62%) and men (52%) the gender of the child does not matter. However, the proportion of people living in rural areas (41%) who would prefer a son, if they had only one child, was almost twice the proportion of people living in urban areas and having the same attitude (24%).

Having quality, up-to-date data is a crucial prerequisite for any country to accurately and timely determine their priorities in light of challenges faced by the population.

The nationwide census planned in Georgia for 2024 serves this very purpose. The census will further highlight the changes the country has undergone over the past decade and will allow for the analysis of existing achievements and challenges to better plan all the measures and activities necessary to achieve genuine gender equality in the country for the coming decade.