This year, for the first time, five fathers employed by “Meama“ company took paternity leave. For the “Meama” team, the implementation of family policies, including equal opportunities for parents in the workplace, has been a priority since its foundation; however, the progress in this direction took a more systematic form after the company became a partner of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

On May 4, 2022, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Georgia Country Office and “Meama” company, according to which, the parties agreed to cooperate in the direction of introducing family-friendly and gender-responsive policies in the workplace.

Advocating for family-friendly and gender-responsive policies in both public and private sectors is one of the top priorities of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). According to Lela Bakradze, Head of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Georgia Country Office:

With the family policies and relevant approaches, offering decent working conditions and maternity/paternity leave to both mothers and fathers, it is possible to create a working environment that will help build a more progressive and healthy society.”

“Meama” is the first among private companies to express its willingness to introduce and implement family policies in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), thereby promoting gender equality in the workplace. For this purpose, “Meama” allows all parents to take equal advantage of parental and/or childcare leave.

Why should fathers take parental leave?

According to Florence Bauer, Director of UNFPA’s Regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, family policies help couples have number of children they want, so that both mothers and fathers are able to fully participate in the workforce and reap economic benefits.

These include well-paid parental leave for both mothers and fathers, as well as flexitime work arrangements for employed parents, dedicated spaces at the workplace for lactating mothers, and care facilities for small children.

Considering the international experience, properly regulated parental leave can tackle unfair distribution of gender roles, break gender stereotypes, increase female participation in the labour market and support women's career advancement. Realizing the right to work will ensure women’s economic inclusion, which will contribute to the country's sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction.

In addition, this policy gives parents the opportunity to have a good work-life balance; and involvement of both parents in bringing up children has a positive impact on their development.

How does "Meama" contribute to the introduction of family policies in Georgia?

Mariam Meburishvili, Head of the Human Capital Development Department of “Meama” says that “Meama” has been working on implementing family policies since its foundation, although paternity and childcare leave for fathers was still a novelty in the company.

Convincing the employees to take advantage of the benefits offered by this policy required some effort. Each employee of the Human Capital Development Department conducted a fairly active internal communication campaign in this direction. We planned and implemented some trainings for our employees for the purpose of raising their awareness of the issue, which proved to be highly effective, as, in just a few months, five men working for “Meama” took paternity leave,” she says.

According to her, “Meama” is keen on creating an environment where people can devote time to their personal life along with their career growth and development:

Based on the experience of “Meama”, I can conclude that introduction of family policies in companies contributes to the improved workplace efficiency for employees and the working environment becomes even more comfortable for them. Offering parental leave to fathers and mothers, as well as other family-friendly activities, is also very beneficial to employers in terms of increasing employee productivity in the workplace as well as their loyalty to the company.”

The attitude towards parental leave has changed dramatically in the last 6 years in Georgia. According to the 2019 study “Men, Women, and Gender Relations in Georgia: Public Perceptions and Attitudes,” approximately two out of three women and men support the idea of ​​paternity leave. 62.3% of respondents stated that there should be a law regulating paternity leave and 66% of them believed that parental leave should be given to both mothers and fathers.

According to the similar survey conducted in 2013, 50% of the respondents believed 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.

Davit Samsiani is one of the five fathers who took paternity and childcare leave offered by “Meama”. In his opinion, “this kind of support from the company is very important in terms of encouraging men to take care of the family even more and be involved in its empowerment.”

I have embarked on a very important stage of my life; my first child was born. It is a really good opportunity offered by the company to take the paternity leave and be there for my wife and my child at the most important time for our family. The first laugh or cry of your baby, the first sleepless night - these are the moments that will never happen again, and I am very grateful that I was able to be with them at this important stage for all of us,” he says.

In 2022, the UNFPA Georgia Country Office, in collaboration with Equimundo (USA), developed “Family Policies and Practices in the Workplace - Compendium for Employers in Georgia", which provides evidence and best practice examples to guide Georgian authorities and public and private sector representatives to promote family policies in the workplace.

It should be noted that when searching for talented and promising workforce, companies that offer better conditions to employees in terms of balancing work and family life significantly increase their competitiveness.

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The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Georgia Country Office works on the implementation of family policies within the framework of the following programmes: The UN Joint Programme for Gender Equality funded by the Government of Sweden and “EU 4 Gender Equality: Together against gender stereotypes and gender-based violence" programme, funded by the European Union, implemented jointly by UN Women and UNFPA.

The opinions expressed in the article are those of the respondents and do not necessarily reflect the views of the UNFPA, the Government of Sweden or the European Union.