UNFPA’s work on Population Dynamics is central to the goals of the international community to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development. Population dynamics, including growth rates, age structure, fertility and mortality, migration and more, influence every aspect of human, social and economic development.

The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) articulated a bold new vision about the relationships between population, development and individual well-being: Population-related goals and policies are integral parts of cultural, economic and social development, the principal aim of which is to improve the quality of life of all people

UNFPA assists countries in developing capacity for data collection and further analysis, in order to create and manage sound policies and generate the political will to appropriately address both current and future needs, encourages participation in national, regional and global policy dialogues for supporting development programmes.

Demographic Security Policy

Georgia, among many countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia region, for the last 25 years has experienced transition from socialist to market economy and challenges of economic recession, is in a process of making necessary policy adjustments. UNFPA has advocated towards strengthening the body of evidence for integration of population dynamics into the country’s development policies.

In 2016, in partnership with the Parliament Committee on Health and Social Issues UNFPA provided support in establishing the national dialogue on priorities of the population dynamics and demographic security in Georgia through a participatory process involving government agencies, UN agencies, international organizations, academia, professional associations, civil society. The dialogue aimed at reaching the common understanding regarding the national population dynamics, influencing factors and future priorities to be reflected in the Georgia Demographic Security Policy. 

As a result, the Demographic Security Policy Concept of Georgia, was developed in accordance with the Georgian Constitution, broadly recognized principles and standards of human rights, international law, Sustainable Development Goals, and relevant national policy frameworks covering the four main domains: 1) Fertility, including Sexual and Reproductive Health; 2) Morbidity and Mortality; 3) Migration and 4) Population Structure and Population Ageing. 

The "Demographic Security Policy Concept” document, developed through a participatory multi-sectoral process, was adopted by the Parliament of Georgia on June 24, 2016. 

Aging in Georgia

The Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA) and its Regional Implementation Strategy (RIS) are two seminal documents that address population aging issue. Population ageing is a new reality for both developed and developing countries. Its social and economic implications must be fully understood and properly addressed. Meeting the challenges and seizing the opportunities connected to population ageing needs to be reflected in a range of policy areas.

The first step in addressing ageing issues in Georgia has been the elaboration of the Roadmap for Mainstreaming Ageing in Georgia in 2015 with the support of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), in partnership with the Government of Georgia, and with support from the UNFPA/Georgia.

UNFPA supported the Healthcare and Social Issues Committee of the Parliament to elaborate the “Concept of the State Policy on Population Ageing”, that was adopted by the Parliament of Georgia on May 27, 2016.

UNFPA in partnership with Parliamentary Committee on Healthcare and Social Issues and the USAID/GGI project supported elaboration of the two-year (2017-2018) Action Plan on Ageing in accordance to the recommendations provided by the Road Map on Mainstreaming Ageing in Georgia. The participatory and multi-sectoral process of the Ageing NAP elaboration could serve as a good practice for replication.

Support to Population Census and its data in-depth analysis

As the key strategic partner of GoG on population dynamics, UNFPA Georgia has supported the country in carrying out 2014 Population Censuses in partnership with the Government of Sweden

By its scale and content, the Census represents a unique source of data on the social, economic, and demographic situation of the population in the country. As a result of the 2104 Census undertaking, the most updated information has been obtained on population size, its sex and age structure, employment, education, health, sources of income, housing, and agricultural activities in Georgia.

During last decades UNFPA Georgia invested in national capacity building for quality data collection and analysis for Census. Since its establishment, UNFPA Georgia helped develop core competencies of the national statistics office (Geostat) to ensure that censuses were conducted using the internationally-recognized data collection methodologies. To achieve this, UNFPA in partnership with UNECE, supported capacity development of GeoStat on census methodology, planning, implementation, data analysis and dissemination. Additionally, UNFPA Georgia helped introduce Geographic Information System (GIS) methodology at GeoStat and provided software and equipment, while also creating local capacity for using this methodology, thus Georgia is one of the first countries in the region, which applied GIS system in 2014 Census planning, data gathering, analysis and data dissemination.

Accurate population information and statistics are indispensable to study how demographic trends are affected by, and have an impact on, social, economic and environmental factors. The collection and appropriate analysis of data on these complex interactions are critical for policy makers to formulate development programmes that respond to the needs of their intended beneficiaries.

In order to increase the impact of Census quality data UNFPA provides technical assistance to the National Statistics Office (Geostat) in developing Census 2014 data in-depth analysis monographs on the following key issues: 

• Population Dynamics
• Youth Issues
• Ageing issues
• Gender Equality
• Skewed Sex Ratio at Birth. 

Expanding Knowledge base on Population Dynamics

UNFPA Georgia supports increased availability of reliable population data and analysis to streamline policies that address current and future human development needs of the country.

Population Situation Analysis was undertaken on the request of the government in 2014. With this major research in PD field, UNFPA Georgia undertook comprehensive appraisal of the population and reproductive health dynamics to research their linkages and impacts on poverty, inequality and development. The findings of the report are instrumental in mainstreaming population dynamics, reproductive health and gender issues into the National Development Strategies and in reflecting these issues in the process of public policy formulation and implementation.

UNFPA Georgia has supported a Generations and Gender Survey (GGS) contributing to increased knowledge of the behavioural, social and economic conditions of individuals of different generations. Being part of the European Generations and Gender Research Programme, the two waves of GGS have been undertaken in 2006 and 2009 in partnership with the “Georgian Centre of Population Research” (GCPR).