The Council of Europe Office in Georgia hosted an online workshop on Mainstreaming Gender Equality and Intersectionality Perspectives with the Election Administration of Georgia, co-organised in cooperation with the Central Election Commission of Georgia (CEC).

Tamar Zhvania, Chairperson at the Central Election Commission of Georgia, Natalia Voutova, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia, Erik Illes, Deputy Head of the Mission at the Embassy of Sweden to Georgia, delivered opening remarks.

The Chairperson and members of the Gender Equality Council at the CEC, heads of CEC, the staff of the CEC departments and the Training Centre with the Council of Europe experts were actively engaged in two-day discussions. The participants shared the experience of the Council of Europe members states on legal and policy instruments on gender equality and balanced participation of women and men in political and public decision-making, support measures and good practices to promote gender equality and intersectional perspectives, combating gender stereotypes and promoting gender-sensitive working environment. Practical steps were identified in how to integrate and mainstream gender equality and intersectionality perspectives at various phases of the election management and in the key areas of the work of the election administration.

The workshop is aimed at further enhancing capacity of the election administration and particularly the Gender Equality Council towards further alignment with European standards and practices.

The workshop held on 13-14 May was organised within the framework of the Council of Europe Project ‘Supporting Transparency, Inclusiveness and Integrity of Electoral Practice and Process in Georgia’.