The report has been prepared in the framework of Transparency International Georgia’s parliamentary monitoring project and covers the activities of the 9^th convocation of the Parliament on gender equality issues (reporting period: January 5, 2017 -…). The report covers the legislative activities of the Parliament, as well as its exercise of oversight.

The report is based on public information, retrieved from the Parliament, also data published on the official web page of the Parliament and observations of our organization. The report was conducted using normative research method, according to which method the recent amendments to legal framework were studied. Furthermore, the research includes the poll findings carried out by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC). _^[1]

Recommendations:

• The Council should improve and strengthen its oversight of the executive government’s gender-related activities, summon authorized persons to its sittings, issue recommendations and monitor their implementation;
• The Council should receive regular information and analyze challenges that exist at the municipal level in regard to legislative amendments and systemic problems. The Council should be more active in writing announcements as well as publishing special reports. The Council should periodically submit to the Parliament the methodology for monitoring the implementation of international and local commitments in the field of gender equality;
• The Council shall submit periodic reports session on its activities to the Parliament’s plenary at session;
• A specific implementation period should be defined for all indicators outlined in the Gender Council Action Plan.

Main Findings

In comparison to the previous convocation, the 9th convocation of the Parliament was active in ensuring gender equality and the empowerment of women.

The following legislative activities should be assessed positively:

• The Constitution stipulates that the state ensures equal rights and opportunities for men and women. The state takes special measures to ensure equality of men and women and to eliminate inequality;
• The Parliament ratified Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention), which amended legislation and improved the rights of women;
• The Parliament supported important legislative changes such as: gender quotas, punishment of sexual harassment, electronic surveillance of persons convicted of abuse, criminal liability for harassment;
• The activities of the thematic inquiry groups by the Council in the exercise of parliamentary control should be positively assessed.

The challenges in the 9^th convocation of the Parliament were as follows:

• The issue of implementation of such important activities as envisaged by the Action Plan adopted by the Gender Equality Council of the Parliament, including a gender analysis of legislation, as well as the gender analysis of the budget;
• The reporting on the activities of the Gender Equality Council of the Parliament of Georgia was problematic in terms of accountability;
• In terms of exercise of oversight, there were issues in the Council’s submission of reports on the fulfillment of its international commitments on gender equality, as well as hearing of accountable persons;