The Vice-Speaker, the member of PACE, Manana Kobakhidze delivered the speech at PACE Summer Session and spoke about women involvement in Armed Forces of Georgia, their training and respective measures held recently in the country:

Dear Esteemed Colleagues,

Allow me, at the outset, to express my sincere appreciation to the respected speaker for her report on the crucially important issue of promotion of equality and elimination and prevention of gender-based violence in the armed forces around the world. I would like to highlight that we all have to consolidate our efforts to provide women serving in the military with a favourable environment necessary for their self-realization, career growth and development. The fact that harassment against women in the armed forces remains a problem should not be overlooked as this is the issue that calls for implementation of effective mechanisms aimed at combatting the problem.

And, as the First Vice-Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia and the Head of the Gender Equality Council, I consider it appropriate to use this opportunity and report on the progress Georgia has made in this regard. In particular, it is noteworthy that since 2013, in the framework of National Action Plan, the First Year Bachelor School Junkers at the National Defence Academy of Georgia as well as the First Year Listeners at Career Schools have attended the trainings on Gender Equality Principles, UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and other relevant resolutions. More than a thousand military servants have already been trained under the Programme. This type of educational programs and training courses is a strong prerequisite for ensuring active participation of women at all levels of decision-making and elimination of gender-based discrimination.

Georgia is actively involved in peacekeeping missions around the world. Accordingly, since 2014, the pre-deployment preparation of the military personnel has included trainings on gender equality and UN resolutions, and gender and sexual violence. In last two years, more than 2000 Georgian soldiers were trained as part of the pre-deployment preparation of the military servicemen for the ISAF mission.

I would like to proudly state that our efforts have already bring in concrete results. Today, women make up more than 7 % of the personnel of the Armed Forces of Georgia. Among them, a woman heads a department at the General Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces. First time in Georgian reality the Minister of Defense of Georgia is a woman. In addition, in general, about 45 percent of civil servants at the Ministry of Defense of Georgia are women.

In conclusion, I would like to add that today we have to express our appreciation to and solidarity with those female soldiers who are fighting for peace and security in various hotspots all over the world. Our obligation is to do our best to make their heavy burdens lighter!

Thank you for your attention!