We’re thrilled to announce that ISET’s Policy Institute has reached its tenth anniversary and alongside our celebrations, our lead economists and researchers have presented a newly developed Gender Equality Index at an international conference.

Dr. Tamar Sulukhia, ISET’s Director, joined prominent Georgian and international officials to congratulate ISET on its latest achievement and to examine gender equality measures. Under the auspices of the Free Network FROGEE and the Swedish Sverige sponsors, the conference highlighted the significance of gender equality and its research. We would like to again extend our thanks to Natia Turnava, the Georgian Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development; to Erik Illes, Chargé d’affaires of the Swedish Embassy; and to Dr. Torbjörn Becker, Director of Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics for joining us in our celebrations and launching the index.

Coinciding with the 10-year anniversary of the ISET Policy Institute, two of our lead economists – Dr. Norberto Pignatti and Dr. Yaroslava Babych - went on to offer a presentation of the new Gender Equality Index (GEI). With thanks to the financial support of SIDA and the FROGEE Network, the index was ultimately created under each of ISET PI’s centers within a multi-disciplinary study that seeks to aid gender studies in Georgia and throughout the region. The tool will also continue to expand and develop at every stage as data is updated and improved on. The current index was based on the European Institute for Gender Equality’s index and covers almost all ex-Soviet countries. Thus, our latest development joins ISET’s current range of socioeconomic indices to help identify gender inequalities in various facets of life.

The conference was concluded with two panel discussions and an analysis of the current gender environment in Georgia and from various regional perspectives headed by key experts and policymakers. ISET would like to show its gratitude for the fascinating perspectives of its distinguished experts: Nino Tsilosani, Chair of the Agrarian Issues Committee and of the Georgian parliamentary Gender Equality Council; Tetyana Korotka, the Ukrainian Deputy Business Ombudsman; and Valentina Bodrug-Lungu, the president of the Gender-Centru from Moldova; alongside the foreign academic speakers Pamela Campa, Lev Lvovskiy, Sergej Gubin, Irina Denisova, Aleksandr Grigoryan, and Olga Kupets.

Once again, ISET is honored to announce the development of the GEI and would like to thank all of our participants, speakers, and future users of the Gender Equality Index.