Adopted in 2000 by the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Maternity Protection Convention (C183) set the minimum standards that need to be implemented worldwide in order for pregnant women and working mothers to be adequately protected in the labour market. Since its adoption, 39 countries have ratified the Convention. Georgia, an ILO member since 1993, has not yet done so.

This policy brief summarizes the main findings of the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) on the possible ratification of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189). The Convention aims to ensure decent work for all and provide domestic workers with fundamental protections and rights.

Women are generally under-represented in political offices worldwide, and their under-representation becomes larger in more senior positions. In the first brief, the author reviews some recent academic literature in economics and political science on the likely causes of women’s under-representation. Broadly speaking, the literature has divided such causes into “supply-side” and “demand-side” factors.

The COVID-19 pandemic and consequent stringent lockdown measures have had a drastic toll on the Georgian economy. The economic downturn has significantly affected the resilience of local Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), whose sales decreased by almost 13% (YoY) in the first two quarters of 2020. These negative impacts of the economic contraction have been particularly severe for Women-led Small and Medium Enterprises (WSMEs).

The lockdowns and trade restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in shortages of some major food commodities on international and local markets. In this policy brief, we discuss and analyze Georgia's response to the crisis in terms of food security and agricultural policy. Furthermore, we provide recommendations to ensure fewer disruptions in food supply chains and low volatility in food prices.

This paper analyses income distribution and poverty reduction in Georgia in the period 2010 to 2017/2018. As we have no data for 2019, our findings do not relate to the most recent distributional policies of the Georgian government. Our results suggest that while Georgia has substantially reduced poverty and income inequality, continuous monitoring of the situation would be helpful.