In the past year and a half since the pandemic began, we’ve all become familiar with phrases such as “supply chain disruption,” “turbulence and volatility in international markets,” and “in these unprecedented times,” often used to preface news about pandemic-related food price increases across the globe.

The global economy continues to recover in Q2 2021 following the deep economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The growth accelerated as a result of the easing of virus-containment restrictions in most countries. IMF (July 2021) estimates that global GDP growth will reach 6% year over year (y/y) in 2021. Though this rebound is uneven – compared to the previous estimates (April 2021), growth projections for emerging markets and developing economies are revised downward.

In August 2021, Georgian power plants generated 1202 mln. kWh of electricity. This represents a 27% increase in total generation, compared to the previous year (in August 2020, the total generation was 949 mln. kWh). The increase in generation on a yearly basis comes from the increase of 20% and 94% in hydropower and thermal power generation, respectively.

The World Health Organization’s declaration of Covid-19 as a pandemic on March 11, 2020, can be considered a watershed in the recent history of mankind. The pandemic and its concomitant changes, such as switching to remote activities, affected different aspects of one’s life, including individuals’ participation in and behavior on the labor market. Georgia was no exception in this respect. The unprecedented nature of the crisis brought about unprecedented consequences for the country’s already vulnerable labor market.

In 2000, the International Labour Organization (ILO) adopted Convention No. 183, better known as the Maternity Protection Convention. The purpose of the Convention was to protect the health and safety of mother and child and to promote the equality of all women in the labour force. Essentially, this short document sets several guidelines, or minimum standards, that ought to be implemented globally for pregnant women and working mothers to be adequately protected in the labour market.