A group of Tbilisi-based foreign ambassadors said on Wednesday that they closely follow the developments on gender equality in Georgia, including in the area of women’s political and economic empowerment, and that they consider the mandatory gender quotas bill as “timely.”

The draft bill, which sets quotas for women to help increase the number of female members in the Parliament and the Sakrebulos (municipality councils), was endorsed by three parliamentary committees and is pending confirmation by the parliamentary bureau before it is put to vote for adoption.

“We take note of the legislative initiative supported by more than 37,000 citizens of Georgia which, if passed, would significantly increase representation of women in elected bodies at all levels and would help Georgia to bring women’s voices more prominently into political discourse,” said the Ambassadorial Working Group, which unites the diplomatic corps accredited in Georgia.

“We consider the initiative to be timely as it provides a tool to meet one of the objectives of the EU-Georgia Association Agenda 2017-2020 and brings Georgia, in line with other successful reforms, closer to the average proportion of women at national parliaments in the EU (30.4%),” the ambassadors stated.

The diplomats also highlighted that the legislation “would also bring Georgia into better compliance with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) #5 and the recommendations of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) when it comes to women’s political participation.”

“Being aware that the legislative initiative was endorsed by three Parliamentary committees in the 3rd quarter of 2017, we reaffirm the importance of striving for gender equality in any democratic society and look forward to further developments at the Parliament of Georgia with regard to this important piece of legislation,” the statement concludes.