Assessing the Enabling Governance Environment to Promote and Enforce Women's Rights in the Southern Caucasus

Abstract

After the collapse of the Soviet Union,
 Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia experienced a sharp decline
 in economic output, prolonged regional conflicts resulting
 in great numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and
 refugees, the deterioration of social protection systems,
 and devastating natural disasters. These circumstances
 resulted in a dramatic increase in poverty and a decline in
 the human development index. Poverty has greatly affected
 women and introduced numerous obstacles and challenges in
 the promotion of gender equality and advancement of
 women's rights. Furthermore, women face new challenges
 with regard to issues such as human trafficking, rights of
 IDPs, and peacekeeping initiatives. Regional cooperation is
 necessary to address these issues. This project set out to
 assess the capacity of civil society organizations (CSOs) to
 meet the pressing needs for legal literacy, legal aid, and
 improved access to justice and legal services for poor women
 in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. The primary objectives
 were as follows: identify laws and institutions that promote
 women's rights; identify and disseminate successful
 initiatives that promote women's legal rights and legal
 literacy and facilitate their access to legal services; and
 strengthen collaboration among groups working on gender
 issues in prioritizing women's legal rights. This
 report is organized around three key dimensions of gender
 equality: the status of women as far as human capital
 development is concerned, their status in terms of access to
 productive resources, and their status and protection under
 the law.