Gender Advisory Services Programme Georgia – Tbilisi Bus Project

Project Description:

Tbilisi Bus Project aims to establish transparent contractual arrangements for municipal service provision, improve commercialization through corporate development, and promote equal opportunities to access employment and relevant skills training for both women and men.

The overall objective of the assignment is to support the Tbilisi Transportation Company (TTC) to create better access to employment and related training opportunities for female candidates and stud, improve internal progression and raise the number of women employed at the TTC in all positions, particularly among drivers.

More specifically, PMCG, as a subcontractor of AETS Consulting, provides the following services:

• Review of HR policies and practices of the TTC to identify specific actions that may be appropriate to improve the gender balance in the company and provide recommendations for the Client’s review and approval
• Support the TTC in introducing these recommendations in its policies and practices and provide capacity building training for HR and mid and senior managers in order to maximize the potential long-term, systemic benefits of the assignment
• Provide training and appropriate support to enable women to become drivers leading to their subsequent employment in the company. This should include support to the Client to attract female drivers, and help women to get trained and licensed
• Organize a regional conference on gender issues in the transport sector

The collaboration will contribute to making TTC a leading company in terms of Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), which should inspire other transport companies in the region. WEPs offer guidance on how to empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community, developed by the UN.

Background information:

Georgia is characterized by ‘large’ gender inclusion gaps in relation to labor practices and ‘medium’ gaps in relation to employment opportunities. On average, 56 per cent of women in Georgia participate in the labor force compared to 75 per cent of men. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), Georgia has the lowest number of female employment within Transport, Storage and Communications of the Caucasus countries (10 per cent of women vs 90 per cent for men). These figures are lower than the sectorial average for EU countries where the overall proportion of women’s employment in the ‘transportation and storage’ sector is 22 per cent, which is also low. At present, the Company employs a total of 5,790, of which 1,273 (22 per cent) are women. Out of 1497 staff employed as bus and metro train drivers, there is only one female bus driver – and among its 69 managers, only 8 (11 per cent) are women.

As part of this project, the Company will implement improved HR policies and standards with respect to equal opportunities, in line with the EBRD Strategy for the Promotion of Gender Equality. A TC funded program will introduce a tailored equal opportunities action plan to create better access to employment and related training opportunities for female candidates and staff; improve internal progression (horizontal as well as vertically); and raise the number of women employed at the companies. The action plan will be designed in line with international best practices. As part of this project, the Client will promote the importance of equal opportunities in the workplace by organizing an end-of project national outreach event that will bring together key stakeholders (relevant ministries, public and private industry players, training providers and experts) to showcase and discuss best practice and lessons learned in the field of equal opportunities and workforce management as well as produce a set of actionable outcomes with a specific focus on the Bank’s existing or future clients in the sector.

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