U.S. Ambassador to Georgia Richard Norland attended the 2nd Roundtable on Political Party Funding and Women’s Participation in Political Life on Tuesday, March 12 in Tbilisi. The U.S. Government through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) supports several projects that promote women’s political participation.

The two-day conference topics included: political party funding, lessons learned and models of funding, 2012 Parliamentary elections and women’s participation, and how to increase women’s political participation. Based on discussions, the roundtable participants are developing recommendations with the broad participation of Georgian political parties, non-governmental organizations, government representatives, international donor and development agencies, experts and the Georgian media.

The conference was a joint effort between the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), and Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD).