Elene Rusetskaia

Elene Rusetskaia is the founder and director of Women’s Information Center (WIC), Georgia, a non-governmental organization working on women’s rights and gender issues at the national, regional and international levels. Elene is an  initiator of the first and only one portal (www.ginsc.net) in the region of South Caucasus aimed at informing society about  women's rights and gender news. Additionally, she is a member of European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI); of the Inter-Agency Council of the Prime Minister with the voting mandate;  of the Consultative Council of Gender equality council; of the South Caucasus Women's Mediation Network; of the Advisory Board of the Network of East-West Women (NEWW); a member of the board for the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) Small Grant Program (SCG); a member of the Global Network of Women Peace building (GNWP); an advisor the Global Fund for Women (GFW); and a member of the Advisory Board of the Women's Fund in Georgia.

Since 2000, Elene has been working on women’s rights and gender equality, gaining extensive experience in advocating and lobbying women’s rights and gender issues at the national and international level.  Also, she has been advocating for gender politics, for increasing female political participation through gender quotas and for UNSCR 1325 localization processes in Georgia. Since 2002, she has been pushing for the adoption and efficient implementation of the NAP of Georgia on UNSCR 1325, which succeeded in 2011. Ever since, she has been a member of the National Working Group for Implementation NAP on UNSCR 1325. Moreover, she is currently a PhD candidate of Political science at Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA) and has published multiple articles and researches on issues related to women's rights and gender equality.

Region: Caucasus region, Georgia
Area of Expertise: Women’s rights; Gender issues