“Domestic workers saw that they absolutely needed to unite”, Ina Charkviani recalled in an interview with UN Women. “Standing together was the only opportunity that would help them take further steps.”
This is how Charkviani remembers the beginnings of a movement in Georgia that is changing how these women advocate for their rights. She is now the co-founder of the national Association of Nannies and Domestic Workers and the Labour Union of Domestic and Care Workers.
For Mzia Gogia – nanny and co-founder of the Association and Union – the COVID-19 pandemic was the biggest turning point.
“It became clear how unprotected we, domestic workers, were”, she explained, recalling how domestic workers faced job and income losses, increased workloads, and health risks from their work on the frontlines. “We decided to unite.”
Understanding care and domestic work
Care workers are people whose work supports the physical, emotional, and other needs of people, including personal care workers, nurses, teachers, doctors, nannies, sign language or tactile interpreters, personal assistants and domestic workers. (United Nations)
Domestic workers are people who are employed in or for a household/s. Domestic work covers a wide range of tasks and services, which can vary across countries. (International Labour Organization)
Of the 16,300 people employed in Georgia’s domestic work sector – including cooks, babysitters, waiters, launderers, gardeners, gatekeepers, drivers, caretakers, tutors, secretaries – 99 per cent are women. (National Statistics Office of Georgia, 2025)
From gathering in parks to collective action
Organizing was not easy. Unlike workers who share an office or factory, domestic workers often spend a large part of their working day in separate, private households. There were too few opportunities to meet.
So they got creative. “At first, we began gathering in parks – the places where nannies walked children”, Charkviani said. “Parks became spaces for organizing, meeting people, and exchanging information.”
The small outdoor gatherings gradually grew into a real community. The women recognized that many of the challenges they faced individually were shared by others.
“The main factor that always works [in organizing] is listening and being informed”, explained Charkviani.
In 2023, these grassroots organizers began partnering with UN Women, the Georgian Progressive Forum, and Communico Society to build their following and capacity. These efforts led to the founding of the Association of Nannies and Domestic Workers.
UN Women continued to support the Association’s growth, helping to launch their website and other communications strategies to not only reach thousands more workers – and raise awareness of their labour rights – but to educate the public on the value of this essential work.
“The Association gave hope to workers”, Gogia said. “They felt supported and were able to express their opinions and views about the gaps that exist in the relationship between employers and employees. Becoming members has made us more confident.”
Today, the Association brings together more than 700 domestic workers, including nannies, cleaners, tutors, personal assistants, nurses, cooks, elderly caregivers, and aestheticians.
Domestic work and labour rights in Georgia
UN Women works with domestic and care workers’ organizations in Georgia to strengthen their collective voice and formal recognition.
But gaps in labour rights leave domestic workers – most of whom are women working in private households – with limited legal and social protections.
Georgia has not ratified the international Domestic Workers Convention (ILO Convention No. 189), nor is there any recognition of care work under its Labour Code.
Women helping women to exercise their rights
At the heart of the Association is a simple value: sharing knowledge.
“We try to deliver, according to their needs, the information they require to protect themselves and help one another”, Charkviani explained.
For example, to help domestic workers clearly establish their responsibilities and working conditions with their employers, the Association developed a model employment contract they could use.
In 2024, the Domestic Workers Employment Service was launched to connect workers and potential employers. With technical and financial support from UN Women’s Women’s Economic Empowerment in the South Caucasus (WEESC) project, the Employment Service promotes written agreements and transparency, including formal contracts.
Charkviani recalls the story of a nanny who did not feel comfortable directly asking her employer about working conditions. By sharing a written contract for her employer to sign, they were able to come to a fair and formal agreement about sick leave and time off – basic entitlements that are often lacking for many domestic workers.
“The most valuable and important thing is this trust that has emerged among us”, Charkviani said. “We know we have one another and we trust one another.”
Our informal work must become formal so that we are better protected.
Establishing Georgia’s first domestic and care workers’ union
In 2025, members of the Association went a step further and established Georgia’s first Labour Union of Domestic and Care Workers.
The trade union – which includes nannies, cleaners, tutors, personal assistants, nurses, and elderly care workers – serves as a formal platform through which workers collectively advocate for their rights and working conditions.
Building a stronger future for care workers
The movement that began with women meeting in parks continues to grow and strengthen. Their priorities include:
- The formal recognition of domestic workers under Georgia’s National Labour Code
- Fairer recruitment practices
- Formal paid leave and other benefits
- Incorporating the experiences and needs of Georgian domestic workers living abroad
“Our priority is to change the rules of domestic employment in the country. Our task is to transform the conditions in which paid and unpaid care workers live and work”, said Charkviani, describing how stronger care systems – including accessible, quality care for children, older people, people who are ill, and persons with disabilities – are essential.
“This is not simply the private responsibility of families; it is a cornerstone of a healthy and functioning society”, Charkviani said. “We need care work to be valued, and care workers to feel valued.”
Care work keeps the world running
From the moment we wake up to the time we sleep, care work – paid and unpaid – shapes our lives, economies, and communities. Without care work, societies would simply stop functioning.
This work was achieved under the UN Women project Women’s Economic Empowerment in South Caucasus, with the generous support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Austrian Development Agency.
This programming contributes to TransformCare, UN Women’s global initiative that addresses the undervaluing and unequal division of care work to improve the lives of women and girls worldwide. Through this initiative, UN Women is supporting governments and partners across 52 countries to develop, adopt, and implement national care systems and policies that recognize, reduce, redistribute, reward, and represent paid and unpaid care work.
