The economy of Georgia's Adjara region is highly dependent on labour emigration and remittances. Primarily women work abroad to provide an income for their families, mostly performing low-paid care work. Continuous economic hardships and the pandemic did not allow most of the emigrants to return home frequently, leading to an increasing social and political alienation from their origin. While studies have reported on women's discrimination in labour migration, there is little public awareness and insufficient media coverage of the issue.
To increase the public recognition and visibility of precarious forms of women's labour migration, the Heinrich Boell Foundation supports the Batumi-based media organization Batumelebi in carrying out a professional media campaign. The campaign consists of multimedia stories, podcasts, and a documentary movie to reflect upon the problems of migrant women. Additionally, a scientific study will be conducted to analyze the economic, social and demographic conditions shaping female labour emigration from Adjara.
