Challenging social norms in Georgia

Woman in a yellow dress stands in a warehouse with materials behind her.

Irma Daushvili is a 2019 finalist in the WE Empower UN SDG Challenge from Georgia and a pioneer in the renovation and home improvement industry. WE Empower Intern Jacqueline Blisse elaborates on how Irma is using her company DIO to provide their ecologically clean products to improve homes and businesses in Georgia.

Irma Daushvili is the general director of DIO, a company that is based out of Georgia and is a provider of home improvement products. At DIO, a fair and inclusive work space is important to their vision and the company’s future. Just within the last year they have increased their percentage of women in management by over 10%.

DIO supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality by training single mothers and girls who have been affected by domestic violence. In addition, DIO supports Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth by providing opportunities for parents of children to continue working and by investing in the lives of their employees. Lastly, Daushvili and DIO firmly believe that Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals is important to progressing towards a sustainable future. They have committed to this goal by partnering with companies to eliminate plastic in their packaging and by supporting differently abled people in their community.

DIO supports the vision of an equal world by 2030 through training women to hold jobs that go against the social norms in Georgia. Specifically they train women to be wallpaper artisans and tailors and pay them an equal wage. Breaking down barriers like employing women in professions traditionally held by men is an important and necessary step towards gender equality.