"I strongly believe that more women in the peace process means more peace in the world. More women in politics – effective police, more women in economy - more development. And I am ready to repeat this in all spheres of life and activity", - such statement the State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality Ketevan Tsikhelashvili made in Israel, during the Leaders – women International Conference.

The State Minister thanked the organizers for inviting her to the conference: "I am glad that I have such opportunity. Particularly among the distinguished Georgians and Jewish people. As you know, our relations have 26th century of friendship, after the first Jewish community settled in Georgia. It is a history of peaceful and close friendship, with love and mutual respect. Because of this unique and exemplary nature, Georgian-Jewish friendship received an official status of the National Cultural Heritage Monument. We are especially proud of this and take special care of it.

Two days ago we celebrated the 100th anniversary of Georgia's democratic statehood, which existed for three years until 1921, but still created a strong and progressive basis for the modern Georgian state. It should be noted that in the first Parliament elected in 1918, along with the Georgians, there were various ethnic and religious minorities, including Jews. What is especially important is that the first Parliament was composed of women of different ethnic and religious origins", -said Tsikhelashvili.

Ketevan Tsikhelashvili introduced the participants of the international conference the statistics of the participation of women in public, political and economic life, as well as Georgia's aspiration to progress towards women's involvement and gender equality.

She also emphasized the special role of women in peace building and conflict resolution. "Today we have in Georgia 100 kilometers of wire fences and artificial barriers. They remove our occupied territories from the rest of the country and the whole world. This is daily hardest challenge for people living on both sides of barriers, and therefore our goal is to go ahead with a consistent, human-oriented and principled policy for peaceful resolution of the conflict where women's role is crucial, because in most cases women are victims of conflict. And in post-conflict periods they are doing everything in order to change the situation”, - said the State Minister.

The Women's International Conference, which is attended by more than 60 leading women from all over the world, is organizing the Israeli International Development Cooperation Organization on May 28-30 in the cities of Israel-Haifa and Jerusalem.

This year's 30th conference theme is "Leading Women Making a Difference" and is dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the sustainable development of the State of Israel.