Mtskheta-Mtianeti. Representatives of the "Georgian Young Constitutionalists' Association" have met with compactly settled IDPs on December10 in Tserovani. They have discussed as the property rights of the IDPs, as well as other issues. Among others, several legislative gaps were identified that hinder the granting of IDP status to internally displaced persons. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Guria. Members of the Youth Center functioning with the "Union of Young Teachers" have celebrated the International Human Rights Day with a street event. The Center's leaders have marched through the central districts of the city in T-shirts made especially for this day and informed the population about their rights. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Kakheti. The Telavi Office of the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association has organized a public meeting in the Civic Engagement Center dedicated to the International Human Rights Day, with participation of the local self-government and CSO representatives and interested persons. According to the Head of the Telavi Office of GYLA, the meeting aimed to raise awareness among the members of civil society on human rights, and the women's rights in particular.Meeting participants have discussed also the property rights of women in Georgia and the importance of solidarity among women.

Shida Kartli. Volunteers of the Gori Youth Center functioning with the CSO "Gori Club of the Disabled" have visited GYLA on December 10. The lawyer has brief children about the International Human Rights Day. The activity was organized as part of the Advancing National Integration in Georgia project, implemented by the UN Association of Georgia with support of the US Agency for International Development (USAID). "Gori Club of the Disabled" is the project's partner organization in Gori. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. Georgian Young Lawyers' Association released a statement on International Human Rights Day. "We would like to mention, that for the past year protection of human rights has attained considerable progress in number of directions.  The state is more successful to fulfill its negative obligations, revealed in refraining from illegal and intentional interference in exercise of human rights. ...Though, along with positive trends there are some challenges", says the statement. For full text  Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. On December 10, on the International Human Rights Day, representatives of the Human Rights House Tbilisi will visit families sheltering the former building of Railway Hospital. Lawyers of the HRHT Member Organization Article 42 of the Constitution will issue legal consultation on the homeless people on the ground. Source:humanrights.ge

Tbilisi. A conference on human rights, future plans and current challenges was organized in the "Radisson" Hotel, with participation of representatives of the Government, Parliament, CSO and donor organizations. For the full text (geo) Source: ginsc.net

Imereti. The Kutaisi Youth Center has celebrated the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3. The seminar was delivered for the Center's members on the "Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Introduction of Inclusive Education in Georgia". In addition, youngsters have visited the day center for children with disabilities "Magic World", where they have presented 19 children with books, painting albums and have participated together with them in interactive-educational activities. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Adjara. Student discussion was organized on December 3 at the initiative of the Batumi Press Cafe and the "Independent Journalists' House", where the persons with disabilities have appeared as speakers. Students have discussed the problems of education and employment of young persons with disabilities living in Adjara. The video report prepared by the media school students - "One day of the blind miller" - was shown at the meeting. Further, the results of a video public opinion poll carried out by the "Artists' Fund" and "Art Way" were presented. Discussion was broadcast through live stream. Please see the meeting recording at (geo)

Tbilisi. The event dedicated to the International Day of Persons with Disabilities and aimed at improving the rights of persons with disabilities was held in Radisson on December 3. The event was attended by the Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Gharibashvili, US Ambassador to Georgia Richard Norland, as well as representatives of the Government of Georgia, international organizations, diplomatic corps, local CSOs and media outlets. The event was organized as part of the "Disability Advocacy Project" supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), implemented by the coalition for "Independent Life". Source: the Coalition for Independent Life.

Tbilisi. The Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center has released a statement in relation to the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. "Persons with disabilities still encounter the problems of movement, education, employment, access to resources and other types of problems. This problem is especially acute in countries like Georgia. ... Georgia has signed the Convention on Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol in 2009. Yet, Georgia still has not ratified the document. EMC urges the Parliament of Georgia to ratify the Convention through expedited procedures. In this respect, of special importance is the action plan for implementation of the Convention, which is being developed by the Government of Georgia. Further, we believe that the action plan must be adequate to existing problems, measurable by objective criteria and able to yield tangible results," says the statement. For the full text (geo) Source: emc.org.ge

Kakheti. A meeting-discussion dedicated to the International Day for the Protection of Persons with Disabilities was held in the Telavi Civic Engagement Center. Representatives of CSOs, media and the Peace Corps, as well as students and interested citizens have attended the meeting.

Women's Association "Tankhmoba" (consent) has organized the screening-discussions of the documentary in Tskaltubo, Tbilisi, Gori and Nikozi as part of the campaign "Elimination of Violence against Women". Local activists and the national minority representatives were invited to the meeting. The events are organized as part of the project "Development of Innovative Decisions for Communities Affected by Conflicts". The organization will also hold meetings in Zugdidi, Gardabani, Potskho-Etsera and Ingiri.

Tbilisi. The "Women's Fund in Georgia" has revealed the winner of the "Kato Mikeladze Prize" on the International Day for Protection of Women's Rights. EkaAghdgomelashvili, who is the founder of the "Group for Support of Women's Initiatives", has become the prize-winner.At the initiative of the CSO "Women's Fund in Georgia", the Kato Mikeladze Prize will be awarded annually on November 29 to one of the women's rights activists in Georgia. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. Institute for Development of Freedom of Information published Nino Tsukhishvili`s study - "Whistleblowers in Civil Service: International Practice and Georgia". The goal of the study is to evaluate the regulation and court practice regarding the whistleblowers in civil service. The first part of the article discusses the legal regulation of whistleblowers on the basis of the comparison between the legal norms of Georgia and different countries. The second part of the article consists of the analysis of the practice of the European Court of Human Rights regarding the freedom of expression of civil servants. As a conclusion, the article presents the main direction and recommendations for improving the legislation and practice regarding whistleblowers in Georgia. The study (geo) Source:idfi.ge

Adjara. The Democracy Institute has organized a discussion on November 26 in the Batumi Civic Engagement Center around the efficiency of amendments to the Labor Code of Georgia and the labor environment. The meeting aimed to collate different positions. The Labor Code of Georgia was amended 6 months ago and additional work is still underway.

Tbilisi. The Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center has published the blog-post of Nino Guruli – "Right to labor for persons with disabilities". For the full text (geo) Source: emc.org.ge

Imereti. As part of the project, charity organization "First Step Georgia" has founded the "Advocacy Network for Persons with Disabilities" in Kutaisi. The organization aims to advocate and lobby the persons with disabilities. Manager of the organization's Kutaisi Branch Natia Gudava has expressed hope that this Network will be sustainable and will regularly provide the legislative body and respective agencies with information on the problems of persons with disabilities.

Tbilisi. In connection with the International Human Rights Day, an event will be organized in "Identity" on December 10. As part of the event, 5 speakers will deliver presentations and introduce their works to the audience. Topic of the presentation is – "What do human rights mean to me". Any interested person can attend the presentation either as a free attendee or as the speaker. Source:identoba.com

Kakheti. As part of the two-week campaign against violence, the discussion was organized in the Telavi Civic Engagement Center on "Empowering women for protection of their own rights". Discussion was led by the members of the Telavi "Women's Club" and the political rights of women and the importance of their involvement in various public activities was discussed. Further, the recording of Madeleine Albright's speech with Georgian sub-titles was shown.

Shida Kartli. The Gori Youth Center functioning with the Gori Club of the Disabled has involved in the campaign against gender violence. As part of the campaign, the Youth Center has organized the screening and discussion of the film "Violence is a Crime" together with the women's consultation center "House". A discussion was held led by the psychologist and specialists working on gender issues. The 16-day campaign aims to raise public awareness on issues of violence against women and enhance civil consolidation on the women's rights. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Guria. To celebrate the International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women, the members of the Youth Center operating under the "Union of Young Teachers" has delivered a peer training on November25 on the gender equality and staged a flash-mob on violence against women, which aimed to draw public attention to facts of violence against women. Its content reflected public attitude towards violence.