Tbilisi. On February 14, 2020, the Public Defender of Georgia was informed about the illegal deprivation of liberty of a girl and an attempted forced marriage in the city of Marneuli. ‘The case has once again clearly shown the challenges relating to the protection of and assistance to minor victims of violence in Georgia. The observation carried out by the Public Defender and her representatives on the ground showed that the local law enforcement agency is not free of stereotypical attitudes, which is an essential hindrance to its effective functioning. This is particularly noteworthy for the protection of the rights situation of girls and women of ethnic minorities’, - is noted in the statement of the Public Defender of Georgia. Read more…  Source: http://ombudsman.ge

Imereti. Local Democracy Agency Georgia met with youth in Tskaltubo and Khoni Municipalities to discuss the importance of civic engagement and volunteering for young people in Georgia. The youth group was recently formed as part of the “Civil Society Development Initiative” project (also known as the Regional Hub project). The participants also got acquainted with the specifics of the work of the new volunteer portal, Time Bank. Read more… Source: Social network

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) publishes a blog post: Proper representation of interests of children is not still ensured. “The complainant requested at the national level to urge the court to take into consideration the desire of her minor nieces and designate the residence of their aunt as their place of residence. Social workers were engaged into the trial stage as representatives of the children. In the final decision, national courts assigned the children to their father. However, courts and social workers took the decision without taking into consideration best interests of the children and their desire to live with their aunt”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Adjara. On 11-12 February, Georgia Red Cross Society with partnership of Ministry of Education, Science, Culture And Sport of Georgia and collage “Black Sea“ is conducting profession orientation workshop in Batumi for the youth representatives. “During these meetings, youth will be introduced to the needs of the labour market in the region, as well as the education opportunities available in the country / region. This will help young people to choose the right profession and plan the future accordingly. The participants of the meeting also have the opportunity to get familiarize with the system of Vocational colleges. Meetings will be held twice in a month for the youth of Senaki, Zugdidi and Khelvachauri / Batumi Municipalities“. Read more… Source: Social network page

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia shares a statement on Baghdati Municipality Tragedy.  ‘Unfortunately, child poverty and inadequate living standards have remained unresolved problems for years, which in some cases endanger the health and life of children. The child protection and social system fails to protect children from extreme poverty. The programmes offered by the State to families living in poverty are not oriented to outcome, individual needs or timely prevention; therefore, the socio-economic situation of such families basically remain the same over the years. Under the current social policy, it is problematic to satisfy even the basic needs of children living in poor families’, - is mentioned in the statement  Read more…  Source: http://ombudsman.ge

Kvemo Kartli. The Youth Bank has one of the most active committees in the Marneuli district. Both committee members and the authors of projects, i.e., young persons who turn ideas into projects, are quite active, and, in a joint effort with the committee, they work to benefit their local communities. This process is supported by Europe Foundation within the framework of its Youth Integration Program. This year, youth in the Marneuli district set a precedent for future projects to follow – they built a greenhouse that will generate income for the Maradisi village school district. Read more…  Source: http://www.epfound.ge

Tbilisi. The organization “Partnership for Human Rights” presents a handbook – Justice and the rights of the child. The handbook has been developed within the framework of a project “Access to Justice for Children”, implemented with the support of the United Nations Children's Fund and within the framework of an EU funded project “Enhancing Access to Justice and Development of a Child-friendly Justice System in Georgia”. Read more… Source: https://phrgeorgia.wordpress.com

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) releases a statement in regard to death of Luka Siradze.  “This tragic case once again reveals systemic challenges that exist at state agencies. Educational and law enforcement agencies have not managed to identify individual needs of adolescents and introduce supporting social and psychological assistance approaches that are tailored to those needs. This case highlights malfunction of education, justice and social support systems as well as weakness of coordination mechanisms among them and methods of mutual empowerment. Obviously, in these circumstances objectives of the “Juvenile Justice Code”, the main principle of which is protection of best interests of a child in the process of justice, remain unachieved. At the same time, the state pays insufficient attention to development of a suicide prevention strategy in general and it implementation”, - is noted in the statement.  Read more… Source: https://emc.org.ge

Shida Kartli. Today Public Defender met with schoolchildren of Shida Kartli Villages to discuss the importance and role of human rights education, as well as the activities and mandate of the Public Defender in this process. The Public Defender discussed the constantly increasing dangers and challenges relating to the protection of human rights, the forms of receiving information about human rights violations and responding to them, as well as supervision of implantation of Public Defender’s recommendations and the mechanism of applying to the Public Defender’s Office. Read more…  Source: http://ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. The Open Society Georgia Foundation presented today a report of a study, which demonstrates how the state budget is formed and allocated to needs of people with disabilities in 5 municipalities of Georgia. The document describes engagement of people with disabilities and their representatives in the process of drafting local budgets and programs; analyzes effectiveness of budget spending, assistance, services and programs funded for people with disabilities. Along with provision of gaps, the document contains recommendations to the state on how to improve planning of the budget and programs, and increase participation of people with disabilities in this process. Read more… Source: https://osgf.ge

Tbilisi. According to information of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, an investigator involved in interrogation of an injured juvenile appears also in a high-profile case of the so called Kintsvisi special operation. “The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association is engaged in the case of psychological oppression committed by police officers on a juvenile at the police station, which fact supposedly led the teenager to a suicide attempt. On December 16, 2019, in the morning program of the TV Company “Imedi”, explanations regarding the case of the juvenile were given by an investigator Mariana Choloyan who participated in the juvenile interrogation process on December 10 and 11, 2019. According to her, there was no violence against the juvenile. It is noteworthy that the investigator Marianna Choloyan appears also in a case of Nikoloz Goguadze, detained during the so called Kintsvisi special operation on May 26, 2011”, - is stated in the information released by the organization, - “GYLA calls on the State Inspector’s Service: while carrying out an investigation, to thoroughly examine/investigate content and authenticity of explanations given by Mariana Choloyan publicly, especially taking into account the fact that clarifications provided by this investigator in the so called Kintsvisi case and authenticity of compiled documents have not been verified”. Read more… Source: https://gyla.ge

Ajara. Over 20 students from different schools of Keda municipality participated in a discussion on climate change and sustainable waste management organized by EU-supproted Keda Local Action Group (LAG). The event, which took place at Keda LAG office within the EU-funded ‘Keda LEADER’ project, aimed at raising awareness of the municipality’s youth on environmental issues and facilitating their involvement in respective activities.  The discussion preceeded by screening of 1-minute thematic films selected within the international Mobile Film Festival. The students also attended an upcycling activity and practical training in sustainable waste management.  Read more… Source: http://enpard.ge

Tbilisi. Public Defender of Georgia, Government of Georgia, the EU, CoE and the UN Celebrate Human Rights Day 2019.  The event under the slogan “Youth Standing up for Human Rights”, included the awareness-raising activities to provide information on human rights and values to citizens of Tbilisi.  Representatives of the EU and the Government of Georgia once again confirmed their support to the activities of young people, as actors for social change.  Read more…  Source: https://eeas.europa.eu

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center publishes a point of view of Nika Maghlaperidze in regard to social inequality existing in educational institutions. “As it has been revealed by a number of studies, inequality is an integral part of our education structure (1). According to a study conducted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and published a few days ago, the situation in this context has visibly deteriorated over the last 10 years. As PISA results show, in 2009, the difference between test points of urban and rural students was 30, while today this difference goes up to 44. Besides, this difference has also increased significantly in case of students representing dominant ethnic group and ethnic minorities”, - the author writes. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

From November 20 to 22, in Gori, Telavi and Kutaisi, civil society organizations carried out a campaign - “You have a message” initiated to reduce violence against children and aiming at informing citizens about forms of violence against children. “Civil society organizations as well as citizens signed a petition and called on the state to fulfill its commitments and take effective steps in regard to welfare and harmonious development of children”, - is stated on the website of CIDA in a social network. Read more… Source: The website of the organization in a social network

Today is the World Children's Day. „To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, UNICEF organizes the activity called "Kids Take Over" in more than 130 countries across the globe. Several schools in Tbilisi also joins the activity. Older school pupils held a demonstrational lessons for the little ones, showed interesting experiments and taught them the first aid. Read more… Source: Social Network

Mtskheta-Mtianeti. Members from the International Women’s Association Georgia visited the EU-supported Green Camp for Young Leaders and Innovators at Bulachauri Green Center.  During the meeting, the invited guests shared their experiences with the camp participants and discussed topics such as environmental issues, technologies, education and career development. The Green Camp participants presented their community problems and future plans for solving them. IWA member, Mrs. Mette Hartzell, spouse of Carl Hartzell, EU Ambassador to Georgia, addressed the camp participants and read a letter addressed by the Ambassador to the camp participants.  Read more… Source: The web-page of the organization

Tbilisi. The Public Defender terms segregation of students by University of Georgia according to their academic performance as discriminatory.  „According to the practice of the University of Georgia, students with less than 2 points are not allowed to choose all the proposed groups and hours during the registration period, while no similar restriction apply to students with higher points. Such a division among first-semester students is based on the results of the Unified National Exams. According to the University, the purpose of such a division is to improve the quality of education“, - Mentions the Public defender, - “The Public Defender recommended the University of Georgia to abolish the differentiated groups at all stages of education and in all departments, in particular the restrictions relating to the students’ opportunity to choose courses regardless of their GPA (or results of the Unified National Exams in case of first-semester students)”.  Read more… Source: The web-page of the organization

Racha-Lechkhum-Kvemo Svaneti. Social integration, developing the basic comunication and interpersonal skills were the major topics of the EU-supported Youth Summer Camp organized by the initiative of the Akhalkalaki Local Action Group (LAG) in Racha. The event was held within the framework of EU-supported project “Promoting a New Rural Development Approach in Akhalkalaki.”  During the Summer Camp, participants had the opportunity to raise awareness about the history of Racha Region, visit cultural, historical and recreation sites, and receive information about the academic programmes of local vocational college. Moreover, the youth learned local traditional handiworks such as the art of patterning and creating Georgian enamel, as well as cooked local dishes with the host family. In addition, the camp participants were introduced to local tourism development trends and innovative methods of establishing effective communication and interpersonal skills.  Read more… Source: http://enpard.ge 

Tbilisi. Public Defender made a Statement on the Death of a Minor Worker on 16 July 2019.  ‘The situation of safety at work remains a major challenge in the country. Improvement of the alarming situation is significantly hindered by the restrictions imposed for labour inspectors on the one hand, which will be lifted only from September 2019, and by the lack of human and financial resources of the Labour Conditions Inspection Department on the other hand’, - is mentioned in the statement.  Read more… Source: The web-page of the organization

Mtskheta-Mtianeti. Bulachauri Green Center hosted the second Green Camp for Young Leaders and Innovators.  The EU-supported camp was organized by CENN in partnership with Caritas Czech Republic. The camp participants were selected via an open application process from Keda, Khulo and Tsalka municipalities.  The intensive educational program of the Green Camp aimed at raising the awareness of the young generation about environmental protection, sustainable development, science and technology and creating new possibilities for future leaders.  Read more Source: http://enpard.ge

Kakheti. On 24 June 2019, Association Rural Development for Future Georgia (RDFG) organized an opening of the EU-supported youth camp for the members of the RDFG Young Farmers Centers (YFC).  The camp aims to increase knowledge in agriculture field from theory and practice, also, to emphasize the importance of the vocational education as a career choice for youth. Within the three-day youth camp, the members of the Young Farmers Centers (YFC) will have an opportunity to attend the training sessions about veterinary, viniculture, bee-keeping and fruit-vegetables processing, as well as receive information about the benefits of the vocational education. The event is hosted by the Vocational College AISI located in Kachreti, Kakheti.  Read more Source: http://enpard.ge