Administration of Gov’t of Georgia presents updated structure of Prime Minister's Human Rights Council
By Tsotne Pataraia
Thursday, December 12
Presentation of the updated structure of the Prime Minister's Human Rights Council held at the State Ceremonies Palace on the occasion of International Human Rights Day. The event, which was attended by representatives of the Georgian government, Parliament, civil society and international organizations, was opened by the head of the government administration.
Natia Mezvrishvili emphasized the lack of coordination between the ministries on steps to be taken in the field of human rights, noting that the new structure of the council would primarily focus on strengthening coordination:
“The Human Rights Council will be a government-wide policy-making, coordinating mechanism for all agencies, I mean the ministries first. This mechanism provides a high level of representation, which has been a problem for so long. From this point on, the decision-makers, notably the ministers will sit at the table to address important human rights issues. Most importantly, it will be an effective and result-oriented mechanism,” said Mezvrishvili.
According to the head of the government administration, despite the disagreements on many important issues, non-governmental and international organizations will also be involved in the work of the council:
"It is critically important for us these processes to include the parties which try to deal with human rights problems, be it international organizations, civil society, the Public Defender's Office and share their different perspectives on the challenges faced by the government in this direction," noted Mezvrishvili.
Prime Minister's Advisor on Human Rights and Gender Equality Lela Akiashvili was the one who delivered a presentation on the updated structure of the Human Rights Council. She noted that over the course of next year the Human Rights Council will work on four priorities:
"The revamped structure of the Human Rights Council includes four new priorities that the Human Rights Council will work on in 2020: gender equality and women's rights, children's rights, the rights of persons with disabilities and anti-discrimination policy," stated Akiashvili.
The event was also addressed by the EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell. The diplomat focused on Georgia's progress in the field of human rights. In this regard, the ambassador cited the creation of the Office of the State Inspectorate and named the Code for the Protection of Children's Rights as an important step forward in this regard. The Ambassador named the creation of the Office of the State Inspectorate and the Code on the Rights of the Child as significant steps forward in this regard:
“We consider the Human Rights Council as a key tool and platform that brings all the parties together in order to keep the government informed. The EU has always supported Georgia in this regard, including in the implementation of its human rights strategy. We are now looking forward to the implementation of a new human rights strategy through the new council and we are ready to support it as well," said Carl Hartzell.
The participants of the event were also addressed by the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia Cristian Urse, the Head of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Vladimir Shkolnikov and the UNDP Representative.
The meeting was organized by the Government of Georgia with the support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the financial support of the Norwegian and Swedish Governments.
