Today, the International Day for Tolerance, the Council of Europe Office in Georgia and its partner organizations hosted the official launch event of Equality Week – 2022. Every year, under the initiative, students, activists, NGOs and representatives from the public sector participate in a series of events aimed at stimulating public discussion about the importance of diversity and equality in Georgia. This year, Equality Week will take place from November 15th to 22nd under the motto “Georgia is Us”.
“Georgia has made significant progress in improving anti-discrimination legislation and, as recent surveys show, society has also become more aware of the importance of protecting the rights of minority groups. We hope that government authorities and civil society will be successful in tackling equality challenges. We trust that synergies in efforts to improve the country’s legislation and policies, as well as practices in the areas of human rights, democracy and the rule of law, will bring Georgia closer to the European standards set by the Council of Europe bodies,” said Stefen Sirbu , the Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia in his opening speech celebrating the launch of Gender Equality Week in Georgia.
Nino Tsilosani – Member of Parliament, Chair of the Permanent Parliamentary Equality Council; Alexander Darakhvelidze, Deputy Interior Minister and Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Georgia, HE Maaike van Koldam; Ambassador of Estonia HE Riina Kaljurand; Gela Geladze – Head of the Office of Resource Officers of Educational Institutions, a representative of the Attorney General’s Office, Salome Shengelia and Vano Chkhikvadze – Equality Coalition addressed the public with their opening remarks.
Achiko Guledani, founder of Tbilisi Open Air / AlterVision Festival, spoke about his role in raising public awareness of equality.
Samira Bairamova, an activist; Luiza Mutoshvili, a teacher; Lusine Dostibegian, Ranger, and Aleksandre Kavtaradze, Activist, described the perspective of ethnic minority representatives in Georgian society in a discussion moderated by Ketevan Shubashvili, Head of Gender Equality Department, Public Defender’s Office, and Davit Gorgiladze, TV presenter.
“I expect to hear inspiring stories today as each participant in the discussion has made a valuable contribution to the area they serve. Her dedicated work has led to significant changes in public attitudes and raised awareness of the rights of minorities, women and children,‘ says David Gorgiladze.
Video highlights of these talks can be found on the Facebook page of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia.
The events are organized in Tbilisi and regions of Georgia in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior, Prosecutor’s Office, Office of Public Defender, Office of Resource Officers of Educational Institutions, Training Center for Justice, Equality Ambassadors and Civic Activists.
Here are some key events from Equality Week:
- Training for municipal officials on legal issues of combating discrimination organized together with the Ministry of the Interior (MIA).
- Working meeting organized jointly with the MIA, the Prosecutor’s Office, the Supreme Court of Georgia, GeoStat and the Council of Europe on hate crime data reporting
- Round table to strengthen equality in public service organized together with the Judicial Education Center
- Human rights school for children
- Information meetings with students, teachers and school leaders and community employees
- The What Where When Equality Game is organized in conjunction with the Office of Resource Officers for Educational Institutions
- Presentation of the reports on social issues and the rights of older people organized together with the member organizations of the Coalition for Equality
- Training for journalists on discrimination and standards of their reporting organized together with the Center for the Rule of Law
- To promote equality, diversity and redress mechanisms, stores representing the Retail Association will display the visible items that support equality during Equality Week. The visibility articles are available free of charge at the entrance of the shops.
For more information on upcoming activities, visit the Council of Europe Office in Georgia and the I Choose Equality campaign Facebook pages.
Equality Week is carried out within the framework of the I Choose Equality Campaign, which is part of the Council of Europe project “Promoting the effective protection of equality and non-discrimination in Georgia.” The project is funded by the Council of Europe Action Plan for Georgia 2020-2023.
Contact for the press:
Ana Toklikishvili, Council of Europe Office in Georgia, [email protected] Mobile: +995 595 221 999
Tatiana Baeva – Council of Europe (Strasbourg)