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The United Nations and the Government of Sweden unveil research on human rights, legal protection and public attitudes toward the LGBTQI community in Georgia

TBILISI. 6 May 2022 – The LGBTQI people remain one of the least protected and most marginalized social groups in Georgia. They face discrimination and violence, while the protection and realization of their rights remain a challenge. Yet, recent research reveals that negative public attitudes toward the LGBTQI community have been decreasing in the last five years.

A series of studies were conducted by Georgia’s Public Defender’s Office and the non-governmental organization ‘Women’s Initiatives Support Group’ (WISG) with assistance from the Government of Sweden and the United Nations through its three agencies – UN Women, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The research reviews international standards in protecting LGBTQI rights and Georgia’s commitments in this area. It analyses the legal environment and widespread practices and examines public attitudes toward LGBTQI people in Georgia. The research also includes recommendations for specific state agencies.

The research findings point out positive changes in public attitudes in the last five years. Since 2016, the number of respondents who think that the LGBTQI community is interested in propaganda, and not in achieving equality, has decreased by 20.6 percent (55.9 percent in 2021 compared to almost 78 percent in 2016). The number of people with an extremely negative attitude toward the LGBTQI community and its human rights defenders dropped by around 20 percent and now hovers around 56 percent.

However, the research also captures the negative perception of the LGBTQI community in Georgia’s society. 48.2 percent of the respondents believe that LGBTQI people are fighting for privileges. 39.5 percent are convinced that the rights of the LGBTQI community are fully protected. At the same time, 38.6 percent note inadequate state response to the acts of violence and discrimination faced by the LGBTQI people.

The research was conducted under the UN Joint Programme for Gender Equality, a Sweden-funded initiative implemented by UN Women, UNDP and UNFPA. Its reports are available on the UNDP website

An agreement on future partnership cooperation was signed between Kutaisi and Xi'an. The signing ceremony took place online and was attended by the Mayor of Kutaisi City Municipality Ioseb Khakhaleishvili, Ambassador of Georgia to the People's Republic of China H.E. Mr. Archil Kalandia and the Mayor of Xi'an City Mr. Li Mingyuan. The parties agreed to develop friendship, partnership and cooperation in the fields of culture, education, healthcare and economy in the future.

,,Today a partnership was signed between Kutaisi and Xi'an. Our relationship with the city of Xi'an is important, because like Kutaisi, Xi'an is the oldest city of China, where the antiquities of Chinese culture and history are gathered. Also the history of these two cities and modern interests are intertwined. I would like to thank you to the Ambassador of Georgia to the People’s Republic of China H.E. Mr. Archil Kalandia, for his efforts in establishing friendly relations between Kutaisi and Xi'an. I believe that this friendship will be successful for both cities! ” - Said Ioseb Khakhaleishvili.

Organizations from all over the world gathered at the “International Conference on the Restoration of Peace in Ukraine” hosted by international peace NGO, HWPL and Business Woman Magazine

As Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues for more than 50 days, the international community is seeking and proposing ways to end the war from various angles.

At 11am (GMT+0) On April 21, 2022, Ukraine branch of Heavenly Culture World Peace Restoration of Light (HWPL) and Business Woman Magazine co-hosted <International Conference on the Restoration of Peace in Ukraine> online in attendance with around 500 participants in 15 countries. The conference was held to share the results of humanitarian aid and call for collaborative efforts by the international community to restore peace in Ukraine.

HWPL is a Korea-based international peace NGO associated with the UN ECOSOC and the UN DGC. Since 2013, HWPL has carried out various peace activities for global peace and cessation of war. As a representative example, HWPL announced the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW) in 2016 to enact international law for peace and received 'DPCW support signatures' from 176 countries worldwide.

The Business Woman Magazine, the co-host of the event, was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Ukraine, with 30 overseas branches in 30 countries. The magazine introduces business cases of women entrepreneurs worldwide and is certified as the only Ukrainian international magazine by the European Parliament and the European Commission.

At the conference, leaders from all walks of life in Ukraine in a state of war, professors, and journalists cooperating with HWPL, made presentations accusing the inhumane realities of the current war. It included Maryna Popatenko, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine who gave a speech on the topic of “The current situation in Ukraine and requests for international community support,” and Hanna Krysiuk, founder of the international magazine "Business Woman", Professor Rommel Santos Diaz, and journalist Igor Shevyrov.

HWPL introduced the ongoing refugee assistance projects of its partner organizations, International assistance headquarters for Ukrainians, NGO “Poruch”, Charitable Foundation “SWAN”, Women's Union of Ukraine, and encouraged attendees to raise funds for humanitarian aid.

Prof. Rommel Santos Diaz, President of the Dominican Federalist Foundation and Professor of international law at the Universidad INCE said, "HWPL has discovered the document that best complements the charter of the United Nations. Also with the charter of the Organization of American States (OAS), and the OAS’s Statute of International Court is the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW)" and he announced the value of DPCW as "A transcendental document that, at this time, would exert a very positive influence as a foundation for the search for solutions in Ukraine."

“I would like to emphasize that there are now about 8 million young people left in Ukraine, of whom 2 million have become internally displaced, many are in hostilities, many have lost their homes, many have lost their jobs, businesses and forced to suspend their studies. They all need special attention and support.,” said Maryna Popatenko who is Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine.

“Right after the outbreak of the war, HWPL condemned Russia’s invasion, which resulted in countless civilian casualties, and urged it to uphold the principles of international law through an official statement,” said Maria Zakharchenko, coordinator of HWPL’s Ukraine branch. She added, “Through this event, HWPL shared humanitarian support and campaign activities to restore peace in Ukraine and will continue to carry out peace activities with the spirit of DPCW. We expect more attention and aid from the international community to support the Ukrainian people.

HWPL emphasized the need for international support for Ukrainian citizens as the war became protracted. HWPL has created an introduction page for fundraising information for partner organizations, which can be found at https://www.facebook.com/ngo.HWPL.cis/.

Meanwhile, HWPL Ukraine branch sent groceries such as macaroni to help the students of HWPL Peace Education suffering from food shortages from April 1st. -The goods were provided by the raising funds from HWPL members in other countries. As a result, about 300 people -including faculty and staff- of the schools located in Kherson and Donetsk Provinces received the relief supplies.

TAIYUAN, May 5 (Xinhua) -- China on Thursday launched a Long March-2D rocket to place a group of eight satellites in space.

Satellite Jilin-1 Kuanfu 01C, together with seven Jilin-1 Gaofen 03D satellites, was lifted at 10:38 a.m. (Beijing Time) from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in the northern province of Shanxi and soon entered the preset orbit.

With its wide coverage, Jilin-1 Kuanfu 01C can provide images with a width of more than 150 km, a panchromatic resolution of 0.5 meters and a multi-spectral resolution of 2 meters. The satellite also boasts super-large storage and high-speed data transmission.

It will be used to provide commercial remote sensing data services for sectors such as land resource, mineral exploration and smart city construction.

Developed by Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co., Ltd., the eight new satellites will work with 46 previously launched satellites of the Jilin-1 family to form a constellation, providing remote sensing data and services in fields like agriculture, forestry and environmental protection.

This was the 419th flight mission of the Long March rocket series. 

Irakli Garibashvili, Prime Minister of Georgia participated ibn a High-Level International Donors Conference for Ukraine within the scope of his visit to the Republic of Poland along with numerous other leaders of participating nations.

The Head of Government of Georgia arrived at the national stadium of Warsaw, which was a designated venue of the high-level conference. He was greeted by Mateusz Morawiecki, Prime Minister of Poland and Magdalena Andersson, Prime Minister of Sweden. The High-Level International Donors Conference is co-hosted by the Prime Ministers of Poland and Sweden, in partnership with the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission. Participants of the conference reviewed the consequences of the war waged in Ukraine and discussed the solutions to the humanitarian and economic crisis.

Mateusz Morawiecki, Prime Minister of Poland addressed the audience along with Magdalena Andersson, Prime Minister of Sweden; Charles Michel, President of the European Council and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. Participants of the conference also listened to the video address of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine.

Prime Minsiter of Sweden, Spain, Ukraine, Lithunia, Latvia, Albania, Croatia, Iceland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Norway were among the participants of the high-level conference.

The Head of Government of Georgia addressed the participating leaders of states at a Pledging Session of the conference.

International Financial Institutions (IFIs), World Health Organization (WHO) and UN system institutions were engaged in the session along with various leaders of the world.

Georgian attendees of the High-Level International Donors Conference included Ilia Darchiashvili, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia and H.E. Zurab Beridze, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the Republic of Poland.

 Press Service of the Government Administration

The European Commission today announced a new aid package of €200 million to support displaced people in Ukraine, in the context of the International Donors’ Conference convened jointly by Poland and Sweden.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: “Today we came together with a clear purpose: to support the brave people of Ukraine, who fight the aggressor and stand up for their freedom. We are now in the 10th week of Russia’s brutal invasion. Ten weeks during which the European Union stood firmly by Ukraine. Today, the European Union answered the call, once more, to support Ukraine. On behalf of the European Commission, I pledged €200 million for Ukraine. And last month, during a pledging event, we raised €9.1 billion for Ukrainians inside and outside Ukraine. We know that more will be needed. And we will continue to stand up for Ukraine.”

Close to 8 million people, two-third of whom are children, have been internally displaced since the beginning of Putin’s war in Ukraine. More than 5.3 million have left Ukraine to seek shelter in the EU and neighbouring countries.

The European Union has been supporting the Ukrainian people from the very beginning of  Russia’s brutal invasion, mobilising the EU’s economic power, with series of sanctions designed to drain the resources used by Putin to finance his war. 

On the other hand, the EU has already channelled around €4 billion in macro-financial assistance, humanitarian aid and support to Member States welcoming refugees from Ukraine.

Now, the European Commission stands ready to help rebuild the country after the war. Yesterday, President von der Leyen proposed to start working on an ambitious recovery package. It should bring the massive investment needed to rebuild, implement reforms and make Ukraine an attractive place for investments.

Source: EU NEIGHBOURS east