Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday delivered a speech titled "Working Together to Meet the Challenges of Our Times and Build a Better Future" at the 17th summit of the Group of 20 (G20) in Bali, Indonesia.

Experts and observers spoke highly of Xi's speech, saying it's timely and very important for global development.

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The EU-funded ENPARD programme, with a total budget of €234.5 million, has summed up its 10-year work in Georgia. 

Since 2013, the programme has assisted in aligning the country’s institutional, legal and administrative systems with EU standards and introduced European models of rural development.

The final conference in Tbilisi highlighted the following successes of ENPARD’s third phase:  

• More than 2,600 jobs were created or retained in key areas of the programme, two-thirds of which (1,700) were held by women;
• Almost 7,000 men and women in rural areas acquired new skills for employment through vocational education;
• The Local Action Groups (LAGs) established under ENPARD III have equal numbers of male and female board members, helping to ensure that strategic decisions about local development are made jointly by women and men.

“Rural development is an important cooperation area between the European Union and Georgia. Sustainable, inclusive and green rural economies push people out of poverty, create employment and set out a pathway to sustainable growth benefitting people and the environment,”  said Pawel Herczynski, Ambassador of the European Union in Georgia.

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Press release

Strasbourg, 16.11.2022 – Concerns persist regarding the human rights situation in the areas affected by the armed conflict between the Russian Federation and Georgia in August 2008, according to a report by Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić presented to the Committee of Ministers and published today. 

The bi-annual report (covering the period April-October 2022) on the conflict in Georgia highlighted that core issues concerning the human rights and humanitarian situation in the conflict-affected areas continue to see little progress, with restrictions on freedom of movement, including through the illegal so-called “borderisation” process, and access to education and health care remaining of serious concern, including with regard to their impact on vulnerable groups.

Against this background, the Secretary General welcomed the continuous efforts and initiatives undertaken by the Georgian government aimed at promoting dialogue and reconciliation, and their provision of access to health care, education, and social benefits to residents of the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia. 

The report also noted the work of the Council of Europe to facilitate confidence-building measures which aim to build bridges between population groups and enhance human rights protection in regions affected by conflict.

During the reporting period, the Committee of Ministers started examining the execution of the European Court judgment on the inter-state case “Georgia v. Russia (II)” delivered in January 2021 concerning the armed conflict between Georgia and the Russian Federation in 2008 and its consequences. The Committee reaffirmed the Russian Federation’s unequivocal obligation to implement all the measures to execute the judgment notwithstanding its cessation of membership to the Council of Europe.

Background note for Editors
Consolidated reports on the conflict in Georgia have been prepared by the Secretary General since 2010, following a Committee of Ministers decision. The current report is based, inter alia, on the results of the fact-finding visit to Tbilisi on 19 - 21 September 2022.

On the International Day for Tolerance marked today, the Council of Europe Office in Georgia and its partner organisations have hosted the official kick-off event of the Equality Week - 2022. Every year, under the initiative students, activists, NGOs, and representatives of the public sector take part in series of events aimed to encourage public discussion around the importance of diversity and equality in Georgia. This year, the Equality Week is held on 15-22 November under the slogan of “Georgia is Us.”

“Georgia has made significant progress towards improving legislation to address discrimination and, as latest surveys show, society too, has become more aware of importance of protection of the rights of minority groups. We hope that the governmental agencies and civil society will be successful in addressing equality challenges. We trust that synergies in efforts to improve the country’s legislation and policy as well as practice in the areas of human rights, democracy and rule of law will bring Georgia closer to European standards, set by Council of Europe bodies, “said Stefen Sirbu, the Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia in his opening remarks to celebrate the launch of the Equality Week in Georgia.

Nino Tsilosani - Member of the Parliament, Chairperson of the Permanent, Parliamentary Gender Equality Council; Alexander Darakhvelidze, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs and Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Georgia, H.E Maaike van Koldam; Ambassador of Estonia H. E. Riina Kaljurand; Gela Geladze – Head of the Office of Resource Officers of Educational Institutions, a representative of the Office of Prosecutor General, Salome Shengelia and  Vano Chkhikvadze - Equality Coalition addressed the public with their opening remarks.

Achiko Guledani, founder of Tbilisi Open Air / AlterVision festival talked about its role  in raising public awareness of equality.

Samira Bairamova, an activist; Luiza Mutoshvili, a teacher; Lusine Dostibegian, a ranger and Aleksandre Kavtaradze, an activist described the perspective of ethnic minority representatives in Georgian society in a discussion moderated by Ketevan Shubashvili, Head of the Equality Department, Public Defender’s Office and Davit Gorgiladze, TV presenter.

„I expect to hear inspiring stories today as each participant of the discussion has made valuable contribution to the field they serve. Their dedicated work has led to significant shifts in public attitudes and raised awareness on the rights of minorities, women and children,” says David Gorgiladze.

Video highlights from these talks can be found at the Council of Europe Office in Georgia Facebook page.

The events are organised in Tbilisi and the regions of Georgia in cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Prosecutor’s Office, Public Defender’s Office, Office of Resource Officers of Educational Institutions, the Training Centre of Justice, Equality Ambassadors, and civic activists.

Below some key events from the Equality Week:

1. Training of the community officers on legal issues of fighting against discrimination organised together with the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA)
2. Working meeting on hate crime data reporting organised together with MIA, Prosecutor’s Office, Supreme Court of Georgia, GeoStat and the Council of Europe
3. Round table on strengthening equality in public service organised together with the Training Center of Justice
4. Human Rights School for Children
5. Informational meetings with students, teachers and school principals and municipality employees
6. The Game on equality ‘What, Where, When’ organised together with the Office of Resource Officers for Educational Institutions
7. Presentation of the reports on the social issues and the rights of the Elderly organised together with the member organizations of the Coalition for Equality
8. Training for journalists on discrimination and standards of its coverage organised together with the Rule of Law Center
9. To promote equality, diversity and redress mechanisms, during the Equality Week the shops representing the Retail Association will display the visibility items supporting equality. The visibility items will be available free of charge i at the entrance of the shops.

More information about the upcoming activities can be found on the Council of Europe Office in Georgia and I Choose Equality campaign Facebook pages.

Equality Week is implemented in 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 through the Council of Europe Action Plan for Georgia 2020-2023.