On November 12-14, 2019, Deputy Public Defender Ekaterine Skhiladze, together with the Georgian delegation, attended the International Conference on Population and Development, the main goal of which was to improve sexual and reproductive health worldwide.

World leaders, representatives of civil society and private sector gathered in Kenya and reaffirmed their commitment to take actions to end violence against women and girls, unsatisfaied demand for contraception and maternal mortality by 2030.

In her address, the Deputy Public Defender emphasized the importance and role of the Nairobi summit in promoting well-being and health. “Today we have come together to eliminate gender-based violence and maternal mortality and to develop family planning services in just 10 years. For some, this may sound like an impossible mission, but if we unite our efforts, nothing will be unattainable,” she said.

Ekaterine Skhiladze also spoke about the commitments undertaken by the Public Defender as a national human rights institution. “The Public Defender is commited to effectively monitoring sexual and reproductive health and rights and advocating appropriate recommendations, as well as to refining the monitoring of gender-based violence, femicide, genital mutilation and early marriage and to contributing to the prevention of violence against women and girls. We are also committed to promoting the development of friendly services for the youth and raising public awareness.

It should be noted that the Georgian delegation included: Zaza Bokhua, Deputy Minister of IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs; Natalia Jaliashvili, Head of the Government’s Human Rights Secretariat; Paata Shavishvili, Deputy Executive Director of the National Statistics Office; SabineMachl, UN Resident Coordinator in Georgia; Lela Bakradze, Head of the UNFPA Office in Georgia; Giorgi Kipiani, Technical Director of the Locomotive football club; Giorgi Kekelidze, writer and Director of the National Library of Georgia; Alexandre Lortkipanidze, writer and TV presenter; representatives of non-governmental organizations and activists.