On May 6, 2015, the Public Defender awarded journalists who won the competition “Conflicts and their effect on human rights”.

The competition was held with the support of the European Union and aimed at encouraging journalists to cover problems of conflict-affected population and to initiate a discussion on ways of peaceful resolution of conflicts.

Topics of the competition were: rights of conflict-affected population, including internally displaced persons; conformity of social projects initiated by the state with needs of conflict-affected population, including those of internally displaced persons; existing situation with regards to access to employment, healthcare and education for population in rural areas adjacent to the dividing line; security and movement-related problems; ways and methods for peaceful resolution of conflicts: dialogue and confidence building between people as a way to resolve the conflict;

The independent panel of judges awarded Mzevinar Khutsishvili, the journalist of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting the first place to for a blog “Permanent guests of a kindergarten”.

The second place was awarded Gogita Aptsiauri, the journalist of Radio Tavisupleba for a radio story – “New Year in Zardiaantkari”;

The third place was awarded Davit Kashiashvili, the journalist of TV Chanel Rustavi 2 for a report that covered the issue of visiting graves on the other side of the Dividing Line.

“Conflicts do not start spontaneously. As a rule, they have a long history, however, peaceful resolution and transformation of conflicts is even longer and more difficult. Various actors are involved in these processes but the role of the media is indeed outstanding. For this reason, I would desire media to be an instrument of peace, tolerance, empathy and democracy. Responsible media not only re-publishes facts but also offers in-depth and detailed analysis of events. Responsibility of the media increases further in conflict and crisis situations.

In a dynamic and accelerated world, often there is no place even for those who need our attention the most. With this competition, we, the Public Defender and the EU Delegation in Georgia wanted to support representatives of media who are not afraid to cover sensitive topics and promote the confidence building between population separated by the conflict, “– said the Public Defender Ucha Nanuashvili at the award ceremony.

Last year, the Public Defender’s Office conducted around 10 human rights monitoring in villages on the dividing line, provided consultations to approximately 500 conflict- affected persons, published 3 special reports on rights of conflict-affected population which were extensively covered in the Parliamentary Report of the Public Defender for 2014. The Public Defender’s Office is also involved in Georgian-Abkhazian and Georgian-Ossetian informal dialogues.