On June 1, 2016, the Public Defender presented a chapter on the rights of the child of the parliamentary report 2015.

At the event, the Public Defender and representatives of the Center for Child’s Rights talked about the rights situation of children in Georgia; discussed the results of the monitoring carried out in the children’s institutions in 2015 and the statistics of child rights violations; briefed the audience of the recommendations submitted by the Public Defender to relevant agencies; talked about violence against children, child poverty, social services, state child care, child's right to education and other important issues.

It was noted that the issue of signing and ratification of the Third Additional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is still on the agenda; the applicable legislation does not reflect the changes aimed at increasing the responsibility of the state to protect children from all kinds of violence; coordination is weak between the state agencies in charge of execution of the order on referral procedures for child protection from violence; protection of children living and working on the street is unresolved.

The Center for Child’s Rights of the Public Defender, together with the Special Preventive Group, monitored 10 small group homes in eastern Georgia, where systemic retraining of caregivers, preparation of beneficiaries for independent living, rehabilitation of child victims of abuse, as well as their psychological and psychiatric assistance, remain problematic.

In case of parents' divorce, child's opinion is not taken into account during execution of the court’s decision on determination of a place of child’s residence; the existing legislation on transportation of children at borders needs improvement; part of subprograms functioning under the State Child Care Program cannot fully cover the needs of children; the social service is still not equipped with sufficient human and technical resources, including vehicles; child poverty and high mortality rate remain acute problems.

The report focuses on the mortality rate of children under the age of 5. The Public Defender has addressed the Government with a proposal to develop a special strategy and an action plan for prevention of infant mortality.

The report reviews the challenges faced by public schools in the mountainous regions, full implementation of inclusive education, continuity of quality education for juvenile inmates and the results of the monitoring carried out in the boarding schools under the Patriarchate of Georgia and the Muslim organization.

Ethical and legal standards of covering child issues in the media are poor.

The Public Defender's visits to the regions show that improvement of children’s severe socio-economic conditions must become a priority for the state; gaps in terms of protection of the rights of children under state care, violations of the right to pre-school education and challenges in implementation of the subprogram on “Providing shelter to mothers and children” deserve particular attention.

At the end of the presentation, a memorandum of cooperation was signed between the Public Defender's Office of Georgia and the UN Children's Fund in Georgia.

See the electronic version of the report