Situation of Children's Rights in Georgia
Highlights of positive developments undertaken by Georgian state in 2014 for improving children’s well-being include the following: Parliamentary Committee for Human Rights Protection and Civil Integration declared the year 2014 as the year of protection of the rights of the child1; the Parliament adopted a concept and an action plan on the Declaration of 2014 as the Year of Protection of the Rights of the Child with the goal to develop
specific laws and policies for full protection of the rights of the child; the Government of Georgia presented the fourth report on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child; Georgia joined the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse2; the Government of Georgia approved the Governmental Human Rights Action Plan for the years 2014-2015, which includes the protection of the rights of the child as a separate chapter. Its implementation will facilitate the improvement of the protection of the rights of the child.
The Child’s Rights Centre of the Public Defender’s Office prepared and issued 9 recommendations and proposals to various agencies based on the information received as a result of evaluation of the situation regarding the rights of the child. Further, proceedings started regarding 419 cases of rights violations. Analysis of these cases has shown, that based on quantitative indicators, the rights to education, protection from violence and other types of inappropriate treatment against children, right of protection from poverty and inadequate living conditions, rights to preschool education and healthcare are not fully realized. Prevalence of death among children below 5 years is high; deinstitutionalization is still a challenge and so is the introduction of state services targeted at the needs of children living and working in the street.
Child’s Rights Centre of the Public Defender’s Office regularly monitored the situation regarding the protection of the rights of the child during the reporting period. Preschool education institutions, juvenile penitentiary institutions, as well as small family type homes have been monitored. Quality of the protection of the rights of the child has been assessed in the highland regions of Georgia, in public schools, in boarding schools, in the day care centres functioning within the scopes of the sub-programme of Providing Shelter for Homeless Children, in 24-hour shelters for crisis intervention and transitional centres, in children’s healthcare institutions. Through the support from the UNICEF, the Centre developed a strategy for the years 2014-2017.
