On Monday, February 16, at 11.00, at Radisson Blue Iveria Hotel, the Public Defender of Georgia and newly-established “Coalition for Equality” signed a cooperation memorandum on the elimination of discrimination.

As stated in the memorandum, the signatory organizations will combine efforts to support implementation of the Law of Georgia “On the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination”, strengthening of the role of the Public Defender and development of court practice in order to ensure that rights of victims of discrimination are protected.

At the meeting, implementation of the anti-discrimination law, its results and future challenges were discussed. The Public Defender provided the audience with information on results of work of the newly-established Department of Equality of the Public Defender’s Office and its future plans. The Public Defender also presented a legislative proposal that was prepared by the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia and is addressed to the Parliament of Georgia for improvement of the Law on the elimination of all forms of discrimination.

While discussing issues of discrimination based on various characteristics First Deputy Public Defender of Georgia Paata Beltadze stressed their willingness to cooperation with all groups working on discrimination issues. He also noted that if necessity arises a proposal on legislative changes might be sent to the Parliament various times.

Starting from February 16, a hotline will start operation where citizens will be provided with free legal assistance on discrimination-related issues.

“Coalition for Equality” has been established with the support of Open Society Georgia Foundation and it unites five NGOs. The coalition aims at advancing implementation of the anti-discrimination law and monitoring its practical application.

The members of the coalition include: “Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association”, “Human Rights Education and Monitoring Centre”, “Safari”, “Article 42 of the Constitution” and “Identoba”.