On May 2, 2018, the Public Defender of Georgia held a meeting with representatives of the private sector, state agencies, local and international non-governmental organizations, and discussed the situation of the realization of the right to equality in the field of employment, related challenges and solutions.

Public Defender Nino Lomjaria delivered a welcome speech at the event and noted that women and persons with disabilities remain among the most vulnerable groups. It is also interesting that 35% of the applications concerning alleged discrimination, filed with the Public Defender’s Office, are related to the private sector. Nino Lomjaria emphasized two main problems: sexual harassment, which is quite a widespread form of discrimination but remains unreported in many cases. Pregnant women remain the most vulnerable group among the victims of gender discrimination. Realization of the right to work is related to a number of challenges for persons with disabilities. Apart from the challenges related to access to public transport and public spaces, provision of appropriate conditions in the workplace and promotion of the employment of persons with disabilities still remain problematic.

A welcome speech was also delivered by Dorota Dlouchy –Suliga, Head of Political, Press and Information Section of the EU Delegation to Georgia. Keti Shubashvili, Head of the Department of Equality of the Public Defender's Office, and Lia Tabatadze, Head of the social enterprise Babale, talked about the challenges in realizing the right to equality in the field of employment. UN Women Representative Erica Kvapilova, Michael Cougly, a representative the US Chamber of Commerce, and Nino Bartaia, a representative of the Adjara Group, spoke about the role of the private sector in the process of achieving equality, current situation and successful practices.

Discussion was held at the end of the meeting about the essential role and participation of the private sector in the protection of the right to equality, especially in the decision-making process in terms of eliminating discrimination in the field of employment in Georgia.

The event was organized with the support of the EU project – “Fight against All Forms of Discrimination in Georgia”.