Special report of the Public Defender of Georgia reflects results of the monitoring of the State Care Institutions for Persons with Disabilities.

The monitoring was conducted within the scope of activities of the National Preventive Mechanism and the mechanism for the monitoring of implementation of UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – the two significant mandates granted to the Public Defender’s Office under internationally recognized obligations.

The monitoring group inspected the level of protection of human rights of PWD beneficiaries placed in five state residential institutions: Tbilisi Infants’ House, Kojori Boarding House for Children with Disabilities, Dzevri Boarding House for Persons with Disabilities, Dusheti Boarding House for Persons with Disabilities, Martkopi Boarding House for Persons with Disabilities and their compliance with the standards established by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, other international documents and national legislation.

The monitoring revealed, that institutional arrangement of the daily specialized institutions for persons with disabilities, non-adapted infrastructure, lack of professional and support staff, lack of psycho-social services and relevant professional personnel and their low qualification, lack of contact with the outside world and families (including children), social passivity and isolation from the society, as well as shortcomings related to the administration of the institutions and challenges related to the providence of the sufficient medical service, makes it impossible to deliver individual needs-based services to persons with disabilities, which leads to blatant violation of the beneficiaries’ rights, including discriminatory treatment, and sometimes violation of the persons with disabilities right to life. In addition, care for beneficiaries’ safety and security, for their emotional, physiological well being and mental health, also the level of knowledge of the service providers on the violence-related legal regulations and standards is extremely low; Beneficiaries are not aware of their own rights. The administration of the institutions does not consider the abovementioned issues as an important standard for care.

In connection with the problems identified as a result of the monitoring, the Public Defender developed recommendations for the state agencies, daily specialized institutions for persons with disabilities and administrations of orphanages.