On April 15, 2024, the Consultative Council of the Public Defender of Georgia for Monitoring the Promotion, Protection and Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities held its 35^th session.

At the opening of the session, Deputy Public Defender Irine Chikhladze introduced the agenda of the session to the attendees and emphasized the importance of the Council's activities.

Irine Oboladze, Head of the Department of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, spoke about the measures carried out within the framework of the monitoring of the promotion, protection and implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and future plans.

The accessibility of revenue service platforms, the possibility of organizing consultations regarding the creation of a registry by the Ministry of Justice for the purpose of identification of representatives of persons with disabilities (non-governmental organizations) in the process of implementation of the Convention, and the possibility and importance of evaluating the provisions of the Interagency Coordination Committee for the Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities were discussed at the meeting. The state of data collection and data processing in public agencies was also assessed.

In addition, part of persons with disabilities expressed their position regarding the non-transparency of the process of submitting a candidate to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The draft law of Georgia "On the welfare of domestic animals" and the state of existing and newly constructed buildings after the approval of the National Accessibility Standards were also discussed.

At the end of the meeting, a discussion was held with the participation of representatives of the Public Defender, members of the Consultative Council, experts working on the issue, and representatives of the community of persons with disabilities, during which various issues were raised.

The meeting of the Consultative Council of the Public Defender was held within the framework of the EU-funded project "Support to the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia".