On November 14-18, 2016, the Human Rights Academy of the Public Defender held training for 17 representatives of City Halls and City Assemblies working on budgetary-financial and social issues. The theme of the training was: “Involvement of people with disabilities and consideration of their needs in the budgetary process”.

The training was aimed at raising awareness of the rights and needs of persons with disabilities. During the course, participants were introduced to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, accessibility according to the UN Convention, national legislative regulations, universal design and international practice in terms of elimination of problems, the Public Defender’s mandate and the Public Defender, as an independent monitoring body of Promotion, Protection and Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The training was led by Irine Oboladze, Head of the Department of protection of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at the Public Defender's Office, and an international expert, Doctor of Social Sciences and manager of the universal design and accessibility project in Norway, Majken Jul Sorensen. At the end of the course, the participants were awarded certificates.

The training was held within the framework of the project “Support to the Human Rights Academy of the Public Defender” funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. One more training is planned to be held within the project this year in order to deepen knowledge, research and analytical skills of target groups in the field of legal and other aspects of human rights.