On November 24, 2020, First Deputy Public Defender of Georgia Tamar Gvaramadze participated in the First Regional Forum: Business and Human Rights in Eastern Europe and Central Asia - Make Human Rights a Business Priority.

The forum was organized by the Istanbul and Bangkok regional offices of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), as well as the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights.

The main purpose of the forum was to share experiences and best practices between international organizations, representatives of governments, businessmen, labour inspectors, national human rights institutions and civil societies, as well as to create a platform for constructive dialogue.

The forum discussed global and regional practices of responsible business and important trends, opportunities and challenges, UN Guiding PrinciplesonBusiness and Human Rights, state commitments relating to business and human rights, including the roles of the national action plan on business and human rights, national human rights institutions and civil society.

First Deputy Public Defender Tamar Gvaramadze spoke about the experience of the Public Defender's Office in relation to business-related human rights violations, reviewed the mandate of the Public Defender and highlighted some important activities carried out by the Office for the purpose of monitoring human rights in the field of business. She also spoke about the good practices of the Office in the direction of business and human rights and briefly reviewed the work of the Office in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.