On January 11-12, 2023, acting Public Defender of Georgia Tamar Gvaramadze took part in the International Conference on the Future of Human Rights in the 21st Century held in Ankara, the capital of the Republic of Turkey.

Various challenges relating to the protection of human rights and the role of ombudsman institutions in solving the challenges were discussed at the conference. Other topics of discussion were human rights in the context of war, conflict, migration and pandemic, as well as the impact of digitalization on human rights.

Tamar Gvaramadze spoke about the protection of the rights of older persons during the pandemic and shared the experience of the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia with the conference participants. She noted that the broad mandate gives the Public Defender of Georgia the authority to protect and promote the rights of older persons from various perspectives.

The acting Public Defender also spoke about the growing barriers that threaten the dignity and safety of older persons, putting them at greater risks of poverty, discrimination and social isolation. It should be emphasized that the pandemic has further increased the social exclusion of older persons and clearly demonstrated the problems of their access to digital technologies.

The conference participants were also briefed on the recommendations of the Public Defender’s Office relating to the protection of the rights of older persons.

At the end of her speech, the acting Public Defender of Georgia thanked the Turkish Ombudsman for the high-level organization of the conference and warm hosting.

The conference was dedicated to the 10^th anniversary of the Ombudsman Institutionof Turkey and was held with the support of the EU project "Technical Assistance for Empowerment ofthe RoleofOmbudsmanin theProtectionand Promotion ofHuman Rights".