October 10 marks the World Homeless Day, the purpose of which is to draw attention to the challenges of a particularly vulnerable group of society, the homeless.

All human beings have the right to safe, peaceful and decent living conditions. The Public Defender of Georgia has been paying special attention to the supervision of the realization of this right for years.

In Georgia, we have many challenges and problems related to the rights situation of homeless people. To date, there is no full legal definition of a homeless person or the necessary framework legislation for the realization of the right to adequate housing, a governmental strategy for homeless persons or a corresponding action plan. The municipal criteria for a homeless person are inconsistent with international standards of the right to adequate housing. Measures taken by local authorities to respond to the needs of homeless people are inadequate and disproportionate to the scale of the challenges. Funds mobilized in the municipal budgets, which, in most cases, cover only apartment rents, are insufficient and cannot fully cover the groups of homeless people, and some municipalities do not have such targeted programmes at all. The absence of central and local databases leads to the exclusion of these persons from universal social programmes, the lack of an accurate picture of the vulnerable group and the impossibility to plan measures adapted to the challenges.

In connection with this day, the Public Defender of Georgia will present a special report to the public, which is based on the results of the monitoring conducted in the social housing for homeless people in 6 cities[1] across the country. As a result of the monitoring, a particularly grave situation was revealed[2] in Gori, Ozurgeti and Kutaisi. Buildings unsuitable for living, malfunction of sewage and drainage systems, polluted air in the building and lack of proper ventilation, constant noise and lack of private environment are an incomplete list of the problems identified as a result of the monitoring.

The Public Defender expresses hope that the central and local authorities will start working on gradual, irreversible and final elimination of all forms of homelessness in the country and make the above a priority on the agenda of social rights.

[1] Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi, Zugdidi, Gori and Rustavi.

[2] Available at: https://bit.ly/3SZsJEF (last viewed: 07.10.2022).