The Public Defender has sent a letter of invitation to Ms. Catalina Devandas Aguilar, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The aim of the invitation is to study and assess individual, as well as broader and systemic violations of the rights of persons with disabilities in the country, and to identify effective response mechanisms, which will help to improve protection of the rights of persons with disabilities.

The letter of invitation reviews the problems of persons with disabilities, such as inefficiency of state social programs, inexistence of appropriate accounting system, higher poverty rates among persons with disabilities, poor opportunities for finding a job or a source of income, non-adapted physical environment, limited access to information, health, and education, as well as widespread stereotypical attitudes towards persons with disabilities.

A visit to Georgia will enable the Special Rapporteur to make an overall assessment of the existing human rights situation as well as of specific institutional, legal, judicial and administrative situations. During the visit, she will meet with representatives of the Government, NGOs, civil society, UN teams, academic circle, diplomatic corps, media and victims of human rights violations. In addition, she will develop recommendations, which will be published as public reports.

The Public Defender hopes that if there is successful cooperation with the United Nations Special Rapporteur and if she visits Georgia, the efforts of the Government and other responsible parties will become more effective, which will finally be reflected in the improvement of the human rights situation of persons with disabilities across the country.