On May 16-18, 2018, Public Defender Nino Lomjaria held meetings with representatives of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), National Democratic Institute (NDI) and Freedom House, as well as the US Department of State.

At the meetings, Nino Lomjaria talked about the mandate, functions and activities of the Public Defender of Georgia, the challenges in the field of protection of human rights, including the right to freedom of speech and expression and the right to assemblies and demonstrations, as well as the reforms carried out by the Government of Georgia in this direction. She evaluated the performance of the law enforcement agencies and talked about the problems and difficulties of the vulnerable groups relating to their involvement in public and political life (language barrier, accessibility issues relating to persons with disabilities, low representation of ethnic minorities in the elected bodies). Another subject of discussion was the rights of women and children.

Within the framework of the visit, the Public Defender participated in the meeting of the Georgia-US Strategic Partnership Commission Working Group on Democracy, where she spoke about the freedom of the media and the freedom of speech and expression in Georgia, as well as the challenges facing the judiciary of Georgia. The Public Defender emphasized the need for timely carrying out reforms in this direction. She also spoke about the role and activities of the Public Defender, as a constitutional mandate-holder supervisory body.