Public Defender of Georgia Ucha Nanuashvili sent a letter to the Independent Expert of the UN on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, Ms. Rosa Kornfeld-Matte, inviting her to visit Georgia for examining individual as well as broader, systemic violations of rights of older persons, evaluating them from legal perspective and identifying meaningful response mechanisms.

The letter highlights the unfavorable environment for older persons in the country, including low income and high risk of poverty, limited access to healthcare, age discrimination, buildings and transportation not adapted to meet the specific needs of older people, and inefficient social programs. The letter also provides a number of problems identified by the Office of the Public Defender following the monitoring of facilities that provide services for the elderly, including improper treatment of beneficiaries, documentation errors, poorly qualified personnel, lack of personnel, adaptability issues and more.

Country visits of the Independent Experts are an important instrument for assessing human rights situation in general and/or a specific institutional, legal, judicial or administrative situation in the country within the mandate of Special Procedures. During a country visit, meetings with government, NGO and civil society representatives, as well as with victims of human rights violations, members of UN country offices, academia and diplomatic corps and media representatives are held to help the independent expert prepare recommendations that will be published as a report. In the discharge of their Special Procedures mandate, independent experts hold press conferences and publish preliminary findings as their country visits come to a close.

The Office of the Public Defender hopes that successful cooperation with the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons and her visit to Georgia will improve the human rights situation for older persons who are under the state’s care, in order to create dignified living conditions for the elderly in the country.