On December 9, 2021, Public Defender Nino Lomjaria took part in the event on Reducing Inequalities, Advancing Human Rights at Local Level in Georgia, which was held on the occasion of the International Human Rights Day.

The event was held within the framework of the Council of Europe project "Strengthening Participatory Democracy and Human Rights at Local Level in Georgia", with the financial support of the Government of Austria.

The aim of the event was to demonstrate the importance of a human rights-based approach and multilevel governance for the development of sustainable and inclusive policies, especially during the post-Covid-19 period, as well as to focus on the steps that are important to be taken at local level in response to human rights challenges.

Speaking at the event, the Public Defender of Georgia focused on several issues. In particular, she spoke about the special importance of local self-government bodies in the process of achieving gender equality, emphasized the need to develop an equal and non-discriminatory policy, and noted that the Public Defender's Office was actively cooperating with gender advisors and gender councils to raise their awareness. In particular, in 2021, 30 information meetings were held on the importance of gender mainstreaming in all regions. She also briefly overviewed the 2021 Report on Women and Mobility, which identifies gender aspects of transport policy. (For example, 38.4% of low-income women rarely or never leave home; mobility of women for education is extremely low in all regions; more than half of women over the age of 60 do not leave home at all. The report includes recommendations to help identify women's mobility needs.)

The Public Defender also spoke about the alleged discriminatory nature of health care and social programmes, as they often exclude substantially equal groups with similar needs from the circle of beneficiaries, especially on the grounds of gender, type of disability, age, citizenship, marital status, etc.

The Public Defender focused on the harmful practice of discriminatory statements, especially based on gender, made by representatives of the representative and executive authorities. She called on the municipalities to ensure equal participation of citizens in the implementation of local self-governance, and to make greater efforts to integrate minorities and vulnerable groups.

At the end of her speech, the Public Defender of Georgia noted that the Public Defender’s Office will continue to cooperate with municipalities and is always ready to share its institutional experience in the protection of human rights.

Speeches were also delivered by Andreas Kiefer, Secretary General of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, and Kakha Kaladze, Mayor of Tbilisi and President of the National Association of Local Authoritiesof Georgia.

Deputy Public Defender Ekaterine Skhiladze spoke about reducing human rights inequalities during and after the Covid-19 pandemic, and the role and importance of local authorities in this process. She emphasized the involvement of the Public Defender's Office in strengthening local authorities, including by identifying problems and developing recommendations for their elimination, holding systematic information meetings with representatives of local self-government bodies, as well as with local population in order to identify challenges and other issues.

The event was attended by representatives of the executive and legislative branches, local self-governments, Public Defender's Office and non-governmental sector.