Access to justice and human rights by strengthening the regional office of the Public Defender in Zugdidi

The pilot project for strengthening the Public Defender’s Zugdidi Office was concluded in December 2013. The project aimed to increase access to justice and to protect human rights in the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region.

5 contact persons and a human rights officer were selected within the project, which regularly held information field meetings with regard to the ombudsman's mandate in various administrative and territorial units of the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region with about 900 local residents (520 women and 390 men), including 340 refugees. As a result, 45 persons applied to the Public Defender with regard to alleged violations of rights, which is a significantly higher number than that of the applications submitted to the Zugdidi office in the previous years. The majority of applications concerned social allowances (21 applications), IDPs’ living conditions and privatization of the property (21 applications), child's rights (3 applications) and abuse of power by law enforcement officers (7 applications).

10 different types of information brochures (a total of 20 000 copies) and posters about the Public Defender's mandate (1000 copies) were published and distributed to the local population in order to raise awareness on human rights.

Two-day training was also held for local journalists, students and female leaders on the following themes: Hate speech, freedom of expression, freedom of religion and gender equality. A total of 90 persons participated in the training.

During the project the Public Defender's Zugdidi Office also facilitated a monthly coordination meeting of local human rights NGOs, which discussed the challenges in the region and their possible solutions.

The project was carried out in March-December 2013 by the support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) project "Human Security and Social Integration".