On September 23, 2020, the Public Defender’s Office, in cooperation with the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI), organized an online webinar on the theme: "On-site Monitoring of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities during COVID-19 Pandemic”.

The main objective of the event was to identify and exchange information about the best practices of conducting monitoring visits to the facilities of persons with disabilities, who represent one of the most vulnerable groups in the context of the pandemic. The online meeting was an opportunity for representatives of national institutions responsible for monitoring the rights of persons with disabilities to receive information about guidelines on conducting monitoring visits during the pandemic from the representatives of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and European Disability Forum.

Since the start of the pandemic, international human rights organizations have repeatedly stressed the importance of monitoring the rights of persons with disabilities during emergency. On-site monitoring of the institutions for persons with disabilities has become one of the major challenges for many European countries due to a number of restrictions imposed during the pandemic.

"Institutions for persons with disabilities should be monitored during the pandemic, including quarantine, and relevant institutions should not be seen as visitors but as monitors, whose activities are necessary to protect the rights of persons with disabilities," said Mykola Gnatovskyy,President of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture.

Representatives of the national human rights institutions of the Czech Republic, Belgium and Georgia spoke about the challenges related to the monitoring of the rights of persons with disabilities at the local level and their best practices.

The event was moderated by the Deputy Public Defender of Georgia, Ekaterine Skhiladze.