Project Title: Support to the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia

Source of finance:European Union

Project status:ongoing

Project starting date:1/04/2023

Project goal: To strengthen the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia in effectively promoting and protecting human rights through enhanced monitoring, capacity building, and collaboration with national and international stakeholders

The overall objective of the project is to contribute to developing a more inclusive and just society in Georgia, which can be observed through the improved ratings in human rights indexes as well as the increased awareness on human rights issues. Accordingly, project’s specific objective is to further improve human rights promotion and protection in

Georgia through continued support to Public Defender’s Office (PDO) to implement and monitor effectively human rights policies and actions, and to enhance human rights awareness of duty bearers and rights holders. In line with this overall framework, seven outputs have been identified to support the various functions of the PDO; therefore, it is important to understand the current state of play in PDO’s each function to effectively implement and monitor human rights actions and enhance human rights awareness in Georgia within the scope of this project.

Project activities:

Main Activities (list is not exhaustive and will be substantiated by the Contractor in the inception phase) of the Project:

1. Conduct a training needs analysis for various structural PDO
2. Design and implement training that enhance the theoretical knowledge, practical research skills;
3. Conduct training on the preparation of recommendations to be issued to state and local self-government authorities, public institutions and public officials
4. Increase analytical capacities of PDO by external expertise
5. Conduct trainings for NPM staff and independent experts, as well as members of the staff of the Department on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to enable them to develop and enhance their monitoring, reporting and documentation skills
6. Reinforce PDOs international cooperation including by organizing study visits for PDO staff to Ombudsman institutions in EU countries to facilitate mutual sharing of experiences to strengthen the structure of the PDO and enhance effectiveness and monitoring tools;
7. Support to design and develop a monitoring and complaints handling system related to the rights of vulnerable groups, including: human rights defenders, children, national minorities, older persons, homeless people, IDPs, persons with disabilities, LGBTI persons, prisoners, persons residing in closed institutions, military conscripts and army personnel;
8. Provide any additional support needed to enhance the capacity of the PDO to implement its functions as 1) a national mechanism under the UN CRPD; 2) a monitoring body for the implementation of the Child’s Rights Code; 3) an anti-discrimination body; and as 4) a National Preventive Mechanism. (Based on the training needs analysis and the organizational audit). 5) an applicant before the the Constitutional Court of Georgia;
9. Provide training for PDO staff engaged in field monitoring visits on monitoring techniques, ethics and specificities of different vulnerable groups: persons with disabilities, women, children, migrants;
10. Enhance capacity of regional offices;
11. Support to improved interaction with the Parliament of Georgia and with different Inter- Agency Councils to influence the formulation of policy on human rights and its effective implementation;
12. Support to improve annual parliamentary and thematic special reports in order to produce actionable reporting that leads to the adoption of legislation compatible with international human rights standards;
13. Support to improve cooperation with local self-governing bodies, especially in regions in terms of popularization of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and rising awareness about their rights and role and responsibilities of those bodies in terms of protecting them;
14. Support the cooperation of PDO with civil society;
15. Support PDO’s public outreach activities and enhance strategic communication in order to raise awareness on its roles and functions, including outreach to youth;
16. Support PDO in conducting thematic studies regarding human rights education in different fields, conducting trainings and publishing different materials, including video advertisements in accessible formats;
17. Support PDO in conducting thematic studies on Georgia’s implementation of the Association Agreement and the Association Agenda as well as conditions specified in the Commission’s opinions on Georgia’s membership applications from a human rights perspective;