The Public Defender of Georgia addressed Kvemo Kartli municipalities with a recommendation to ensure access to safe water and sanitation.

The monitoring carried out by the Public Defender’s Office in several schools of Marneuli, Tsalka, Gardabani and Dmanisi municipalities in June 2018 showed that the school environment, infrastructure, access to water and sanitary situation are alarming and need to be urgently improved, which should be seen by the relevant agencies as one of the most important priorities. According to the monitoring:

• Public schools in the villages of Kvemo Kulari and Nagebi, as well as in Trialeti settlement, are not supplied with water safe for drinking or technical use; the water supply system is not functioning at all. The public school of the Imiri village has access to water that is safe only for technical use, while drinking water is fetched by school students and employees from the yards of the local population.
• The situation in the school toilets is anti-sanitary, while the school in the village of Zemo Kulari does not have its own toilet at all. According to the students, they try to go to the toilet only in extreme necessity;
• In some cases, especially in rural schools, children do not have the opportunity to wash hands or drink enough water.

The Public Defender considers that it is necessary to take all available measures to ensure access to water in the mentioned schools, improve the water supply system and school environment, rehabilitate school toilets and ensure their proper functioning, in order to protect the right of school students and staff to water and sanitation.