On November 19-20, 2023, with the support of the European Union, Public Defender of Georgia Levan Ioseliani held a working meeting with representatives of the Standing Parliamentary Gender Equality Council. The reports and recommendations of the Public Defender developed relating to gender equality issues and the future plans of the Standing Parliamentary Council were discussed at the meeting.

The Head of the Council, Nino Tsilosani, and the Chairman of the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee of the Parliament, Mikheil Sarjveladze, also took part in the meeting.

The meeting participants received information about the Public Defender’s study on the municipalities’ gender equality policies, the challenges in terms of harmful practices of early/childhood marriage and the recommendations developed for their solution, the findings of the femicide monitoring mechanism of the Public Defender’s Office and the analysis of the cases of femicide and attempted femicide.

The participants also discussed the recommendations issued by the Public Defender to the Parliament, including to the Gender Equality Parliamentary Council, and the state of their implementation in the past 3 years.

The meeting was held in the mode of active discussion. The topics discussed included the problems identified in the relevant field and the implementation of the recommendations issued by the Public Defender within the framework of the study.

It is important that the representatives of the Standing Parliamentary Council expressed their willingness to periodically review the reports and recommendations of the Public Defender, which will help them to take appropriate measures.