It has been almost a year since the first Human Rights Talks was held online to discuss the human rights challenges created by the pandemic. To mark this date, the Human Rights Talks returned to discuss racism and intolerance challenges in Europe. The online talks welcomed the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) Executive Secretary, Johan Friestedt, who discussed the challenges identified in the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance report 2020. The discussion highlighted four major areas of concern related to racism and intolerance, inequalities deepened by Covid-19, LGBTI backlash, growing religious intolerance and deep-rooted racism in public life.

The Deputy Public Defender, Ekaterine Skhiladze moderated the live talks, where Facebook followers had a possibility to post their questions and receive answers during the online discussion.

The Talks are available online in English.

The Human Rights Talks: Equality Matters was initiated together with the Public Defender’s Office  following the outbreak of COVID-19 in Georgia and has covered a wide range of topics including civil activism, access to education, tackling hate speech and disinformation, role of media in time of crises and discussions with representatives of minority groups and redress mechanisms against discrimination.

The Human Rights Talks: Equality Matters is organised in the framework of the “I Choose Equality” campaign which is implemented as part of the Council of Europe co-operation Project “Fight against Discrimination, Hate Crimes and Hate Speech in Georgia”. The project is implemented under the Council of Europe’s Action Plan for Georgia 2020-2023 with the support of the Danish Neighbourhood Programme in Georgia (DANEP).