The Council of Europe Office in Georgia together with partner institutions and organisations will organise the second Equality Week (9-16 November) in Georgia. The Equality Week aims to raise awareness about the importance of diversity and equality in Georgia as well as to provide information on redress mechanisms for the victims of discrimination. It is celebrated around the International Day for Tolerance on 16 November and is implemented as part of the I Choose Equality campaign.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation, this year the Equality Week will move its activities online. Various state and non-governmental institutions are planning to organise online activities within the Equality Week on equality and diversity.
The launching video of the Equality Week will be aired on the I Choose Equality Facebook page featuring: Natalia Voutova, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia; Nino Lomjaria, Public Defender; Tea Akhvlediani, State Minister of Georgia for Reconciliation and Civic Equality; Nino Tsatsiashvili, Deputy Ministry of Internal Affairs; Natia Merebashvili, Deputy Prosecutor General; Lela Akiashvili, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Human Rights and Gender Equality; Ekaterine Dgebuadze, Deputy Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport; Gela Geladze, Head of Resource Officers of Educational Institutions and Baia Pataraia, Coalition for Equality.
Some of the online activities planned within the Equality Week are:
On 9 November at 16:00, Human Rights Talks – Personal Stories: Support is Important will be aired on Council of Europe Office in Georgia and I Choose Equality Facebook pages. The online talks are organised with the Public Defender’s Office. The main speakers will be Aitaj Khalili, civic activist; Lela Mchedlishvili, teacher; David Bibileishvili, activist for people with disabilities; Lela Tskitishvili, coordinator at “Second opportunity to get an education with inclusion“. The online talks will discuss the personal stories of Aitaj and David on how their teachers supported them through their personal development path. The videos of their personal stories are available here and here.
On 12 November at 12:00, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport together with the Council of Europe and the Parliament will hold an online presentation of the report “ALL IN! TOWARDS GENDER BALANCE IN EUROPEAN SPORT”. The report presents the main data findings on gender equality in sport on leadership, coaching, participation, media/communication and gender-based violence, so that progress can be monitored, and comparisons made between countries and between sports, which will aid in the design of evidence-based policies. The online discussion will be opened by Mikheil Chkhenkeli, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport (TBC) and Natalia Voutova, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia. Interpretation will be available. The online event will be aired on the Facebook pages of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport and the Council of Europe Office in Georgia.
On 13 November at 16:00, Council of Europe together with Tolerance and Diversity Institute (TDI) and the Embassy of the Netherlands to Georgia will organise online event on Stories of Equality and Diversity: Online presentation of short documentary videos with the protagonists. The event will be opened by Eka Chitanava, Tolerance and Diversity Institute (TDI), Natalia Voutova, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia and H.E. Maaike van Koldam, the Ambassador of the Netherlands to Georgia. The event will be aired live on Facebook pages of TDI, Council of Europe Office in Georgia and I Choose Equality campaign. Interpretation will be provided.
You can learn more about other activities organised during Equality Week on the I Choose Equality campaign’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/IChooseEquality/
The first ever Equality Week in Georgia was organised last year and included various types of activities, such as information meetings and presentations in Tbilisi and in the regions of Georgia, where youth and representatives of various groups had an opportunity to receive information on equality and redress mechanisms.
Equality Week is implemented in the framework of the I Choose Equality Campaign which is part of the 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).
