The Embassy of Italy in Tbilisi and the Office of the Council of Europe in Georgia in cooperation with the government of Georgia will organise a hybrid event on 25 March to raise awareness and foster an action to end violence against women and girls. Italy currently holds the Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
The discussion will focus on the implications of violence against women and girls, both at the global level and in light with the European standards, notably the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (hereinafter – the Istanbul Convention) which Georgia joined in 2017.
The event will be opened by H.E. Ambassador of Italy to Georgia Enrico Valvo, the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia Natalia Voutova, the Chairperson of the Gender Equality Council of the Parliament of Georgia Nino Tsilosani and the Advisor to the Prime Minister of Georgian on Human Rights Niko Tatulashvili. The Italian Minister of Equal Opportunities and Family, Elena Bonetti, will intervene through a special video address, while a keynote speech will be delivered by Tamar Dekanosidze, expert of the Council of Europe.
The panel discussion will be held, moderated by the Georgian member of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Lia Nadaraia. The floor will be given to the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia Alexander Darakhvelidze, the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Lasha Darsalia, the head of Human Rights Department of the Prosecutor office of Georgia Salome Shengelia, the Deputy Public Defender of Georgia Ms. Eka Skhiladze, the executive director of the union Sapari Baia Pataraia, “Roma 3” University, the representative of Italian Department for Equal Opportunities Ms. Cristiana Carletti and UN Women EVAW Portfolio Manager Irina Japaridze.
The Istanbul Convention is the most far-reaching international treaty to tackle violence against women requesting states to criminalise the various forms of violence against women, including physical, sexual and psychological and other forms of violence.
The conference will facilitate the discussion around challenges to prevent and combat gender-based violence, through the engagement of Georgian authorities, experts and the local diplomatic community, in addition to qualified representatives of civil society and the academic world, with a view to assess the progress achieved and to plan further enhancement and advancement of the measures aimed at ending all forms of violence against women.
In order to inform and raise awareness within the Georgian public, the event will be streamed live on the Italian Embassy’s social media profiles.
