Georgia: The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) held the final event of the campaign against child marriage – “Don’t take away your childhood”. The event was opened with a welcome speech by the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs – Aleksandre Darakhvelidze and the Head of the Georgia Office of the United Nations Population Fund – Lela Bakradze.
Representatives of the governmental and non-governmental sectors and local and international organizations were invited to the final event of the campaign, where a presentation was made by the Department of Human Rights Protection and Investigation Quality Monitoring of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The guests invited to the event were informed about all the activities that the Ministry of Internal Affairs carried out during the campaign.
At the final event, the winners of the competition announced as part of the campaign were announced, and the respective awards were given to them.
Moreover, the campaign “Don’t take away your childhood” was implemented in cooperation with the Georgia office of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) with the aim of eliminating child marriage, raising public awareness of these issues and timely notification to law enforcement.
The information campaign started on June 1, International Children’s Day and continued for a month. Within the framework of the campaign, employees of the Department of Human Rights Protection and Investigation Quality Monitoring of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, together with representatives of local police units, as well as witness and victim coordinators, held thematic meetings in seven regions of Georgia.
In the framework of the campaign, informative video clips were prepared, a drawing competition was announced, and branded gifts were made, which were distributed to the participants of the meetings and citizens living in different municipalities.
In the course of the campaign, mass information of the population was carried out using the SMS system about the ways of reporting to the police regarding child marriage crimes.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs implemented the campaign – “Don’t take away your childhood” in partnership with the Georgia office of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), within the framework of the joint UN program – “For Gender Equality”, which is implemented with the financial support of Sweden.
