Georgia:Â Minister of State for reconciliation and civil equality Tea Akhvlediani introduced to civil society the results of the activities carried out within the framework of civil equality and integration policy in 2023.
Tea Akhvlediani addressed the gathered community with a welcoming speech. The meeting with the Ombudsman, representatives of the Council of Ethnic Minorities, non-governmental and international organizations, experts and academia, the Secretariat for Human Rights of the Government Administration and partner public agencies discussed the results achieved in each thematic direction under the 2023 Action Plan of Civil Integration and progress Namika, also solutions to the challenges that still exist And the current issues.
The Minister of State spoke about the importance of close cooperation with the state agency in the field, a unified government-coordinated approach for achieving the goals set within each of the strategic priorities, and the effective implementation of mechanisms and tools supporting integration. Tea Akhvlediani also stressed the importance of collaborating with civil society representatives and leading inclusive processes to assess activities and make action plans.
“In implementing state policy, I think we have successfully established a tradition of holding large-scale meetings with NGOs and leading discussions on topical issues on civil equity and integration.” At today’s meeting, with mainly ethnic minority organizations, we discussed in detail the Consolidated Activity Report for 2023 and our following activity priorities, especially as we begin this year the next two-year milestone planning to develop and approve the 2025-2026 Action Plan. Today, we had a fascinating and essential discussion, which broadly illustrates the importance of the involvement of the civil sector, experts and international partners in state policy implementation,” – said Minister of State Tea Akhvlediani.
First Deputy Minister of State Lia Gigauri presented the activity report for 2023. The meeting was held in an interactive format. Lia Gigauri answered all the questions exhaustively. Civil society representatives had the opportunity to present their views on the activities carried out.
In the meeting, which was held in the South Caucasus with the support of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Levan Ioseliani, the Public Defender of Georgia and Vladimir Shkolnikov, the Senior Adviser of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human rights in the South Caucasus, participated and addressed the public with a welcoming speech.