Workshop on Protecting the Legal Rights of PWD
The rights of persons with disabilities in Georgia are violated all the time – inaccessible infrastructure, negative social stereotypes and ineffective legislative mechanisms. Despite these violations, there is no or very few precedents of standing up for the legal rights of persons with disabilities poorly supported by the society.
These are the issues discussed during the workshop held at Sheraton Metechi Palace on April 1, 2011 which involved disabled people's organizations and other human rights institutions and aimed to strengthen their work in advocating for the legal rights of PWD. Namely, the workshop was attended by representatives from the Public Defender's Office, Georgian Young Lawyers Association, Civil Society Institute, Lawyers Associations as well as members of Coalition for Independent Living, NGOs working in the field of disability, various human rights organizations, experts and other stakeholders. The workshop was organized jointly by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights office in Georgia and Coalition for Independent Living and was facilitated by Besarion Bokhashvili.
The workshop participants discussed cases of rights violations and available legal advocacy resources and mechanisms to address them. Specific ways and methods of tackling these problems were identified. “We have to understand that while fighting for his or her rights, that person with disability is at the same time trying to protect the rights of people in similar situation. Therefore, it is important to strengthen our disabled people's organizations as well as other human rights agencies in order to create precedents of legal advocacy and thus contributing to the equal rights for persons with disabilities” - Rati Ionatamishvili stated at the end of the workshop.