The USAID Rule of Law Program, through its support of legal education and strengthening of university programs, enables students to get practical experience in the university space and develop the skills that are most important for entering the profession.

Khatia Tshetskladze is a second-year student in the Public Law and Politics Master's program of Ilia State University, and an active participant in Ilia’s human rights clinic. 

With the USAID Rule of Law Program’s support, Khatia recently traveled to Geneva, where she attended the 108th session of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). At the session, the Human Rights Department of Ilia State University presented a report on the violation of human rights against ethnically Azerbaijani persons in Georgia because of their unequal access to education and other discriminatory issues in education.

During the visit, Khatia also had the opportunity to attend the discussion of reports on Botswana and Jamaica, the briefings of organizations, conduct formal and informal meetings, and hear the alternative report of the Committee related Georgia. Thanks to this meeting, the experts were provided with information regarding additional problematic issues in Georgia and questions that were important for the committee members to resolve the issue were clarified.

"It was extremely interesting to observe the process from the inside, to see how a specific UN Committee actually functions, and how the interventions of each actor factor in all this. Also, it was important for me to see how reports prepared by non-governmental organizations affect the processes and the behavior of the committee members. This experience is unique, both for me and for any lawyer interested in human rights, because it gives us the opportunity to see in practice how these mechanism functions and how to contribute to the formulation of the Committee’s recommendation. In the future, I will use this knowledge to protect the rights of others," says Khatia.

"At an informal meeting, I met Ms. Gay McDougall, a member of the CERD, and Ms. Elena Aparak, an independent informant of the Working Group on Mercenaries. They shared with us both their personal and career experiences related to working in their positions and their personal views on certain issues," she added.