USAID Rule of Law Program supported a working meeting between the representatives of the Permanent Parliamentary Council for the Protection of Children's Rights and the Office of the Public Defender of Georgia. 

The Program’s priorities in this area include the protection of children’s rights and the promotion of the implementation of national legislation in the areas of access to justice and equal treatment of children.

The purpose of the meeting was to facilitate the exchange of information about the work methodology and main directions of the Council and the Office of the Public Defender,as well asto make plans for future cooperation.

The participants discussed the main challenges and priority directions in terms of the protection of children's rights, including the results of the public defender's study of the effectiveness of the alternative care system in Georgia, as well as the deinstitutionalization and protection of children from child abuse and poverty. 

The conversation also touched upon the systemic challenges relating to the protection of children's rights and ways of resolving them.

On the basis of the 2021 parliamentary report of the Public Defender, the members of the Council and employees of the Office of the Public Defender also discussed the implementation of the recommendations shared by the Parliament, which were issued to the relevant state agencies, and ways of strengthening the parliamentary supervision in this area.

The Chairman of the Council Davit Sergeenko, Acting Public Defender of Georgia Tamar Gvaramadze, and USAID Rule of Law Program Chief of Party Giorgi Chkheidze agreed on future joint cooperation in the priority areas of child rights protection.