On January 25, 2023, the Public Defender’s Office of Georgia held a working meeting with representatives of state agencies and service providers on the rights of children living and working on the street.

The working meeting was held in a discussion format. The Chairman of the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee of the Parliament of Georgia, the Chairman of the Permanent Parliamentary Council for the Rights of the Child, representatives of the Governmental Administration, various ministries, state agencies and service providers took part in the meeting.

Acting Public Defender Tamar Gvaramadze spoke about the scarcity of support services for children living and working on the street and their families, as well as gaps in terms of protection of children against violence, exploitation, discrimination, trafficking and other crimes.

In addition, Tamar Gvaramadze welcomed the recent positive aspects, such as: the development of the 2023-2026 strategy for the protection of children living and working on the street; the opening of a day center for children in Batumi; implementation of a 24-hour emergency response mechanism in the State Care Agency. She expressed hope that the meeting would help relevant services to effectively protect the rights of children living and working on the street and to solve their problems.

The meeting participants also talked about the rights situation of children living and working on the street and outlined the activities carried out in this direction, existing challenges, including the problems identified in the provision of services. At the same time, attention was focused on the need to ensure children’s safety, provide a child-oriented and systemic approach, strengthen coordination and introduce additional services.

The working meeting was held with the support of the USAID-PDO partnership programme of the grant agreement between the Public Defender’s Office and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).