6th Meeting, 79th Session, Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)

Good afternoon. I call to order meeting number six of the 79th session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. It is my pleasure to welcome the distinguished delegation of Georgia and in particular the head of delegation, His Excellency, Mr. Irakli Sasania, First Deputy Minister of Internally Displaced Persons from Occupied Territories, Labor, Health and Social affairs of Georgia, who will deliver the opening statement and the distinguished members of the delegation of Georgia. A very warm welcome, especially for those who have come from the capital. I would also like to welcome all those observing this dialogue in person or online.

Before giving the floor to the delegation for the consideration of the third periodic report, I would out like to outline the methodology we will follow for the dialogue today and tomorrow. We have prepared a sheet with the proposed speaking times which has been explained to his Excellency for the dialogue, which will be conducted following four clusters and led by committee members constituting the task force for this review. The initial questions will be posed by the country rapporteur and lead member for our cluster, this cluster, Mr. Ashraf Khanhai. Other members may pose follow up questions thereafter. Other members of the task force are Ms. Juyong Lee for cluster 2, Ms. Laura Elisa Perez for cluster 3, and Ms. Laura Maria Krachinyutatu for cluster 4.

The delegation is kindly requested to speak at a reasonable pace and to provide any written material that will be read out by the delegation to the Secretariat for ease of interpretation. To facilitate this process and to enable us to cover the full range of issues at hand, I would like to invite my colleagues and the distinguished delegation to kindly speak in a concise manner, giving due attention to the time allocation and also the speed at which you speak, because it then helps the interpreters as well. With this I have the pleasure to give you the floor, your Excellency, to deliver your opening statement and if you could kindly finish it in 10 minutes. Thank you.

I'll try my best.

Thank you very much. You have the floor, sir.

Madam Chair, distinguished members of the Committee, it's an honor for me to lead the delegation of Georgia and present our country's progress in implementing the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights following the submission of Georgia's third periodic report in 2022. We highly value its constructive dialogue and committee's guidance, which we see as an important instrument for strengthening rights based policymaking. I would like to retaliate Georgia's continued commitment towards upholding human rights, ensuring their better protection and our support to UN Human rights mechanism during the reporting period. The government of Georgia has continued its fruitful cooperation with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and his office, as well as with UN treaty bodies and the UN Human Rights Council. Georgia also regularly submits national reports to UN treaty bodies and places special emphasis on implementing recommendations received through the UN Human Rights Mechanism.

These recommendations are incorporated into the government's Human Rights Action Plans to ensure their effective implementation. In this light, on 26 January 2026 within the 51st session of the Universal Periodic Review Working Group, the Universal Periodic Review of Georgia was held. During the session, Georgia Georgia received over 300 recommendations which will be assessed and considered, and Georgia's position on them will be delivered to the Secretariat of the UN Human Rights Council in due course. Georgia strengthened its national human rights architecture through the adoption of Human Rights Strategy 2020-2030 and related action plans developed through broad stakeholder engagement. As of the first report, 508 activities out of 555 were either completed or initiated in 2024.

More than 90% of the activities under two standalone action plans on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women Peace and Security and on elimination of violence against women and domestic violence have been implemented or are in progress. This testifies to the fact that the protection of human rights remains a dynamic and growing state priority. More than 90% of planned activities under thematic action plans, including those on women peace and security and in combating violence against women, have been implemented or are in progress. A major reform has been introduction of indexication mechanisms for patients and social assistance packages, guaranteeing annual increases in line with the economic indicators and affecting more than 1 million people. At this time, Georgia is undertaking a comprehensive reform of the Targeted Social Assistance Program, our Primary poverty alleviation instrument, which currently supports over 700,000 individuals including children.

The state program for social rehabilitation and childcare now includes more than 40 components such as home care, personal assistance services, family type homes for persons with disabilities, shelters for victims of trafficking and violence, and child rehabilitation programs. Georgia continued to be ranked Tier 1 in U.S. department of State's Trafficking in Persons Report. Georgia successfully completed the of children's care institutions in line with the UN Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Children. Georgia is transitioning from a medical to a biopsychosocial model to disability assessment, focusing on functional abilities and real needs rather than diagnosis alone. Georgia continues to advance equal opportunities in education through learner centered reforms that integrate human rights education and strict and inclusive services.

Around 16,000 pupils have received multidisciplinary assessments enabling early identification of special education needs and targeted support in 2025, 339 senior special education teachers were certified, bringing the national total to 2,511. Access to higher education for ethnic minorities was strengthened in 2024 through a fourfold increase in funding to nearly 1 million Georgian Lari supporting 800 Azerbaijan in Armenian speaking stranger. More than 18,000 representatives of ethnic minorities, asylum seekers and persons under international protection benefited from state language support between 2021 and 2024. Despite the lack of de facto control over occupied territories. Georgia provides educational Support to the 29 schools in Gali District, Abkhazia.

Regarding labor rights, the establishment of institutional strengthening of the Labor Inspection Office has been a key achievement. Its mandate and operational standards now align with the ILO convention number 81 and it works has been positively recognized by international bodies including Greta and U.S. department of Labor. Since the introduction of strengthened occupational safety and health regulations, fatal workplace accidents have decreased by 46%. Georgia has ratified 18 ILO conventions including including all eight fundamental conventions. The State Employment Support Agency operates in 11 regions and over the past two years more than 10,000 individuals from vulnerable groups have benefited from active labor market programs.

Protecting the rights of internally displaced persons remains the top priority due to occupation of 20% of Georgia's territory by Russian Federation. Up to 300,000 IDPs are registered since 2022. A large scale housing program has been underway with around 6,000 apartments expected to be completed by the end of this year. Universal health coverage now reaches over 95% of the population. Since 2012, public investments has increased approximately four times and the share of out of pocket payments has declined from 73% to in 2012 to 41% in 2023.

Key reforms include pharmaceutical reference pricing, manage entry agreements for high cost medicines and introduction of DRG based hospital payment system. A comprehensive primary healthcare reform is strengthening prevention and chronic disease management. These efforts have translated into tangible results. Life expectancy has increased, neonatal mortality has nearly halved, under 5 mortality targets have been achieved and Georgia has made notable progress in eliminating hepatitis C Over the past decade. Judicial reform has been among the state's highest priorities.

Recent developments have enhanced the independence, efficiency, accountability and accessibility of the judiciary in Georgia, thereby reinforcing its role in protecting and promoting human rights. In line with its commitment to combating corruption, Georgia has ensured effective anti corruption enforcement and accountability measures. Between 2020 and 2025, 1272 corruption prosecutions were initiated resulting in 945 convictions. With over 4.3 million Euro in assets recovered in 2025, the Anti Corruption Unit within The Office of Prosecutor General was reformed and its resources increased by 92% to address discrimination. Specialized prosecutors have had led hate crime cases since 2020, resulting in over 5,500 prosecutions and recognition of more than 5,600 victims supported by data collection, public reporting and victim oriented approaches.

Protection of the family and children remains a priority. Over 24,000 prosecutions have been initiated for domestic crimes which consistent action against forced and child marriage supported by preventive guidance and victim support mechanisms. Between 2021 and 2025, the country recorded one of the highest average economic growth rates globally at approximately 9.3%. The robust economic growth in post pandemic period was supported by structural shifts that continue to underpin sustained strong medium term growth. As a result, public Debt remains below 35% of GDP, creating fiscal space for social investment.

GDP per capita measured in purchasing power parity, has shown robust growth which has translated into tangible social gains. Poverty has been reduced significantly, falling to a historic low of 9.4% into 2024, almost half the pre pandemic level. Labor market indicators have also improved. In 2024, unemployment declined by 2.5% points year on year to 13.9% while employment rose to 47.1% alongside increased labor force participation. These developments reflect Georgia's commitment to inclusive economic growth.

Cultural rights remain an integral part of our development agenda and in 2025 the Ministry of Culture was established as an independent body to strengthen cultural policymaking, promote diversity and widen participation in cultural life. Work is underway on the Cultural Strategy 2030 Georgia's intensified efforts in environmental governance and climate action, enhancing its nationally determined contribution under the Paris Agreement and investing in climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction and sustainable agriculture. Ladies and gentlemen, due to the illegal occupation of Georgia's Abkhazia and Skin Valley regions by the Russian Federation as a result of its military aggression, we are deprived of possibility to implement all relevant measures for the protection and promotion of human rights in the occupied regions. The human rights and humanitarian situation in both occupied regions is deteriorating day by day. Violations of fundamental human rights by the Occupying Power in those regions include, but are not limited to the violations of the rights to the life and education in native language, torture and ill treatment, arbitrary detentions and discrimination on ethnic grounds.

The grave human rights situation in the occupied territories is particularly worrying given that international human rights mechanisms are denied access to those regions. The Russian Federation, as the occupying power in the state exercising effective control, bears full responsibility for human rights violations in the occupied regions, a duly attested by the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights and the International Criminal Court. Despite the ongoing occupation, Government of Georgia, in its turn, continues to address human rights violations in the occupied regions, including through raising the issue on the international agenda. The Government also continues to implement programs aiming at improving socio economic conditions of residents of the Occupied territories as well as of the IDPs. Though the ultimate solution for IDPs is a safe and dignified return to the places of origin.

Madam Chair, Georgia approaches this dialogue in a spirit of openness and cooperation. We acknowledge the challenges remain and we look forward to the Committee's recommendations as a valuable guide for further strengthening the realization of economic, social and cultural rights for all. Thank you.

Thank you, your Excellency. For those opening remarks, I would now like to invite and request our Country Rapporteur Mishra Ashraf Kanhai to kindly pose the questions under cluster 1. You have the floor, sir.

Okay. Sorry, yes. First of all, thank you very much, Chair. And I was saying, I joined the Chair in extending a warm welcome to the distinguished delegation from Georgia.

We have already been provided with a wealth of detailed information in the Periodic report and the replies to the list of issues. We note with appreciation the very many legislative, institutional and policy measures in place for the implementation of the Covenant Rights, which includes, inter alia, the National Human Rights Strategy for the period 2022, 2030. As rapporteur, I shall be addressing the issues under Cluster 1, which deal with the general provisions of the Covenant as well as Articles one to five. I have questions. First, with regard to the domestic application of the Covenant, will you please provide detailed information of recent cases in which the Covenant rights have been invoked and applied as directly applicable law, that is in cases where the Covenant rights invoked were not incorporated into the domestic legislation of Georgia.

Please tell us whether civil society organizations have participated or have been consulted in the preparation of the Periodic Report or the replies to the list of issues? If yes, could you please provide detailed information of such participation or consultations? What is the mechanism in place for a structured and systematic collection of disaggregated statistical data which is essential for the monitoring and assessment of the protection and implementation of the Covenant rights by Georgia? And please also provide information on whether Georgia considers ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Covenant with a view to strengthening human rights protection in Georgia? If not, please tell us.

What are the reasons for for the State party refraining from doing so? And what are the measures in place to raise public awareness and to provide training to public officials, judges and prosecutors on the protection and implementation of the rights enshrined in the Covenant. Next, as regards human rights defenders, there are various reports of severe reprisals, intimidation, harassment and physical attacks of human rights defenders and activists. This is explicitly described in the 2024 report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights Defenders in Georgia and the situation appears to have been worsened with the adoption by parliament in 2024 of the law on Transparency of Foreign Influence and the Law on Foreign Agents Registration Act 2025 which specifically target human rights defenders and which appear to substantially curtail their freedom of association and expression. There are also deep concerns which have been expressed lately with regard to the recent introduction in Parliament of the law and grants which would further curtail the activities of human rights defenders.

So please provide information on what is being done in order to stop and prevent human rights defenders and associations from being subjected to any undue harassment, intimidation or attacks in the exercise of their activities for the protection and implementation of economic, social and cultural rights and please provide information on what has been done for the implementation of the various recommendations contained in the Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on repairing and improving the situation of human rights defenders in Georgia.

Please provide information on the concrete measures taken to put in place an independent and effective law enforcement mechanism for the investigation, prosecution and sentencing of all those who are responsible for the undue intimidation, harassment and attacks of human rights defenders. And please provide information on the steps being taken or considered in order to repeal all legislation, in particular the so called Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence and the Law on Foreign Agents Registration act which unduly restrict and repress the activities of human rights defenders and associations for the protection and realization of economic and cultural rights.

Next, as regards national human Rights institution, the Public Defender's Office of Georgia is constitutionally mandated to supervise the protection of human rights in Georgia whilst we accrediting the PDO in October 2024, the Subcommittee on Accreditation of Global alliance of National Human Rights Institutions Gandry stressed on the importance first for the formalisation of a clear, transparent and participatory selection and appointment process for the public defender and two for amendments to its enabling law to include an explicit mandate to promote all human rights. Please provide information on the measures taken to address the above concerns of the Gandry Subcommittee what has been done to ensure that the PDO is endowed with all the resources, legal, institutional and material which are necessary for it to be able to effectively and independently discharge its mandate in full compliance with the Paris Principles and please also indicate what is in place to ensure that the recommendations of the public Defender's Office are duly implemented. Now as regards the independence of the judiciary, despite the judicial reforms which have been undertaken, there are still reports of the persistent lack of independence and impartiality of the judiciary being subjected to the dominant pressure of the Executive, particularly in several high profile cases. So what are the guarantees in place to secure the independent and impartial functioning of the judiciary in this decision making process, insulated from any form of pressure or influence from any other quarter? And what are the measures in place to ensure that the method of selection and appointment of judges, including judges of the Supreme Court, is in practice free from any political influence or interference from the Executive or any other source?

I next turn to business and Human rights There is currently no legislation in Georgia which enjoins business entities to conduct human rights due diligence and respect human rights norms in the exercise of all their activities. Please tell us what are the steps which have been taken and the progress achieved for the adoption of a comprehensive legislation which would enjoin all business entities, local and foreign, to exercise human rights due diligence in the conduct of their operation and activities both at home and abroad? And what are the measures in place to afford effective remedial action to victims of human rights abuses committed by business entities, in particular for the protection of the more vulnerable and disadvantaged segments of the population? Next, turning to climate change, Georgia has developed the Climate Change Strategy 2030 and corresponding Climate Change Action Plans for the periods 2021, 2023 and 2024 and 2025 which were intended to include specific measures aimed at reducing emissions. Please provide information, supported by statistical data, on the progress achieved by the implementation of the Climate Change Strategy and the various Action Plans in order to meet the naturally determined contributions for reducing emissions that Georgia has set itself under the Paris Agreement and what are the concrete measures taken, including in relation to the adequate allocation of financial resources in order to strengthen preparedness for and responses to natural disasters and to provide for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation measures?

Are there steps which have been taken to develop a national adaptation plan and mitigation measures to address the adverse effects of climate change on the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rise and what has been done in that respect, in particular for the protection of the more marginalized and disadvantaged individuals and groups who are more exposed and vulnerable to the slow onset impacts of climate change in such areas as agriculture, health, employment, food security and housing? Please provide information on the measures taken to combat illegal logging and the destruction of forests which have a serious environmental impact on sustainable forest management and which contributes significantly to soil erosion and habitat loss.

Next I shall turn to corruption it is widely recognized that Georgia has implemented a series of anti corruption measures which have helped to tackle petty corruption and public sector bribery over the past years. However, several reports concur in indicating that more complex forms of corruption, including clientelism and cronyism as well as kickback payments for the award of major public contracts, still persists. There are particular concerns about the failure to promptly and effectively investigate all cases of corruption involving high ranking officials and to prosecute perpetrators, reportedly due to the lack of sufficiently independent law enforcement bodies. Please provide information on the concrete measures in place for the independent and transparent functioning of all corruption institutions responsible for the enforcement of anti corruption laws free from any dominant branch of the executive what has been done to ensure the prompt and effective investigation and prosecution of high level corruption offenses free from any political pressure and please provide information supported by statistical data of recent cases in which higher public officials and politicians have been prosecuted and sentenced for high level corruption offenses and what are the measures and legislation in place for the effective protection of whistleblowers and anti corruption activists from any form of harassment or intimidation? I shall next turn to non discrimination and the Article 2 despite the current legislation and elimination on all forms of discrimination, there are reports and continuing allegations of intolerance, prejudice, hate speech, hostility and discriminatory treatment, in particular against LGBTQI persons, ethnic and religious minorities, women, migrants and internally displaced persons.

So what are the steps taken to establish a comprehensive anti discrimination legal framework for full and effective protection against discrimination on all prohibited grounds of discrimination as listed in the Covenant and which include sexual orientation and gender identity? Please also provide information on what has been done to ensure equal rights for same sex couple couples and what measures are being taken in view of the pronouncement of the European Court of Human Rights in The case of AD Others vs. Georgia December 2022? In order to elaborate I quote, an efficient, transparent and accessible procedure, end quote, for legal gender recognition? What are the mechanisms in place, both legal and institutional, in order to provide protection and remedial actions to victims of any form of discrimination and what is being done in that respect to ensure that all cases of hate crimes, hate speech, including online hate speech, are impartially and systematically investigated, prosecuted and sanctioned with penalties commensurate with the offence? What has been done to address the social exclusion and the socio economic inequalities affecting ethnic minorities, internally displaced persons and migrants?

We do note the difficulties faced by the State Party with regard to the implementation of covenant rights in the occupied territories. Please tell us what are the measures taken to ensure that the inhabitants of these regions enjoy the same level of protection of their covenant rights as their counterparts in the rest of of Georgia? And what are the concrete measures in place in order to prevent the abandonment of children with disabilities, as well as the institutionalization and exclusion of, and limited access to the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights by persons with disabilities?

And also, please also tell us what has been done to promote public awareness, training and educational programs to combat the stigmatization, hostility, hate speech and discriminatory treatment to which the various categories of victims of discrimination are currently being subjected. Turning to maximum available resources, the available information indicates that the Georgian economy has achieved solid growth over the past years and the GDP per capita almost doubled over a 10 year period. Economic growth, however, has been driven primarily by remittances from abroad and tourism. Socio economic hardship continues to remain widespread. Poverty remains an ongoing challenge, with 9.4% of the population being reported to be living below absolute poverty line in 2024, despite the implementation of the targeted social assistance.

Poverty thus remains a pressing problem affecting in particular the marginalized and vulnerable groups, including children, low income families, older persons, persons with disabilities, migrants and internally displaced persons, as well as persons living in rural and remote areas. What are the concrete measures taken for the eradication of poverty and for increasing the level of regular financial assistance to families living in extreme poverty and to the more disadvantaged and vulnerable groups and individuals? And what are the steps taken and the progress achieved in tackling the growing problem of of child poverty? Please provide information, supported by statistical data as to what has been done over the past few years in order to increase public expenditure and the proportion of the public budget allocated to Social Security, food, housing, health and education.

As time is up, I have a few more questions with regard to equal rights of women which I shall reserve during the time allocated for Fuller. So would you be able to share these questions in the next five minutes? Would it be. Would it be possible for you to.

I'll try to wrap up in two minutes. In two minutes, yes.

Please go ahead.

Thank you very much. Chair There have been concerns expressed from various quarters concerning the structural gender inequality, gender based violence and discrimination, as well as the underrepresentation of women in decision making positions.

And in particular, the abolition of mandatory gender quotas on the electoral list constitutes a serious step backward in the process of achieving women's equality. Please provide information on the measures taken for effective gender equality legislation and for the elimination of all forms of discriminatory treatment to which women are subjected? What are the concrete measures in place to explicitly address women's vulnerability and exposure to gender based violence, in particular femicide, and ensure that all forms of gender based violence against women and girls, including domestic and sexual violence, are effectively investigated and sanctioned? What is being done to combat the traditional gender norms, stigmas and stereotypes and the prevalence of sexist discourse which perpetrates gender inequality and discrimination? And please tell us what is being done to eliminate the existing gender wage gap and disparities between men and women across all sectors?

And also what is being done to address the disproportionate burden of unpaid domestic and care work to which women are being subjected? And please provide information and measures taken to ensure gender parity and and representation at all the higher levels of government and in all the decision making positions in which women are underrepresented. I thank you for your attention. These will be my questions and I look forward to your answers.

Thank you, sir, for those questions.

As discussed with the leader of the delegation, we will take a five minute break to allow the delegation to organize its responses. But I request colleagues to kindly not leave the room. At least not too far away from the room so that we can reconvene in exactly five minutes.

Dear colleagues, we are now ready to listen to the response from the distinguished delegation to the questions posed by country rapporteur Mr. Ashraf Kanhai. Your Excellency, please go ahead and you have 30 minutes to respond.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you very much. I held the floor to answer to my colleagues in the following order.

First, the Parliament of Georgia will start responding. Then Government Administration, High Council of Justice, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture. So please.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Yeah, it's on. Thank you very much. Thank you very much for assessing Georgia's progress in terms of human rights protection and your very interesting question and your efforts to reveal the truth and realities that exist in Georgia and then to access the progress of and Georgian society in terms of further strengthening human rights protection. So let me start with a very interesting and very debating issue about the Transparency law. From the very beginning, let me brief about the history which bring us brought us to adopt this law in in the country to protect our sovereignty, stability and security of the country, to defend our country's stability from foreign influences.

As for the foreign AIDS and foreign assistance, as you may all know, we are the part of Paris Declaration. We become a part of it in 2011. And what does it mean the part of this Declaration it means that donor organization together with the national government are working together to achieve the goal that is defined by national governments. And both sides are mutually mutually report and are aiming to gain the results which countries national government defined. So we are the part of this convention and so no wonder that the donors should be accountable to Georgian and or any national government to about the implementation and about the objectives and result what they are implementing.

Through their findings. In 2016, the EU Commission has made some investigation in Georgia and it revealed and by their recommendation it was necessary to gain any some kind of legislation to protect Georgia, society and country of Georgia from foreign influences made by foreign flows, foreign financial flows, which needed to be more transparent. So they developed some kind of recommendations. And further, the law on transparency which we adopted in 2024 was the implementation of one of their recommendations. Furthermore, in 2020, Emmanuel, you may know this is one of the anti money laundering body in the Council of Europe has issued the recommendation toward Georgia to ensure more transparency in terms of NGO transparency about their foreign aid accountability.

So it was somehow to response all this international responsibility, all this international recommendation in terms of transparency of foreign aid. As a rule, uncounted financial flows pose a significant threat to democratic government and state. So this law was not against any right defenders or any NGO sectors. I can quote the law. The first article of this law stated that it is not forbidden or restrict any action of any non governmental organization.

As a result, after the law came into force, since of that period, more than 400 non governmental organization have registered under this law and they are acting freely and implementing their activities in Georgia and no restrictions are made on their activities. As for the law on grants, the only requirement from the government side is to just to be aware about the purposes and about the activities. What angel or some organization is going to implement by this international or foreign finances. So this is how to fulfill and meet the requirements of Paris declarations, which is the international law justifying the international financial flows came into national legislation and acting within the national border. So it is somehow to meet the requirements of this law.

So in this regard, the government of Georgia is to look through the purpose and objectives of the grant and if it is coincided with the purpose with the state development objectives. Of course, government of Georgia is agreed and approached such kind of grant. But whenever there is an attempt, and we had many kind of numerous number of attempts, when these financial flows from railroad are trying to influence political situation in Georgia, of course there are some restrictions according the law on grants. And of course in this case the Government of Georgia has right to refuse to make international financial flows to be used in political in political debts, which is forbidden not only by the Georgian legislation, but all democratic countries legislation. So this is the only strengthening the international law which is made and which is developed in terms of international law and in terms of forbidding to.

Use. International or foreign financial flows for the domestic political activities. Moreover, as you may know, recently Council of Europe has started to develop some kind of recommendation to respond the growing threat of foreign influences. And in this regard I can proudly announce the Georgian side was invited to share their experience in this regard. And of course we already sent our recommendations to Council of Europe to deal with this treaty, which is not only only the case of Georgia or some few countries, but it becomes the threat for all national countries, for all their national interests.

And this is proved by the growing interest within the European Parliament as well, which they are trying to impose such kind of laws and some kind of procedures to to protect their national countries from foreign influences implemented by international financial flows. So in this regard, I think on this stage we can stop. And if you may have some additional questions, I would be more than eager to answer you further on this regard. Thank you.

Thank you, Excellencies. The Public Defender of Georgia is constitutional body responsible for overseeing the protection of human rights in Georgia. The strengthening of the public defenders institution began under the Georgian Dream when his recommendations were incorporated into parliamentary resolutions and the implementation was made mandatory. As a result, the rate of implementation of these recommendations is high, reaching approximately 90%. The budget of the Public Defender has also increased significantly from 1.7 million in 2011 to 11 million today.

The public Defender's office currently operates is a new building that provides safe and appropriate working conditions. In addition, legislative amendments adopted in 2025 Improved Social Security guarantees for the staff of the Public Defender's office. The Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee of the Parliament of Georgia consistently involves the public defender as a consultative participant in the legislative process.

Thank you. Dear committee members, I have several issues in my list. I will start with the public defender's office. I will continue with business and human rights issues, anti corruption, anti discrimination, equality between between men and women and human rights defenders. In the end, of course, the list is very long itself and I will try to include as many issues as possible.

But if there are some left outside, then of course we will have time to respond to it later. Now, first I want to start from the constitution. According to the constitution, Georgia is a social state. And this amendment has done in 2017. And the state is obliged to strengthen the principles of social justice, social equality and solidarity.

It further speaks about the economic freedoms and universal right of private property. Now, about the public defender. My colleague has already mentioned a few words that I have to say. In addition is that the mandate of the public defender's office is very broad and this is why already for many years, Gandry gives aid status to the national human rights institution in Georgia and more particularly, the PDO exercises supervisory authority over state, municipal, administrative bodies, public officials and private entities and is empowered to identify cases of direct and indirect discrimination and to initiate measures to address their consequences in accordance with statutory requirements. All administrative, state, prosecutorial, investigative, judicial and municipal bodies are obliged to provide Public Defender a fund request with relevant materials, documents, explanations, information within 10 calendar days about the budget was already mentioned.

I will just add that PDEO now has 11 regional offices and two of them were added in recent few years. In addition, as of January 1, 2026, 123 authorized positions have been approved in the public defender's office. Of these, 20 positions are vacant, which means that there is still room for the improvement of the resources. In 2025, amendments of the Organic Law of the Public Defender of Georgia strengthened also the Social Security guarantees of the public defender and staff, and now they benefit from the same guarantees as other civil servants in other public institutions. According to the Law on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination, the Public Defender is designated as a supervisory body entrusted with quasi judicial functions to study discrimination cases.

Over the past five years, the public defender has examined a total of 676 cases of alleged discrimination. The most frequent grounds were as follows, sex, political opinion and divergent opinion. It has to be noted that on the basis of Article 9 of the law of Georgia or the Elimination of all forms of discrimination, the Public Defender suspends proceedings if a dispute concerning the same alleged act of discrimination is under consideration by a court and terminates proceedings if a court decision has already been delivered on the same matter. As I have already mentioned, it has quasi judicial functions. Now, regarding the appointment of the Public Defender In 2023, it was recognized by the European Commission that the recommendation that was given to Georgia about the appointment and selection of the public defender was well done and therefore we think that there is currently no problem with that.

Now, about the business and human rights issues, Georgia started to be interested with these issues in 2016. Two different parallel international conferences were organized in this period with the involvement of the state, and as a result of this, a national baseline assessment on business and human rights were conducted in 2017 and based on the National Baseline Assessment, the very first National Election Plan on business and human rights was elaborated. Now progress report of the action plan confirmed ongoing implementation of regulatory impact assessments, corporate social responsibility measures, dissemination of the UN guiding principles, so called RAGI principles, institutionalized education and capacity building initiatives. The current action plan 2024 2026. You have mentioned the Human Rights strategy and it has a follow up.

Action plan also includes a chapter on business and human rights and the measures include government supported guidance for small and medium sized enterprises, awareness raising for state owned enterprises on respecting human rights and promotion of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms to strengthen access to remedies. These actions support businesses including those operating abroad in identifying, preventing, mitigating and addressing adverse human rights impacts in line with international standards. In 2021, the administration of the Government of Georgia International Labor Organization collaborated to develop the online training course on business, human rights and decent work in Georgia. The course was developed in accordance to the Iraqi principles based on Protect, respect and remedy approach. Since 2022, 225 people took the course.

The government actively supports CSR through awareness raising among business associations and and state institutions and is taking steps as part of the Vision 2030 to develop environmental, social and governance guidelines for small and medium sized enterprises. Now a few words about the Public Private Partnership There is an agency established in Georgia on Public Private Partnership which is tasked to provide independent and holistic evaluation of public private partnership projects. Following development strategy of the Government of Georgia, the PPP agency prioritizes projects that enable development of Georgia as a regional hub for innovation driven digital economy, transport, energy industry and education. In recent years, Public Private partnership agency reviewed 105 public private partnership projects. Mediation is very important when we talk about the business and human rights and the mediation association organized various events to raise awareness amongst students, ethnic minority representatives, school children and business people.

In recent years and recently, in partnership with Georgian Business association, the association organized mediation training on labor disputes. The national bank of Georgia has also a lot to say in this regard. They have been actively developing its sustainable finance framework. The purpose of the framework is to support the reorientation of financial flows towards green and sustainable projects and to promote the integration of environmental, social and governance considerations into the financial sector's decision making processes. In 2024, the National bank of Georgia has completed its first climate stress test evaluating the potential impact of climate related risks of Georgia's financial sector.

This pioneering exercise assessed the effects of both acute physical risks such as extreme extreme weather events and transition risk associated with the shift towards a low carbon economy Now a few words about anti corruption remedies and then my colleague will continue on this. In line with the Greco's reasoning and you also mentioned and the Venice Commission's concerns regarding the independence of the Anti Corruption Bureau, particularly the appointment of its head by the Executive, Recent legislative amendments transferred all preventive anti corruption functions of to the State Audit Office, a constitutionally independent body accountable to the Parliament. With much stronger leverages, the Anti Corruption Bureau created a new platform for whistleblower protection mechanism. The platform is already adapted for use by minors and will soon become fully accessible for persons with disabilities and the whistleblower can make a statement publicly, anonymously or confidentially. In 2025, a total of 37 reports were submitted to the Bureau which were transferred to the relevant institutions for consideration as part of the public procurement reform which is part of the anti corruption bigger reform.

The Department of Government Efficiency was established within the administration of the government in 2025 to strengthen the oversight of government decision making through risk based assurance and consulting focusing on public procurement, which amounts to approximately 9 billion gall annually. The department reviewed programs and procurements worth 114 million gal in 2025, generating 67 million gallons in budget savings by preventing management efficiencies and reducing special procurement lists by 30% with expected saving of 102 million gallon next year. In cooperation with the state procurement agency, department developed the electronic Market Research model, a Georgian Innov enhancing transparency, equal participation and reducing corruption risks. Amendments to the law and public procurement also established a central purchasing body operating from 2026 to conduct centralized procurements worth an estimated 2 billion GIL annually. As for the victim protection pursuant to the amendments introduced to the Criminal Code of Georgia, the Prosecutor's Office of Georgia has been granted the authority within the framework of criminal proceedings to seek compensation for damage caused to victims of certain economic, entrepreneurial, organizational and cyber crimes.

The issue of compensation shall be examined and decided by the courts in the course of rendering the final judicial decision. Georgia remains firmly committed to the open government partnership process. Since 2023, all legal acts adopted by the government have been made public to ensure openness in decision making, raise public awareness and promote institutional accountability. Now I have to move to the Law on elimination of all forms of discrimination, which involves several vulnerable groups. First, I have to say that the law remains enforced and continues to prohibit unequal treatment supported by institutional mechanisms such as the PDO of Georgia and Judicial Review.

Violence, including hate motivated violence, is criminalized under the Georgian law. Law enforcement authorities are under legal obligation to investigate all acts of violence regardless of the identity of victims or perpetrators. The third priority of the National Human Rights Strategy is dedicated towards ensuring the protection of human rights and freedoms without discrimination. The document includes continuous improvement of equality and anti discrimination legislation, protection of the rights of vulnerable groups and improvement of victims oriented response to crimes committed on grounds of discrimination. The implementation of the Human Rights Strategy and its action plan is supported by the structural mechanisms on the central level as well as on municipal level.

Awareness raising campaigns and capacity building activities targeting law enforcement, educators, public officials have played a key role in reducing states stigma and improving institutional responses to hate crimes and hate speech. And the growing recognition of equality in population is supported by the recent data from the Council of Europe study which shows that tolerance towards diversity in Georgia has been steadily increasing and this is impossible to be done without the involvement of the government.

I think I will stop here and then later I will continue. Thank you.

To invite a member of our delegation from Supreme Court of Georgia. Please.

Thank you, Madam Chair, distinguished delegates, it's pleasure for me to be here and to have the opportunity to share remarks and steps under reports taken by judiciary toward the promotion and protection of human rights. During my speech I will cover a few main issues such as independence of the judiciary and the use of covenant the implementation of covenant rights in the court practice. Firstly, it should be emphasized that numerous positive development during the recent years had greatly contributed enhancement of independence, efficiency, accountability and accessibility of the judiciary in Georgia as a whole. To ensure institutional independence of the judiciary, High Council of Justice of Georgia has been transformed as politically neutral body and it's only accountable before the conference of judges which is included and which is composed only by judges. High Council of Justice of Georgia is competent to appoint, to promote, to start disciplinary proceedings and do administrative to make the administration in the judiciary.

And it's a proof that the judiciary's independence is strengthened by this constitutional amendment. It's also very important that solid guarantees created for the independence of the judges was established by introducing system of lifetime appointment guarantees of irremovability of the judges ensuring their safety and security. Noteworthy that reforms has created tangible guarantees for the accountability of the judges with precise grounds for disciplinary liability and also the legislation which was amended to ensure and guarantee due and fair disciplinary proceedings against the judge. It should be underlined that this significant enhancement of independence of Georgian judiciary is evidenced by the various surveys and since I have very short time, I will mention only one survey, for example, which was conducted in 2024 by Ipsos France Consortium and Professor Ivan Van Van Dajek. The survey results indicated that the surveyed population of Georgia, 61% evaluate justice system as very good or fairly good, which this figure is increased for 10 persons comparing with the last surveys.

And it's it exists the European Union average, which according to the 2023 Eurobarometer was 53. Additionally, in August 2025, the European Commission published Judicial Independence Index 2024 according which Georgian judiciary and independence of the Georgian judiciary ranked 36th place and it's in top 20 countries. And with these results, Georgian judiciary surpasses 16 members of European Union and other candidate countries. And in the relation with the discussion of the cases and on the results of the high profile cases, it should be underlined that the Georgian courts all instances of Georgian courts are taking decision according the evidence is provided by the parties and according the Georgian and international legislation. This fact is confirmed by historically minimum number of complaints in European Court of Human Rights.

And it's also very important that on these high profile cases the CHR had decided, it has mentioned that Georgian courts has made decision according Article 6 of the ECHR. And it's also very important, for example, in cases which were related to the restriction of freedoms of expression and assembly, the courts have applied administrative detention in only 14%. And in other cases the disciplinary proceedings were terminated or administrative, where it was used only verbal warning. And another issue additional issue about the use of covenant by the courts of Georgia. It should be underlined that the Supreme Court of Georgia is the highest judicial authority administrative administering cessation justice frequently applied the provisions of International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

It's important that it's proved by the statistical data. It was, for example, for past two years about 80 cases where Supreme Court of Georgia has used covenant and was used. The covenant was used as directly applicable law in e.g. labor cases, in cases related with education, housing disputes related to pension, insurance and etc. Thank you.

the moment I will stop here and let other delegates. Thank you.

I will let the floor to the Ministry of Finance, please.

Thank you. Dear committee members, I will discuss about the key aspects about three. Georgian economy. So Georgia showed robust economic growth and strong recovery after the pandemic. It is visible in 2021 and 2022 we had two in two consecutive years we had double digit economic growth.

And during the last five years economic growth is more than 9%, 9.3%. Also GDP per capita is improving. Indeed. And during the last five years it doubled. And as of 2025, GDP per capita is expected to be more than 10,000 U.S. do the poverty you mentioned that poverty is the challenge.

But we can see the improvement in this direction as poverty also halved during the last five years. And we are still having different measures how to improve this, how to address this challenge as well. Economic GROWTH we can say that economic growth was not only due to the one off like from the remittances and tourism because we shown more than 9% GDP growth after the pandemic. And it was not only from the remittances. As remittances decreased during 2023 and 2024, but economic growth was still high, for example 7.8 and 9.7% during these two years.

And the main factor for economic growth was investment is we are trying the growth to be more structural and not by the one off factors. For example, capital expenditure is still kept on the high level and in the medium term it is expected to be more than 7% of GDP which is aligned with a prudent fiscal policy stance. We have developments on road infrastructure and full highways, panel network, business environment. We have VAT refund reform and also capital market reform, government security market. And all of these will help the economic growth and also the fiscal strength, credible fiscal performance.

For example, we can see our debt is declining and the deficit is declining. So we can say that our economic is growing and it is robust. Thank you so much.

We have three more minutes. Thank you very much, Madam Chair. So please the Ministry of Health. Please respond to the questions.

Thank you. I will briefly cover the issues of IDPs, child poverty and persons with disabilities. Protecting the rights of IDPs and providing them with decent living conditions until they are able to return to their houses remains one of the top priorities of the Georgian government. According to the different needs, there are a number of ongoing programs that are aimed to provide durable housing solutions for ITP's families. Large scale construction began in 2020 under which about 6,000 apartments will be constructed by the end of 2026.

About 900 million GL will be allocated by the state in next four years on different accommodation programs of IDPs which will have significant impacts in terms of state commitment and provision of IDPs vis durable house. It should be emphasized once again that before IDPs are returned to their homes, providing them with decent housing and other kind social protection will remain one of the most important goals for the state and efforts to this direction will continue in future. As for child poverty, currently the primary instrument for poverty alleviation in the country is the Targeted Social distance program. Through a systematic assessment, households identified as poor receive subsistence benefits while children living in households with a score of up to 120,001 additionally received a child benefit. The total budget of this program is approximately 850 million Georgian lari, of which more than 500 million JL is allocated to financing child benefits.

Overall, around 19% of the population is covered by subsistence allowance. Among the beneficiaries, around 250,000 are children. In addition, other targeted programs are provided for families with children. For example, monthly cash assistance for third and subsequent children in order to promote the demographic situation. Also for persons permanently residing in high mountainous settlements, cash assistance for each newborn and a number of other benefits are provided for socially vulnerable families at the central and local levels.

The social, rehabilitation and childcare program approved on an annual basis includes several programs aimed in supporting families and among them is Program for Families with Children in Crisis, which targets families with children who whose crisis situation has been identified by social worker. This program also includes a voucher for infant nutrition and various types of social services are provided for persons with disabilities, including assistive devices such as wheelchairs, electric wheelchairs and other services. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, distinguished delegation, for your responses. I'm aware that you did have a few more responses to share with us and I think there will be an opportunity. What we will do now at this stage is request open the floor for follow up questions. They might be there to the responses that you have given so far.

And after we've collected the follow up questions, you would have another opportunity to respond. And that's when you can look at the residual responses as well. The floor is open And I see Mr. Santiago Furio and Mr. Hannibal thereafter. Or is it Juyong? Ms. Lee.

So Mr. Furio followed by Ms. Lee.

Mucha gracias. Thank you very much indeed for giving me the floor. I have a quite a large number of questions which shows my interest in the dialogue. In the opening remarks, the State said that it has incorporated the recommendations it has received from various treaty bodies and other mechanisms in its public policies. Could you please tell us about the methodology used for that purpose?

And along similar lines, does the State have a national standing mechanism which is aimed at implementation, follow up and reporting of recommendations, human rights recommendations received by the State? I'd like to ask about the State Party's position and its intention or not to possibly sign and possibly ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Rights of Migrant Workers and Members of their Families. And I'd also like to know about the Convention.

Against Enforced Disappearances.

Let me also ask Whether within the legal framework there is a protection framework in place for human rights defenders? And if not, is there any commitment to establish a specific framework which would guarantee due protection?

The package of amendments on the Subsidies Law or the Grants Law to the Criminal Code, the Administrative Code and the Law on Political Associations in Georgia, which were announced on 28 January this year, could the Delegation express the basis explaining those reforms, particularly the need to require the adoption by the State party to develop activities from civil society when it comes to international cooperation, including cooperation in the field of human rights? Furthermore, the State has undertaken a prior assessment of the human rights impact and does it channel and does it note its compatibility with the international commitments of Georgia, particularly when it comes to the freedom of association expression, political participation and international cooperation, and also the identification of risks in its implementation and specific safeguards to prevent arbitrary or disproportionate effects? If analysis of this nature has not been conducted, I'd like to ask whether you plan to do so in the short term.

Furthermore, how does the State ensure that the far reaching drafting of the amendments to the law and grants does not restrict legitimate activities in the field of human rights or interfere with the mandate and the privileges and immunities of the United nations system, more specifically, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights?

Also, when it comes to the amendments, how can the State justify the general prohibition proposed of a membership to political parties for a timeline of eight years for those who have worked in foreign or international organizations in light of Article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and political rights, Article 11 of the European Commission of Human Rights in terms of necessity and proportionality? We would like a response to that.

How does the State look at the requirement for government authorization so that foreign experts can draft studies or reports in the field of human rights in terms of international obligations on Georgia when it comes to immunities and privileges granted by the United Nations? I'm particularly thinking about how do you ensure that this doesn't interfere with the mandate of, for instance, special rapporteurships or other bodies within the United nations system with which the government.

Has said it is willing to cooperate? And lastly, how can the State ensure that the restrictions imposed on business identity, business activities be compatible with Article 29 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights and Article 10 of the European Convention? Could you also tell us about the current state of play of the draft law? Thank you very much indeed. I'm sorry that I asked so many questions, but this is a topic of great interest to us.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Furio. I have Ms. Lee followed by Mr. Kanhai and then Ms. Laura Krachnuta too. Ms. Lee, you have the floor.

Thank you, Chair. And I would also like to join my colleagues in extending warm welcome to the distance distinguished members of the delegation. I have three points to follow up. First, while we have just heard measures to protect rights of internally displaced persons from the members of the delegation, we remain concerned about reports that the IDPs continue to face the challenges in fully enjoying their economic, social and cultural rights. So please provide information on specific measures to take to address the challenges faced by by IDPs and to ensure the full enjoyment of the Covenant rights by internally displaced persons, including access to adequate housing, employment, Social Security, health care and education.

And second, we are concerned about reports about the 2024 law on the protection of Family Values and Minors, which among others prohibits the dissemination of sexually except explicit information in educational institutions. The scope and implementation of this law may have implications for minority the rights of the various minorities. So in this regard, we would like to know whether the State Party has reviewed this legislation in light of the principle of non discrimination. And lastly, I would like to compliment the Country Rapporteur's question on taxation in relation to maximum available resources. We are concerned that heavy reliance on flat income taxation and value added tax may have regressive effects.

The 2025 World bank report indicates that the flat rate structure results in a relatively higher tax burden on the bottom 20% of the population and that the incidence of VAT is also disposable, proportionately high for lower income households. In this regard, we would welcome information on measures taken or envisaged to enhance the progressivity and equity of the tax system. Thank you very much. Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Ashraf Kanhai.

Thank you, Chair. I would endure the time constraint, commit myself to short questions. First, with regard to non discrimination, we did not have any straight answer with regard to discrimination concerning LGBTQI persons. The National Human rights strategy for 2022-2030 does not include LGBTQI persons. And the question is simply this is what steps are being taken to include on grounds of discrimination, on prohibited grounds of discrimination, the question of the issues of sexual orientation and gender identity, whether these should be contemplated to be included as prohibited grounds of discrimination with regard to corruption.

One straight question. Why did Georgia withdraw from the monitoring round of the OECD Anti Corruption Monitoring Network for Eastern Europe and Central Asia? And with regard to business and human rights, we have been provided with, and we are grateful for that, with detailed Information concerning policies, guidelines, mediation practice, etc. But our question is specifically with regard to legal framework. Is there any law in the pipeline, any law which is directed towards enjoining business entities to exercise human rights, due diligence in the conduct of all their activities?

And this is the only way in which covenant rights may be monitored. In. The exercise of the activities. And this maybe we have UN guiding principles with regard to such legislation. And lastly, with regard to equal rights of men and women, we would still like to have a clear answer.

What is being done to bridge the gender pay gap and the over representation of women in unpaid domestic care work? A high percentage undertake unpaid domestic care work and for which they receive no retribute, they are not remunerated. And also what is being done to ensure gender parity and participation and representation, not only in decision making positions where women are underrepresented, but also as regards political participation and representation. For instance, as of 2024, the percentage of women in ministerial positions was only 16.67%. I thank you for your attention.

Thank you, Sir. I have two more requests. Ms. Laura Krachinutatu, followed by Mr. Hannibal. Since we are running a little behind time, I request if you could kindly keep your questions short and brief. Thank you, Madam Chair.

And as it is the first time. I'm taking the floor. Welcome to the distinguished Georgian delegation. So I'll be very quick and just. Kindly remind you of a question which.

Was posed by the Country Rapporteur in respect of data collection. So I just want to reiterate this. Question and if possible, to have an answer for you. So I will from you at this point in time. And then if you can add to this question something that it will be also interesting.

You collect any kind of data from. South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and if you do, how do you manage to do collective of the collection of data from those specific region? Thanks. Thank you, ma'. Am.

Mr. Hannibal. Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you also to the delegation. Welcome to you and thank you for participating in this dialogue. I had some questions related to investment and the agreements governing investment rules in your country.

I would take into account the significant flow of foreign direct investment in various sectors, particularly in the extractive sector. So I had a number of questions in that respect. Do you assess the compatibility of investment agreements with precisely your obligations pursuant to the covenant, so as to verify whether those agreements will maintain or not a sufficient space for the gradual commitment to economic, social and cultural rights? And secondly, I'd like to come back to the question raised by the Rapporteur, more specifically, what are the reasonable compulsory diligence mechanisms that are in place that govern investment projects? And last question on this.

What are the effective remedies which are accessible to the affected communities by foreign investment requests? My second question pertains to another area. I'd like to know what national mechanisms are in place so as to implement the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights and any possible findings of treaty bodies, or indeed recommendations stemming from special procedures or from Human Rights Council bodies. So what mechanisms do you have? Could you please tell us about their effectiveness?

Thank you. Thank you, sir. And your Excellency, I request you now and your delegation to please respond to the follow up questions. And you will have 20 minutes. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Madam Chair, I would like to give the floor to the Parliament member, our member of our delegation from Parliament of Georgia. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much for your additional question. In this regard, I'd like to give more details about the law on grant and about the law on foreign influences. Of course, we made some additional amendments to the law to guarantee not to make some international foreign financial flows to be involved in Georgia's political situation and political party movement. All other things. What NGO sector and civil society is making this is the freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, expression of ideas is free and they have full right to implement their activities in this regard and cooperate with international organizations and international non governmental organizations as well to defend the basic values which they regard important.

To defend it may require the democratic institutions, environmental issues, family protection, children rights protection and so on, so on. Let me just brief. For several occasions which were happening in Georgia that made us to make these amendments to the law to ensure to avoid foreign influences through foreign international finances, certain non government and organizations have strayed from their stated objectives and effectively transformed into informal political parties. At public rallies they have demanded the replacement of the legitimately elected government. Rather than advocating for public interest.

In some instance, the same individual simultaneously held leadership positions in NGOs and they have the political party with the same name to ensure to gain foreign financial flows for their political activities covered and covered by the NGO activities. It was just a shirm to use this financial foreign financial resources for their political activities and not for their NGO activities. It was the case. More recently, examples have emerged of NGOs operating in Georgian registering themselves in other countries to bypass existing legislation, using their resources for political rather than civil purposes, again without accountability. This action represents a direct challenge to transparency, democratic norms and integrity of Civil society.

Anyone who hides the origins of their finances is in essence evading. Democracy is forbidden not only by Georgian legislations, but also by the leading democratic countries, members of EU and some other countries of course worldwide. Let me further make some notes in regards with women equal participation in Georgian society and moreover, I would like to emphasize that NGO participation is guaranteed during the discussions of any public policy or something like that. An appropriate legislative framework at all levels of government continues to provide for the involvement of interested parties in the public policy deliberations, ensuring that all participants are guaranteed the opportunity to engage in discussions. Democracy requires inclusive consultations inform public involvement, but it does not necessarily mandatory participation of their participation in decision making.

So we have made recently amendments to address a provision that had that non governmental organizations not to have direct role in decision making process but has all possibility to participate in the process of discussion and in the process of developing of law or some policy policy preparations. This is the state on this stage. And as for equal women participation, let me stress some key achievement in this regard in this area. According to the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index 2025, Georgia ranks 63rd out of 148 eight countries, improving from 69th place in 2024. So we have some progress in this regard.

Georgia exceeds the globe average in several dimensions, ranking 53rd in economic participation and opportunity and 41st place in health and survival, and performs ahead of a number of European countries. Reducing the wage gap remains a key priority. In 2024, the adjusted monthly wage gap stopped at 19.3%, reflecting a decrease of 1.6 percentage points compared to 2023. The adoption of the state concept of women's economic empowerment and Georgia's accession to the Equal Pay International coalition provided a strategic framework for addressing wage inequalities through evidence based analysis, legislative measures and reporting mechanism. These efforts are reinforced in national legislation including Article 4 of the Labor Code which guarantees equal pay for equal work.

Political participation has also evolved. The temporarily 25% quota introduced in 2020 increased women's representation in Parliament. Following the abolishment of abolishing of quotas in 2024, progress continued with 34 women elected to parliament. Out of 150 Member of Parliament, women comprised 28% of ministers and 55% of judges in common courts. This experience demonstrates the lasting impact of temporary measures and the growing role of political parties in promoting balanced representation in Parliament.

Georgia has strengthened its legal and institutional framework through constitutional amendments, legislative reforms, a national strategy addressing violence against women and economic empowerment. It has to be outlined that Georgia ensures access to free legal aid and comprehensive support service for victims of domestic violence, including shelters, crisis centers and psychological and social assistance, without requiring formal victim status as a precondition for receiving support. So, in conclusion, Georgia remains committed to advancing equality between women and men through sustainable and result oriented policies and stands ready for continued cooperation with international partners in this regard. Thank you.

Madam Chair. I would like to yield the floor to another member of Parliament of Georgia. Thank you. Please. Thank you.

For Georgia, child rights are a priority. And we are very much committed to strengthening children's rights. However, as a convention on the rights of the child underlines, we need to take into account, I quote, the importance of the traditions and cultural values of. Each people for the protection and harmonious development of the child. The Georgian society is a traditional society with values in a democratic society.

As the Parliament of Georgia, we need. To listen to our nation. Georgia adopted the Law on Family Values and the Protection of Minors with full consensus of Georgian society. This law aims to protect children's rights. From harmful influences from propaganda, but it.

Does not affect LGBTQI rights. We protect all vulnerable groups rights by the anti discrimination law and by other national and international mechanisms.

Thank you.

Thank you. I will try to be very short in my answers. There are too many questions. I will try to find as efficiently as possible the solution to provide all the information. Now, the first question that I want to refer to was about the human rights strategy and exclusion of certain groups from the human rights strategy.

The fact that human rights strategy doesn't mention some of the groups that you have mentioned doesn't mean that these groups are left unprotected and unintended. And I will explain the system, how it works. The human rights strategy checked in is divided in four parts. In the third part, the discrimination, anti discrimination measures are enumerated and one of the main priority of the third part is to protect the law on the discrimination on anti discrimination, on the elimination of all forms of discrimination and the law and promote the law and to protect it and somehow to help its implementation and support its implementation. And the law on elimination of all forms of discrimination directly mentions all the grounds for discrimination, including sexual orientation, that was mentioned by the respective committee member.

Therefore, again, this allegation or indication that some of the groups are left unattended or unprotected has really nothing to do with reality. Now, there was also a question on business and human rights. The business we have mentioned in my speech, even though it was very quick, the Iraqi principles, according to the due diligence the question was about the due diligence according to the RAGI principles. It offers the following framework to the states that follow these principles. This is the responsibility of the state to protect the labor rights, environmental rights and business related human rights violations.

This is the responsibility of the business to respect labor rights, environmental rights and business related human rights violations. And this is the responsibility of both businesses and the state to provide sufficient remedies. Now, if we speak about the this is the framework that we have integrated in our policy documents. If we speak specifically about the legal documents, and if we speak about specifically about the legislation. Of course, the Labor Code that was adopted in recent years covers and applies to the whole jurisdiction of the the country, including the businesses, including the corporations.

Everybody who is investing in the country or who is doing any kind of business activity in the country is obliged to follow labor law. Everybody who is participating in the country's economic development or economic activities is obliged to respect the laws on environmental protection and so on and so forth. So there is a legal framework on certain issues in certain directions. At least same time, there is the RAGI principle that can be used and can be considered as a kind of umbrella of all these situations.

There was also a question about the equal pay. I didn't have time to respond to this question and thought to postpone it to the situation when I have opportunity to speak on women's rights in general as part of the anti discrimination measures. But once this question was repeated again I will provide answer to specifically to this issue. In 2020, the Labor Law was amended and according to the amendment, the concept of equal pay for equal work was introduced in the Labor Code. It was for the first time when equal this kind of concept was recognized in the Labor Code.

Before that there was nothing was happening in our legislation. Now I understand there might be concerns about the concept of equal pay for the work of equal value and equal compared to the equal pay for equal work. But again, I want to stress that this is the progressive realization part that is required by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. And this is for the first time that we have included this into the legislation. And also this is for the courts to see how the courts interpret this concept in practice.

Because if the courts interpret this concept in practice according to the broad meaning that as it was and as it is recognized by the international society, then it means that we are in compliance with the international obligations and what the courts do about this. My colleague will speak later. But there was also about unpaid domestic care work. It was in 2022 when Georgian Statistics Office conducted broad research on this issue and of course very important challenges and very important findings were identified. But again, we all know that and what we do now and what we try to do is that to include all these challenges and all these outcomes of this research into the policy documents that we are discussing now.

This is the human rights action plan, or this is. Is the national action plan, or is this the local action plan? So we try to incorporate these issues into these policy documents, but at the same time we have to be mindful of the fact that the state's. The obligation of the state under the covenant is to progressively realize the covenant rights to the maximum of its available resources. And this is what the general comment 3 tells us to do.

And this is what it was also confirmed and reiterated in general comment 27 that was adopted by respective committee just last year. And this is. But at the same time, we of course understand that progressive realization to the maximum of its available resources. It doesn't mean that we don't have to. To take any steps.

We do take steps. And this is what our claim is, that we do take steps progressively. And the increase of the budget, the increase of the activities in this regard is approved for that. Thank you.

Good afternoon. Can I. Yeah, good afternoon. I would like to start with anti corruption efforts. There were questions about anti corruption bodies and results achieved in the anti corruption area. I'm representing the Prosecution Service of Georgia and Prosecution Service of Georgia is the key anti corruption body.

We have competence, sole competence to prosecute. Corruption in the country and we have. Investigation competence as well, which is shared with the anti corruption agency of the State Security Service. I would like to now inform you. About the number of key reforms dedicated towards strengthening the independence of the prosecution service.

These reforms followed the force evaluation round recommendations of Greco which we are related to the independence of the prosecutor's office. I would like to say that Georgia. Has implemented all six recommendations concerning prosecutors which were given by Greco to Georgia. And I will briefly tell you what were these recommendations. In total it was six.

One was related to continuation of the reform of the Prosecutor's office, which has been continued and change changes we are made to the appointment of the Prosecutor General. Another recommendation related to the allocation of cases at the prosecutor's office which was also improved. There was third recommendation which was related to recruitment and promotion of prosecutors based on objective and transparent criteria, which was also fully complied with. There was recommendation about updating the ethics code and complementing it with practical measures. It was also implemented one more recommendation related to defining disciplinary offenses more precisely and ensuring the proportionality of sanctions.

This was also implemented. And there was the last recommendation related to extension of asset declaration regime to all prosecutors which was also implemented in 2024. All these recommendations we are related to strengthening the independence of the Prosecutor's office and 100% of those recommendations has been implemented. Now we are subject to the recommendation. Fifth round assessment and we are in the process of implementing fifth round recommendations.

I would like to say regarding the. Effectiveness that informant important institutional change was that the resources of key anti corruption body at the Prosecutor's office has been increased. It was increased in 2025 by 92%. This is about reforms and changes. Now I would like to inform you about the practical enforcement in 2020.

2025 Overall, 1272 persons were prosecuted for. Corruption in public and private sectors and. 945 persons we are convicted for corruption in public and private sectors. Should I stop here? Thank you sir for for minding the time.

Your Excellency, we are a little running behind time and we still have Cluster two. And what I would suggest is that we will of course start with Cluster two questions. You respond to them, there will be follow up questions, you respond to those. However, we will at around quarter to six take a pause and to allow you to listen to questions under cluster 3 so that you are able to work on your responses overnight and tomorrow morning. You can then respond to of course Cluster three, but also what has been left unanswered under Cluster one as well as Cluster two.

So which is why I'm sorry, I requested that we now allow our cluster leader, Ms. Jiang Li to kindly pose her questions under cluster two. You have the floor, Ma'. Am.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to thank the State Party for its report and for the written replies to the list of issues which we have carefully studied. I will address Articles 6 to 9 concerning work related rights and the right to Social Security. In this regard, I will focus on areas where further efforts are needed to strengthen the implementation of the Covenant. Article 6 Right to Work.

While we note the State Parties active labor market policies to promote access to employment, According to the ILO, the unemployment rate remains nearly 17% and youth unemployment is significantly higher than the national average. The rate of young people not in work, education or training is also high. The high level of unemployment and limited job opportunities are reported to drive increasing labor emigration to other countries. Please provide information on specific measures to reduce unemployment and underemployment and to increase access to decent work. Please also let US know whether the State Party provides high quality technical and vocational training programs tailored to labor market needs and how you assess its outcomes.

I turn to the issue of informal economy. A large portion of workforce remains in the informal economy in the State Party, particularly in agriculture and construction. Many workers in informal economy are not covered by labor legislation and the Social Security system in rural areas, employment opportunities outside agriculture remain very much limited and the agriculture sector is largely dominated by subsistence and semi subsistence farming which may disproportionately affect rural women. Please provide information on measures to ensure that workers in informal economy benefit from labor standards and Social Security. Please provide information on measures to accelerate the transition from the informal economy to the formal economy and to diversify employment opportunities in rural areas.

Next Non Discrimination and Equality in Employment Information before the Committee indicates that persons with disabilities, ethnic minorities, internally displaced persons and LGBTQI persons continue to face barriers and inequalities in access to distant work. We also note reports that the 2024amendment to the law on public service and the 2025amendment to the Law in fighting corruption as well as mass dismissals of public sector employees in recent years have raised concerns regarding weakened job security and possible discrimination in public sector employment, including on the grounds of trade union activities or political opinion. What measures has the State Party taken to promote equality of opportunity for ethnic minorities, IDPs in employment and occupation? In this regard, please also indicate any targeted measures to improve educational opportunities and language skills of ethnic minorities and IDPs. What measures has the State Party taken to address barriers and discrimination faced by LGBTQI person in employment?

Please also explain how the State Party ensures reasonable accommodation in recruitment and in the workplace for persons with disability? What measures has the State Party taken to ensure the legislative amendments are in full compliance with international human rights and labor standards, including non discrimination and freedom of association?

Next, Article VII Right to Address the Unfavorable Conditions of Work we note with concern that the high number of occupational injuries and fatalities resulting from unsafe working conditions, particularly in mining and construction sectors. We also note that despite legislative reforms limiting normal weekly working hours, significant gaps remain in ensuring reasonable working time in practice. In particular, labor legislation does not establish an increase explicit upper limit for overtime work which may result in excessively long working hours. A fully fledged Labor Inspection Office was established however, the protection of labor rights remains inadequate and ineffective in practice.

Please provide information on measures to reduce occupational diseases, injuries and fatalities, especially especially in high risk sectors such as mining and construction. Please provide information and measures to ensure effective compliance with the labor standards on working hours rest periods, including whether the State Party plans to establish an explicit upper limit for overtime work. Please provide information on measures to strengthen labor inspection mechanisms in order to effectively monitor conditions of work in all sectors of of the former and informal economy. Next Minimum Wage we note with concern that the level of minimum wage is insufficient to secure an adequate standard of living for workers and their families and it is not regularly adjusted to the cost of living. Please provide information on steps taken to ensure that all workers are covered by minimum wage protection.

Please provide information on measures to ensure that minimum wages are regularly reviewed and adjusted in line with the cost of living. Article 8 Trade union rights we note with concern the low number of collective bargaining agreements in the State Party. We also note reports of incidents involving the restriction of freedom of expression and assembly related to labor protests, including in mining sector demonstrations against unpaid wages, working conditions and mass layoffs. In this context, we further note reports that some individuals participating in these protests have faced criminal charges. We are also concerned about the potential impact of the 2024 law on transparency of foreign influence on the foreign functioning and independence of trade unions.

Please provide information on measures taken to promote collective bargaining and effective social dialogue. Please provide information on legal and practical safeguards in place to protect workers and trade union members against discrimination, retaliation or undue interference on the grounds of trade union membership or active duty. Please provide information on measures taken to ensure that independent trade unions and their members can exercise their rights to freedom of association and assembly and Article 9 right to Social Security we are concerned by reports indicating the absence of a comprehensive Social Security strategy and the fragmentation of social services between the national and municipal levels. In this context, social support measures are often limited to one off cash benefits which are insufficient to address the root causes of poverty or to ensure sustainable improvements in living standards. We note the State Party's indication in its replies to the List of issues paragraph 23 that a unified social code is currently under development.

Please provide information on plans to develop and adopt a comprehensive Social Security strategy, including the adoption of a unified social code, and explain how this framework is expected to address regional disparities and improve the coherence and adequacy of Social Security across both national and municipal levels. Targeted Social Assistance we note with concern that the monthly amount of the benefits under the targeted social assistance program remains far below the nationally determined subsistence minimum and is insufficient to meet the basic needs of individuals and children living in poverty. We are further concerned at reports that the public employment program for the working age beneficiaries of Social Security assistance has been discontinued. In addition, reports suggest that the proxy means testing methodology used to assess household vulnerability may not fully capture the situations of all individuals in need. We also note reported delays in granting benefits and procedural requirements in the appeals process, including a mandatory one year waiting period for reassessment which may have adverse effects on applicants access to other services including free meals and medical assistance.

Please provide information on plans to increase the level of cash benefits for children and families under the TSA program and to regularly adjust the benefit levels to the actual cost of living with a view to ensuring a life with dignity. Please provide information on measures to facilitate access to distant employment for persons in vulnerable situations, including the beneficiaries of targeted social assistance. Please provide information on steps taken or plan to review and improve the proximin's testing methodology with a view to ensuring that those most in need are effectively covered by Social Security benefits. Please provide information on measures to streamline administrative procedures, reduce delays and ensure effective accessible appeal mechanism for applicants. I will reserve some questions later and thank you very much for your attention.

Thank you, Ms. Lee and I now give the floor to the distinguished delegation for the next 30 minutes to respond to the questions to the extent possible. Thank you.

Madam Chair. Thank you very much. I would like to give the floor to the Ministry of Health.

Promoting employment and implementing active labor market policies are among the top priorities of the Government of Georgia since 2015. LNPs have played a crucial role in supporting job seekers by offering short term vocational training and retraining, internships, career guidance, job matching services and the development of core competencies. Special attention with LNP's is given to providing supported employment services for persons with disabilities to further promote the economic inclusion of social vulnerable populations. The Public Employment Program was introduced in March 2022. The program offers beneficiaries several pathways including participation in public works employment in the open labor market, formalization of informal employment for those already working informally, and access to short term vocational training.

If included in the program, socially vulnerable families are provided with a subsistence allowance for a period of four years. This project has concluded following the completion of its four year cycle and accordingly within the annual employment programs, individuals from socially vulnerable households have been designed as separate target groups. The employment program includes a program for the development of employment support services and this program for improving the professional qualification of job seekers. The overarching objective of these programs programs is to develop and implement ALM peace policies and employment support services that promotes activation and integration of job seekers into the labor market. This program for the development of Employment Support Services encompasses a wide range of activities, including the development of an electronic labor market management system, group counseling, information and awareness, rising activities, wage subsidies and other employment support services.

A newly introduced and particularly important component is Employment Support for vulnerable low competitive groups, which aims to establish and deliver tailored employment support services for vulnerable populations with low competitiveness in the labor market. In 2025, an additional subcomponent subsidizing Labor Wage to promote employment in enterprises in high mountain Settlements was introduced under this component and its objective is to promote employment of individuals with permanent resident status in high mountain settlements by providing wage subsidies to enterprises operating in those areas, thereby supporting local businesses and strengthening regional economic development. This program for improving the professional qualification of job seekers aims to enhance the competitiveness of job seekers and facilitate their employment. Through the implementation of this program, the state supports activation and integration of job seekers into the labor market by offering professional counseling and career planning services, training in key competencies, vocational training in occupations in demand in the labor market, professional retraining and subsequent workplace internships. As for reasonable accommodation, we understand well how important it is to promote the employment of persons with disabilities and how important it is to adhere to the principle of reasonable accommodation in this process.

I would like to say that certain steps have been taken in this direction. In December 2025, our partner organization Expertise France prepared two analytical papers on the application of the principle of reasonable accommodation. The first, examiners Judicial and administrative practice regarding disability discrimination and reasonable accommodation in employment and the second policy paper analyzes the principle of reasonable accommodation in Georgian employment relationship and aims to identify legislative gaps and development recommendations for institutional reforms and with expert support from UNDP Project AS guidebook Reasonable Accommodation Guidelines in the Workplace was developed. This document is being developed for educational purposes and addresses implementation implementation of reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities in employment relationship and it is currently being revised to adapt it to the situation in Georgia and we intend to share the adapted version of this document with social partners, the disability community and other interested parties. So we continue to work in this direction.

Thank you, Madam Chair, I would like to give the floor to the Ministry of Health again and then to the Ministry of Economics. Thank you, Minister of Economy.

Okay, sure. Okay, it's working. Madam Chair, distinguished members of the committee.

Dear colleagues, it's an honor for me to share few words of Georgia's fundamental steps towards the protection of labor rights. In Georgia, which is guaranteed and protected. By the Constitution of Georgia, organic laws of Georgia and other labor law provisions. Over the past decade, country has refined and restructured its labor Standards in line with international labor laws, thereby shaping a framework for fair and decent working conditions. Particularly, Georgia strengthened the protection of labor rights, ensuring working conditions, improve collective bargaining procedures, monitoring the enforcement of labor legislation, prohibiting discrimination in labor relations, promoting the employment of vulnerable persons and guaranteed safe working conditions.

In addition, main legislative changes occurred to regulate labor migration process, which makes labor inspectorate as one of the major parts of for preventing illegal migration in Georgia. To ensure effective oversight of compliance with these standards, Georgia has progressively developed and institutionalized a labor inspection system, gradually expanded its mandate in parallel, increased the budget and the number of inspectors, and provided training and retraining for the staff. As of today, labor inspection fully meets the standards set out in ILO Convention 81 on Labor Inspection. In addition, the expansion of agencies, mandates and work done has been confirmed by international bodies such as Europe's Group of Experts on Trafficking in human beings and U.S. department of Labor. Regarding strengthening labor conditions in the country, particularly occupational safety and health regulations, fatal workplace experience accidents has decreased by 46%, even more for 2025, Georgia has zero fatal cases.

In mining sector in general, the number of occupational incidents has also declined proportionally, reflecting effective enforcement of occupational safety standards and the positive impact of preventive measures. Regarding the anti discrimination provisions in labor relations, a separate independent structural unit was created under Labor Inspection Office, taking into account the consideration that 12 times increased the complaints about discriminatory treatment in workplaces, which indicates the rise trust from society in the work has been to the work what has been done by labor inspectorate as a result of supervision, the facts of violations of anti discrimination norm in the workplace, both in pre contractual and other ongoing as well as in terminated labor relations was revealed up to 300 facilities. In parallel with strengthening institutional capacity, awareness raising on labor norms is one of the priority which is provided through public campaigns, consultations by written or face to face manner, along with the work of Labour Inspector 8 hotline which provided over 44,000 consultations. In addition, each year the Office publishes a comprehensive annual report on its activities based on the law and ensures transparency and public access to the information. As for the international labor conventions, Georgia is currently undertaking preparatory steps towards the potential ratification of several including Workers Family with Family Responsibilities Convention, Maternity Protection Convention, Domestic Workers Convention, Collective Bargaining Convention.

To support this process, a regular impact assessment is being conducted by UN Women in coordination with the Ministry of IDPs Labour Health and Social affairs of Georgia. In parallel, internal consultations are going with the participation of relevant actors and competent authorities. Thank you.

Madam Chairman, distinguished members of the Committee, thank you to address the informal economy in a holistic government wide manner encompassing tax, labor, social and financial policies. The Government of Georgia has decided to prepare a dedicated policy plan for this purpose. Inter Ministerial Working Group was established by the order of the Minister of the Economy and Sustainable Development which is mandated to elaborate an overarching program for reducing the informal economy and to develop relevant recommendations. The Working Group has commenced work on preparing a situational analysis and conducting sectoral and risk assessments. Meetings of the Working Group held with the participation of the International Labor Organization have identified key actions to be undertaken by relevant institutions, so the work is ongoing with further analytical and policy development activities continuing in close cooperation with relevant stakeholders and international partners.

I would also like to mention briefly about the economic opportunities, especially in rural settlements. The Government of Georgia promotes economic opportunities for rural women through targeted entrepreneurship, digital inclusion and also tourist development programs through Enterprise Georgia, which is legal entity under the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development. Women, including those living in rural settlements, receive preferential access to finance, subsidized consulting services, microloans with full interest, subsidies and digital skills support via Growth Hub, which are consultations hub in the regions of Georgia. Complementary initiatives by Georgia's Innovations and Technologies Agency expand women's participation in innovation, tech skills and startup ecosystems, while the Digital support program strengthens digital literacy and access to online economic services in rural communities. In parallel, the Georgian National Tourism Administration enhanced women's employment and entrepreneurship in regional tourism through specialized training and support for family run businesses.

Together, these integrated measures improve rural women access to financial resources, digital tools, entrepreneurial knowledge and market opportunities, fostering inclusive and sustainable economic growth. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like to invite Ministry of Health again to answer the questions I. Have at some points. As I mentioned, one of the key priorities of social policy in Georgia is poverty reduction and the improvement of the population's social conditions. The TSA is the largest social program in the country after old age pensions and is aimed at reducing poverty and supporting low income households.

The program applies a proxy means testing methodology to assess household welfare, taking into account factors such as housing conditions, household size, employment status, disability status of household members, ownership of real estate income, utility expenses and other relevant indicators. In addition to cash benefits, the beneficiaries have exceptional access to broader health insurance coverage compared to the general population. Furthermore, many national and municipal programs are linked to the database of socially vulnerable families, including municipal transportation benefits, electricity subsidies and access to extracurricular activities for children. Currently, with the support of World Bank, a revision of welfare assessment methodologies underway to better and raise the needs of families, especially those with children, improve targeted accuracy and reduce inclusion and exclusion errors. Within the framework of new methodology, retraining of social agents and relevant information campaign are planned and the implementation of the methodology for assessing the socio economic status of families is planned from the fourth quarter of this year.

And in parallel, work is underway to reduce the terms for granting subsistence allowance from the time of filling out the family declaration from 90 to 60 days. As for public employment program, the State Audit Office of Georgia has initiated an audit assessing the effectiveness of measures aimed at reducing the dependencies of subsistence allowance beneficiaries on social assistance. The audit covers the period of 2023, 2024 and the first half of 2025. Based on the findings and recommendations of the audit, further measures to promote the employment of workable population registered in the database of socially vulnerable families will be planned. Thank you.

I would like to invite Ministry of Education to answer the question about programs.

Okay, okay. You will consolidate all the. Okay. All right then. Madam Chair, I would like to use this opportunity while we have time and we have several remaining questions and can I use this.

Thank you very much. So, Ministry of Agriculture and.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Distinguished experts, allow me to share the recent progress made in regards of the environmental protection and agriculture of Georgia. In recent years, Georgia has strengthened climate change mitigation, adaptation and disaster risk management. The Climate Change Strategy 2030 and its action plans include over 100 measures across energy, transport, buildings, industry, agriculture, waste and forestry. Progress shows that institutional coordination is strengthened and climate change considerations are integrated across the sectors.

And Georgia is on track to meet its current NDC target of 35% reduction. Of emissions compared to 1990 levels. This year, government will approve NDC 3.0, rising the target up to 47%. In agriculture, the government mobilized 6.7 billion Larry to implement the agriculture and rural development strategies. The action plan covers 88 activities across five ministries.

By 2024, value added in Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries reached 5.1 billion Georgian Lari, which is 114% higher compared to 2012 and accounted to 6.3% of GDP. Between 2013 and 2025, about 140,000 agreements were signed with 45,000 beneficiaries in minority populated municipalities with 4 billion invested and about 1 billion co financing. In addition, GA is implementing two large projects across several regions to rehabilitate irrigation systems serving more than 50,000 hectares and about 48,000 landowners, 2,000 medium and large farms and this also includes 95% of smallholders, 60% ethnic minorities and 45% women to enhance women's participation in agriculture and economic resilience, including in minority and remote regions. Between 2013 and 2025, more than 60,000 agreements were signed to support 32,800 women, including 11,000 AgroCredits and 43,000 insurance policies. Overall investment was 615 million Georgian Larry and 183 million was co financed.

During the recent years, Georgia has also advanced disaster risk reduction through implementation of a national strategy. Between 2023 and 2025, we have installed an upper air sounding system, 154 hydro meteorological stations, 11 landsliding stations, expanding hazard mapping and launched modern flood forecasting and early warning platforms to improve preparedness and community resilience. Georgia has also improved in regards of the public involvement in environmental decision making. Between 2022 and 2025, 585 public hearings, 336 scoping announcements, 251 environmental decisions and 14 strategic environmental assessments were held with active participation of the public. Participation grew from 680 people in 2022 to over 3,000 during last two years.

Between 2022 and 2025, the National Environment Agency initiated 28 administrative proceedings. It was also asked about how we deal with these cases and we have identified about 1300 cases of illegal lodging and administrative proceedings were initiated and 107 cases were sent to the criminal proceedings. Dear experts, overall, Georgia is making strong, measurable progress in climate action, sustainable agriculture and disaster resilience, which is inclusive policies that benefits all communities. And we are determined to continue advancing this efforts in the years ahead. Thank you.

Yes, Madam Chair, with your permission, I would like to give a floor to the Ministry of Justice followed by election administration. Thank you.

Good afternoon, everybody. There was a question about the national procedure regarding the execution of the European Court of Human Rights judgments and the decision of the relevant UN Committees. The Georgia government pays particular importance on the sustaining progress in the execution of the judgments of the ECHR and the decision of the UN Committees. Just to inform the distinguished Committee members, the execution rates of the judgments of the European Court of Human rights recently exceeds 80%. According to the latest figures, the supervision of 121 cases against Georgia has been closed by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe by the resolutions in accordance with the domestic legislation, the.

National Court, the judiciary system is under. The obligation, the statutory obligation to rely on the European human rights and the Court's case law while shaping reasoning of their decisions. Furthermore, on an annual basis, the Ministry of Justice, as a governmental counsel to. The Strasbourg Court, submits the report to. The Parliament reflecting the implementation progress on the execution commitment of the Strasbourg Court.

Decisions by the different governmental institutions. On top of that, this is very inclusive process and the Ombudsman's Office as well as the civil society organizations are. Engaged in submitting their shadow reports to. The Parliament showing their opinions about the execution of this Transportation Court decisions by the governmental institutions. Thank you.

Thank you. I have an honor to speak on behalf of the Central Election Commission of Georgia in relation to the Article 3 of the comment on equal rights of women and men with a focus on the role of election administration in promoting gender equality. The CC of Georgia integrates gender equality considerations into the administration of elections through its institutional framework, internal mechanisms and operational activities. To support this work, a Gender Equality Council has been established within the election administration since 2011 and it operates as a consultative mechanism and facilitates method discussions and activities related to women's participation in elections and inclusive electoral practices. Women's participation is further supported through educational and outreaching activities integrated into the CEC's voter education programs and these activities include comprehensive workshops, capacity building projects targeted to women of political parties, leaders of the political parties, women candidates and also information campaigns and the more collections they are.

Participating in which involve diverse population of. Groups including women, youth and adulter voters and these activities indeed supported understanding of electoral procedures and facilitated the effective and easy usage of electronic technologies which contributed to the high level of voter participation. When approximately 90% of voters participated participating in parliamentary elections. We also systematic collect and processes and publish gender disaggregated electoral data and this information is available through CISIO official website named the Gender Statistics portal and it. Is desegregated by the types of election.

Including voter registration, elected officials and members of election management bodies. So for the October 2024 parliamentary elections that it was mentioned, 150 members were elected out of which 77 We Are Men and 22 We Are Women and gender disaggregated statistics from the parliamentary elections illustrate important participation patterns. Women comprised approximately 30% of proportional candidates and 2022 were elected. As for the municipal elections Municipal Elections 1088 members we elected through majority in election system and a small proportion of women we elected overall. But Georgian representation gender representation improves under the proportional System this was 25% of elected members we women, so during the election periods the election administration represents the largest temporary public employer engaging tens of thousand individuals and gender disaggregated statistics show that women constitute a majority at the lower levels of election administration, particularly in precinct and district election commissions.

So The CEC of Georgia remains committed to implementing its strategic objectives on gender equality through election administration practices, institutional coordinations and continuing continued publication of gender disaggregated data. Thank you very much.

Madam Chair. I would like to invite now Labor Inspection Office.

I would like to share additional information about union rights and discrimination on professional grounds. Sorry for 2022, Georgia adapted amendments to the rule for the consideration and resolution of collective disputes through conciliation procedures approved by resolution on the government. The amendment addressed the following key the right of a party to participate in the mediation process either directly or through representatives an increase in the daily remuneration for mediation services so the clarification of the main obligations and powers of both candidates for appointment as mediators in collection disputes and appointed mediators Determination of the core principles governing the activities of mediators appointed to the collective disputes. In addition, mediators were granting to the following powers to request the direct participation. Of one or more parties in the.

Mediation process, taking into account the circumstances of this dispute and to request or invite parties during the mediation process to submit additional information or documentation necessary for the effective conduct of mediation. Mediators Registry is set at three years and currently registry includes 15 mediators and is scheduled to update it for 2026. It is noteworthy that one chapter of the labor legislation is fully dedicated to freedom of association and the prohibition of disclosure discrimination on professional grounds. The legislation establishes sanctions for violations of provisions prohibiting discrimination set at three times the prescribed amount. In addition, specific sanctions can be used by Labor Inspection Office for violation directly related to collective labor relations, including failure to participate in conciliation procedures Failure to implement an agreement reached in the collective labor dispute dispute, including agreements resulting from mediation so refusal by an employer to provide an appropriate venue for meetings organized by trade union or obstruction of such meetings Failure to fulfill obligations related to information provisions and consultations, including refusal to provide information or to participate in consultations.

In addition, in accordance with Labour Code, Labour Inspectorate is responsible to oversight those discrimination issues, including discrimination on professional grounds and for the effective application of labor norms. Labor Inspection Office carries out inspection any time of day or night within the framework of proactive or reactive manner. Since its establishment, labor inspectorate conducted over 23,000 inspections covering more than 13,000 workplaces and issued over 86,000 instructions as a result of supervision. Some cases of violations were revealed and issued administrative penalties. Thank you.

I will use the remaining time to answer the question about taxation. So, according to the current Tax Code of Georgia, we have flat tax rate in income 20% and VAT 18%. But in order to enhance the tax system and reduce the regressivity, we have several tax exemptions and tax benefits to support households, micro businesses and socially vulnerable people. For example, we have small business status people who are taxed by 1 and 3% instead of 15% tax rate and also we have VAT tax benefits. For example in sectors such as child care, education and health care we have exempted VAT and in agriculture and pharmaceutical we have zero tax rate and when we estimated the tax expenditure it was around 7% of GDP and we also evaluated the tax expenditure in agriculture sector to see cost benefit analysis how well it was targeted to the social vulnerable people.

Thank you, thank you Madam. I think we'll pause here and open the floor for follow up questions and I see Ms. Jeong Lee has requested for the floor and invite others. Mr. Mikhail Wunfer has also requested for the floor and if there are other colleagues who wish to ask questions, this is the time to please indicate Ms. Lee, you have the floor. Madam.

Thank you Madam Chair for giving me the floor and thank you, the distinguished members of the delegation for providing all the information you provided so far. I would like to ask some further question regarding articles 6 to 9. First, on platform workers indication before the Committee say that the specific platform workers in the State Party are commonly classified as independent contractors rather than workers under labor legislation and they are not provided core labor protections including limits on working hours, arrest periods, paid leave and the right to organize and bargain collectively. So please provide information on measures to ensure job security, security and adequate labor protection for platform workers, including information on the clarification of employment status and the guarantee of core labor rights and social protection. Concerning right to Social Security, information indicates the State Party has not institutionalized the Unemployment insurance scheme which constitutes a key component of Social Security system.

So please provide information on concrete plans to introduce unemployment insurance including timeline and coverage. In addition, please provide information on plans to adopt the Unified Social Code which I earlier requested. We note that despite annual increases and indexation in old age pensions and disability related social package, their levers remain insufficient to ensure an adequate standard of living. We also know that cash benefits for internally displaced persons remain very minimal. Please provide information on measures to ensure that old age pensions, disability related cash benefits and benefits for IDPs are indexed to the actual cost of living, including disability related additional expenses where relevant.

Lastly, I would like to ask a question regarding the ratification of the ILO Fundamental Conventions, the ILO Occupational Safety and health convention number 155 and the promotional framework for Occupational Safety and health convention number 187 are now considered as fundamental aero conventions. So we would like to know whether the state party plans to ratify these conventions with a view to strengthening efforts to ensure safe working conditions. Thank you very much. Thank you, Ms. Lee. Mr. Winfrey.

Yeah, thanks. And also a warm welcome from my. Side to the delegation. Speaking for the first time, I want. To come back to one question from the cluster leader on poverty.

I read a report from the public defender's office on poverty from 2024 and it indicates a bit more problems than you have said with the means testing for all your targeted social assistance which seems to be not so small. They were saying, for example, in 2024 close to 360,000 children were registered social vulnerable but only 270,000 received subsistence allowance. So there is a gap which is quite large. And the report, I don't go into. All the details is saying basically at the end, particularly for children and for elderly, the system doesn't work properly.

There is a lot of problems in the means testing. You were saying you are working on a reform, but maybe I think that is very important to foresee this. Also the report says in rural areas families get several means tested supports, but they often don't work, particularly not for social vulnerable families. So that seems to be also a problem. So I think also they say that some of the recipients stay very long, six years, up to 15 years in this TSA system.

So maybe what are your strategies also to. To get them out? Because I think that's also important. If the subsistence allowed is also not very sufficient. I think that is questions I would like to raise.

And add to this one last question. In one of the reports I read, I was also reading about labor in prison. So maybe you can give us some update how this is managed in your country. Thanks a lot. Thank you, Mr. Winfo.

So we will request you to respond respond to the questions that were raised. Mr. Hannibal, you wish to. You have the floor too, sir.

Yes. I'd just like to ask the delegation to perhaps reflect on the question they were asked about investments if they have time to give some additional information on the question I raised earlier on regulatory models that cover foreign investments. In particular, I'd like to know in what way the agreements on investment are assessed in light of their obligations under the covenant. I'd like to know whether communities affected would have the right to appeal if their is any issue that they encounter in connection with these sorts of investments.

These are important issues and obviously it's connected to the question that you've addressed already on due diligence on the part of companies and businesses. But I'd like to know if there are specific mechanisms of due diligence relating to foreign investment. Sometimes it's treated in a silo. So I'd like you to reflect on that and provide information if possible. Thank you for your attention.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Hannibal. Your Excellency, we can take ten minutes to respond to the questions that have been raised right now. Otherwise tomorrow you'll have an opportunity. But I will request that we stop after the next 10 minutes so that you can hear the questions under cluster 3, so that you can prepare your responses overnight and then we can hear them.

So just the next 10 minutes, sir. Yeah.

So I would like to invite Supreme Court of Georgia to. To cover them.

Thank you. I will just cover issue which was arised during the previous cluster. It was about the pay discovery discrimination aspects and I just wanted to provide the examples how the pay discrimination cases are interpreted by the Supreme Court of Georgia. We don't have many cases discussed on this issue, but we have on the few cases according which the Georgian Supreme Court of Georgia has interpreted that the unequal remuneration for work of equal value is the discretionary discrimination. So court stated that equal pay for equal work is guaranteed and ensured by Georgian legislation and by the international treaties.

And Georgian courts have upheld the claim and awarded compensation for the discrimination aspects. This is only the quick remark on this issue. Okay, thank you very much. I would like to invite Ministry of Health.

About platform workers. Georgian labor legislation applies equally to those individuals who, according to the Labor Code of Georgia, are in an employment relationship and have entered into an employment contract. Accordingly, if an individual is employed in the platform economy has an employment contract, they will enjoy all rights defined by labor law. In Georgia, such individuals often enter into contracts governed, for example, by civil law. And consequently, this issue is both important and challenging.

It is therefore on the agenda and is being discussed within the country's Decent work program and on the agenda of the Tripartite Commission of Social Partnership. Furthermore, judicial practice in this regard is also important for assessment and decision making. Several cases are currently pending before the Supreme Court and we are continuing to work in this direction and about unemployment benefit. Steps have been taken to ensure the involvement and consultation of relevant stakeholders during the preparatory phase of developing the unemployment insurance system. As you know, unemployment insurance is a complex reform and will require the involvement of stakeholders, the development of alternatives, evaluation, costing and the general public consensus.

At the initiative of the Ministry, a working meeting was held attended by representatives from the other ministries, various state agencies and social partners, including the Georgian Employers association and the Confederation of Trade Unions of Georgia, as well as representatives from international organizations such as ILO and EXPERTISE France. Various types of meetings and consultations are still planned to make a final decision in this direction about artificial ratification of conventions. The ratification of bylaw conventions is systematically discussed with the social partners within the tripartite commission and is reflected in the Commission's action plans. Ratification of any international instrument often leads to legislative changes. Georgia labor legislation is among those requiring an impact assessment to implement change.

As a result, regulatory impact assessments have been prepared for several conventions, including convention number 183, 81 and 189, to access their feasibility for ratification. In parallel, international consultations are ongoing with the participation of all relevant and competent authorities. And as you know, this is a complex process process that requires extensive consultations with stakeholders, representatives of the legislative and executive branches and social partners. As for indexation principles, social package is regulated by the law on social assistance. It is a monthly cash assistance for people with disabilities, children, survivors, war veterans and other target.

As with old age pensions, the indexation of social package is also provided for by law and depends on inflation and economic parameters. Accordingly, the annual increase in the social package is regulated at the legislative level. The aforementioned amendment to the law was made in 2023 and at the current stage, no legislative changes are planned in this direction. However, once the biopsychosocial model of status determination is introduced, financial assistance and social services for people with disabilities will be reviewed in a unified perspective. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Madam Chair, I would like to invite the Minister of Justice to respond on the questions regarding labor in prison.

Okay? Okay. You can cover it tomorrow. All right.

Thank you. There was one question about the platform workers and the regulations of platform workers. We recently received information from International Labor Organization. They are now working on the Convention on the Rights of the Platform Workers and we are also involved in this. We submitted our comments, but at this point, of course, this issue is not regulated by the internal legislation.

But we will try. We will wait what they will be the outcome of the work organized in the iLaw. And then of course, we will try to implement these recommendations into our national jurisdiction. Now, about the age pensions. The age pensions have increased recently and it increases yearly every year.

And I will give you an indexation of the pension of the persons with disabilities started two years ago. Indexation of the elderly people started a bit earlier than that. And we want to make sure that These issues are not dependent on individual decisions of individual politicians, but it should be somehow compatible with the economic situation in the country. Now, I want to give you the few. I have many numbers here, but I will try to read only a few of them to make sure that the progressive realization of economic and social rights that is required from the state under the covenant is fulfilled.

For instance, pursuant to the 2026 state budget law, funding for targeted social assistance has increased by Gale 2.6 million compared to the previous year, reaching a total of 1 billion and more than 600 million gal. The share of the population living below the absolute poverty line has continued to decline and according to the latest available data for 2024, as it was already mentioned, it stands at 9.4%. But what is important is that it is reflecting an improvement of 2.4 percentage points compared to 2023. Now, according to the latest available data for the third quarter of 2024, 2025, the unemployment rate stands at 13.3%, representing an improvement of 0.6% point compared to the 2024 figure. According to the data for the period January July 2025, the average growth rate of Georgia's real gross domestic product amount to 8%.

Since 2008, the National Statistics Service of Georgia has been calculating gross domestic product in accordance with classifications defined on the basis of international recognized statistical standards. According to the 2026 budget budget, total Social Security expenditure is set at more than 9 billion, representing an increase of around 1 billion compared to the social expenditure under the 2025 budget with amounted 1 billion girl. Compared to the previous year, funding for social protection of the sick persons and persons with disabilities has increased by 11 million gel and now amounts to 40 million compared to the previous year, funding for old age Social Security has increased by 540 million and amounts to more than 5 billion gel compared to the previous year. Again, funding for the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories has increased by gil almost by 1 billion gil. And also the budget of the Ministry of Education has also significantly increased.

Again, the requirement of the International Covenant on Economic and Social Rights, I think it is met. We are not there. Of course we realize that there are challenges that persist in the country, but there are many issues that need to be addressed. But we are on the right track, we think, and this is what we claim and we have the progress of improvement and we take those steps that are required from the Convention and general comments of your respective committee 3 and 27.

Thank you, thank you sir for that response and for the other responses I'm aware that you needed more time to respond to some of the other questions that have been raised under cluster 2 by colleagues, including the follow up.

So tomorrow will be an opportunity for you to kindly respond. For the next 10 minutes we I request you to kindly hear the questions under Cluster 3, for which I'll request Ms. Laura Elise Perez to kindly pose her questions. Madam, you have the floor.

Thank you very much. Madam Chair.

I'd like to take the opportunity to welcome the delegation from Georgia and express my gratitude for your engagement in this constructive dialogue to review your third pyrlic report.

I also hail your commitments in providing additional information as requested in the list of issues.

Now, generally I would like to say. That.

There'S been some limitations regarding access to databases in a number of areas. I'd like to ask you for some statistics of data. Tomorrow you'll see in my questions that I'm asking for data over the past five years, if possible, in writing over the next 48 hours, as is established by the rules, I'm going to look at issues connected to articles 10 to 12.

In connection with protection of family, adequate standards of living and the right to health. Looking at protection of the family and children here, I'm going to look at poverty. A low average data on the level of extreme poverty in the country would suggest it only covers 5.8% of the population. We need to have information on the prevalence of poverty of persons with disability and persons who find themselves internally displaced. Please could you also provide information on specific support measures for people living in poverty within these categories?

I know you've given us some comments on these already. Please also disaggregate data on coverage of the social assistance program for specific beneficiaries. And there's a lot of information about this in Annex 1 in your replies. The list of issues and this coverage according to your annex suggests that it covers an average of 17.5% of the population. But we need to know how this operates, how this coverage, what this coverage looks like in reality in terms of sex, age, ethnicity and geographical location, whether this is in urban areas or rural areas.

Now some colleagues mentioned this already, but I'd like to you to tell us about any obstacles that prevent the approval of the Unified Social Code to establish details for social assistance programs. And can you clarify please how the lack how the non publication of this code might limit budget allocation for the relevant programs. Could you also describe methodology used to define the national thresholds of poverty and indicate what measure is used to assess this and if necessary, adjust these according to fiscal policies Turning to Human Trafficking can you tell us about the specific objectives and scope of the new National Action Plan against human trafficking for 2025-2026? This was to be approved at the end of 2024.

Can you also provide information on whether or not the State Strategy on Human Trafficking 2025-2030 been approved and tell us about the specific indicators or goals that were drafted by the Council for Combating Human Trafficking? Turning now to domestic violence or intra family violence Please provide comments on how the new guidelines on eradicating any deficiencies detected in investigating cases of femicide have been established. Please provide information on incidences or cases of femicide in the last five years. Please provide annual statistics on domestic violence published by the Ministry of the Interior, in particular the the crimes or offences registered or recorded and the number of restraining orders issued. I think there is a database but it's difficult to access and consult.

Please provide information on progress in capacity building for social workers through the guide, the practical guide that exists for social workers on managing child marriage and early marriage.

Next, is Georgia considering establishing strategies for the right to care and provide structural options to those people who are involved in caring or providing assistance and that is not remunerated in order to consider reducing the burden, the gender based burden that this involves in addition to the burden for children, people with disabilities, people with special needs and the care for older persons? Turning now to the right to an adequate standard of living in Article 11 and housing, does the state party have standards or specific norms that regulate the kind of social housing that exists regarding security of tenure, availability of services, habitability, affordability and cultural appropriateness and quality? Please provide comments on the specific annual data available on the number of people or families who have benefited from state programs to tackle housing problems for families who are internally displaced, people with disabilities or families with no homes? In particular, does the state intend to increase structural provision for investment in access to drinking water and sanitation and social housing, particularly in rural areas and peri urban areas? Have you adopted policies for market regulation for land and rental to prevent speculation and protect tenants and guarantee security of tenure?

And what legal, procedural and judicial guarantees exist to regulate evictions, in particular in cases of resettlement, urban gentrification and mega projects now, turning to food, we'd like to know if, in addition to specific specific projects for children and young people, as reported in the third report, and bearing in mind that.

A moderate and severe level of food insecurity has been recorded of 26.6% of the total of the population. I want to know if the state has any strategy to deal with the rights to food applicable to this segment of the population and if so, can you please describe it?

Please elaborate on the measures the state has surrounding local food production and support for small scale producers for food security. Up to date information for the budget allocated to these issues both in real terms as well as in terms of the budget for the sector. Does the state party have any particular fiscal measures or specific standards in place to protect its population, particular children from the commercialization of ultra processed foods that contain a lot of sugar, fat and sodium or salt, as well as on the misleading advertising that can that is available?

I don't know whether perhaps I can continue because of the time. I need maybe two more minutes. Thank you very much.

Please provide information on public spending on health as well as the proportion of public spending on health vis a vis gdp. Provide data on development of the coverage of primary health care over the past five years for the whole population. Disaggregated police by sex, age, ethnicity and geographical urban rural region. We recognize the initiative and the results achieved by Georgia for regulating the price of medicines. The committee is interested to know if the State has taken other measures to address the so called commercial determinants of health, so called by the who.

In particular, have you considered applying special taxes on the tobacco industry, on alcohol, sugary drinks and have you implemented any measures to prohibit advertising for foods, products that have no nutritional value, as well as on the sale of harmful products such as vapes, electronic cigarettes and other such products? We're grateful for the presentation given on your national policy on the consumption or the use and trafficking of illegal drugs. And we recognise the work completed in the National Strategy on Drugs and the Interagency Coordinating Council on Combating Drug Abuse and the National Observatory on Drugs which suggests that you have an empirical foundation or basis for follow up in this context. We'd like to know what statistics are available on treatment that has been underway and the number of people per year involved as well as any results obtained. We would also like to know about inclusive mechanisms in place with civil society for this fight against drugs.

Can you share information on exclusion? Thank you very much. I'll leave it there. Thank you. Ms. Perez, I know that you had other questions which can be taken up in the follow up questions, but I really want to thank you for your questions and especially thanks to our interpreters for their indulgence for another two minutes.

We've come to the end of our discussions this afternoon but look forward to the delegation. Now you have a whole set of questions under cluster three. Your Excellency. And I am aware that you wanted to respond to questions under cluster 2 and as well as question 1. So we'll manage our time in such a way that you get a chance to respond to all of these and then move on to cluster four tomorrow.

So we look forward to reconvening tomorrow morning at 10 o'. Clock. The meeting is closed. Thank you very much.