Training on Gender Aspects of International Conventions on the Rights of People

UN Women organized a three-day training on Gender Aspects of International Conventions on the Rights of People with Disabilities, Ethnic Minorities, and Children for the Ministry of Corrections of Georgia on July 1-3, 2015, in Kobuleti, Georgia. Some twenty staff from the department of corrections, penitentiary training center, medical department, legal and PR departments, and the national probation agency attended the training. Overall, the training aimed at improving participants’ knowledge on: international and national mechanisms for human rights protection; obligations related to implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and its application for advocacy, monitoring, and protection the rights of people with disabilities; principles and provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Children and the challenges at the national level, as well as the problem of early marriages and its social and legal implications; the main concepts of women’s rights and gender equality; the special needs of women with disabilities and international approaches related to this issue; human rights issues of ethnic minorities, and international instruments that define the obligations of state parties, challenges of ethnic minorities at international and local levels; and international and domestic standards on prohibiting discrimination according to the practice of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Throughout al three days, gender aspects constituted an integral portion of the training modules.

Reflecting on the training, a number of participants contributed their thoughts on the training’s impact: “I work in the legal department of the Ministry of Corrections. The training was of critical importance for me, as I frequently deal with the needs of people with disabilities, ethnic minorities, women, and juveniles. It is empowering to have this knowledge and to be able to utilize the existing international and local mechanisms that I could apply in these cases”, said Teona Gonashvili, lawyer of the Ministry of Corrections Legal Department. “As a doctor at one of the medical institutions within a penitentiary system I have daily interactions with the inmates. This training equipped me with important tools that will help me in everyday interaction with vulnerable individuals, such as people with disabilities, ethnic minorities, juveniles, and women inmates. I think that all personnel of the medical department within the penitentiary system should undergo this training”, commented Natalia Nalikashvili, doctor at the Penitentiary Medical Institution #18.