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The News in Brief

Thursday, June 18
PM Gharibashvili Meets FM of Luxembourg

Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili has met with the Foreign Minister of Luxembourg, Jean Asselborn.

At the meeting, the sides discussed strategic issues and future prospects of bilateral relations. They also discussed Georgia-EU and Georgia-NATO relations.

Luxembourg's Foreign Minister conveyed his deep grief over the June 13 tragedy in Tbilisi and offered condolences to PM Irakli Gharibashvili.

As the PM’s Office informs, PM Gharibashvili and FM Asselborn talked about the recent developments in the region and the current situation in the occupied regions. Luxembourg's Foreign Minister expressed readiness to visit the villages adjacent to Russian occupation line.

The meeting was also attended by Georgia’s Foreign Minister Tamar Beruchashvili. (Frontnews)



Unstable weather will continue in Georgia until June 20

It seems that Georgia will continue experiencing unstable weather till June 20.

According to Monitoring and Forecast Center, brief rain and thunderstorms are to be expected in the evenings and into the nights throughout Georgia over the coming days.

In Tbilisi, air temperatures will be 31 degrees Celsius today and tomorrow, 33 degrees on June 19 and 35 degrees on June 20. (ipn)



CoE Workshop “Istanbul Convention on preventing violence against women” opens

Parliament is currently hosting the CoE Workshop. The Speaker addressed the attendees; “The issue for our session is very important and it is a shame that at this stage of civilization in the XXI century we have to speak about violence. We shall condemn it. It is a shame that the states have to interfere on very serious, international level. Georgia, the Government of Georgia, the Parliament will try our best to solve this shameful problem. The hereof convention is a very important guideline. We will ratify it until the end of the year. This ratification needs to meet all necessary pre-conditions on the legislative and executive levels to establish the standards, prescribed under the convention”, the Speaker stated.

The pace of finding an effective solution to this problem is insufficient. Many acknowledged that a more effective policy is to be developed and implemented, as well as leaning from international experience. Domestic violence against women is a global problem, and hence it is necessary to undertake legislative and punitive measures. “Our Criminal Code provides the clear measures to protect the victims of violence, provides shelters and all other issues. It is an instant solution to the problem but it cannot lead us to the reality that tomorrow it will not happen again. It needs public awareness, the involvement of society and common efforts to make achievable results while we live and not to leave to for our future generations to solve. The Parliament, the Government, the politicians shall manage to maintain this issue in the priority list. We shall not be afraid of the problem, we shall admit that this is a grave problem and only after this we can solve it”.

The representative of PACE expressed condolences for the deceased. “The Istanbul convention was signed one year ago and has already achieved some results, as there are many reasons why its role is underlined. It is a unique unprecedented, innovative and comprehensive document. It is the first mandatory document underlining violence against women as discrimination against women’s and human rights. I call on police and state agencies to consider that domestic violence against women shall be considered in coordinated manner. It does not matter how high the standards are if they cannot be implemented”, the PACE representative stated.

The value of the convention is a powerful monitoring mechanism. MPs are involved in monitoring on all levels, and the Parliament and state representatives will participate in enforcement. As to CoE, the PA will be convened to regularly implement verification of implementation. In March, 2015, the Agency on Fundamental Rights under the EU aegis, promulgated the document, according to which 28% of women underwent physical or sexual abuse since the age of 15, 22% suffered violence at the hands of their partners. One of the challenges of the convention is creation of the conditions for the victim to realize what is happening as most of them not even inform the police. None of the countries is free from such violence. Prevention requires information to be spread and active campaign. The role of NGOs is also very important, and the convention facilitates the society to witness the events. This is the society where we want to live, where the law exists and no violence is permitted but is prevented and punished. (Parliament.ge)