UNFPA marked the International Human Rights Day

United Nations Population Fund of Georgia (UNFPA) marked the International Human Rights Day by conducting the South Caucasus Regional Photo Exhibition on Women’s Rights at the Gallery Kopala on December 10. Highlighting the importance of the event, Assistant Representative of UNFPA in Georgia Lela Bakradze told the guests that the exhibition held simultaneously in the three countries of the South Caucasus brought together art works from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

“This is a special date today because the exhibition is coinciding with the closing of the ongoing global 16 days campaign against Gender-Based Violence and the International Human Rights day emphasizing that violence against women, as the violation of human rights, is part of the human rights agenda,” Bakradze told the guests.

UN based research has upheld the necessity for active cooperation for eradicating gender-based violence which, according to Bakradze, has been commonplace in various cultures and remains among the most burning problems for Georgia. Bakradze thanked the Government, NGOs and the media working on this issue for changing the lives of many women who have succeeded in overcoming gender-based violence in Georgia.

Expressing the great Governmental support to the UNFPA initiative, the Vice Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia Gigi Tsereteli stressed that everyone should take responsibility for each engaged side in order to achieve the goals within this project..

Erling Skjonsberg Ambassador of Norway to Georgia and John Bass Ambassador of US to Georgia were among the special guests of the event. Talking of the importance of human rights and gender-based equality for Norway, Erling Skjonsberg expressed his gratitude towards the sponsors of the project and thanked UNFPA for its active cooperation with the Government, NGOs and society in dealing with domestic violence. “I’m very pleased to have become part of a great success for Georgia which really deserves international attention to bring the whole problem out of the shadows,” John Bass said hoping that we would all make further progress together.

At the end of the event, UNFPA screened a short TV advertisement authored by the winner of the UNFPA contest Beso Kavelashvili supported by Defect Studio. The advert, which will soon be revealed on the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) and other national TV Stations, was based on the national studies of the problem.