Zurabishvili meets UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Friday, October 15
The President of Georgia Salome Zurabashvili met with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet in Geneva on 14th of October, after she finished her official visit to Austria.
The High Commissioner expressed her sorrow over the tragedy in Batumi and expressed condolences to the President of Georgia and the Georgian people. According to the President's press service, the sides discussed the human rights situation in Georgia.
The president briefed the High Commissioner on the human rights situation in the occupied territories of Georgia and spoke regarding the illegal detention of Georgian citizens by the occupation regime, in particular the cases of Irakli Bebua, Genadi Bestaev and Gela Gochoshvili.
The fact of banning Georgian language teaching in Gali district was mentioned as a sign of ethnic discrimination. The conversation also focused on the self-government elections in Georgia and the deep polarization of the political environment, which is intensified and increased by fake news .
The President of Georgia stressed the insufficient involvement of women in local elections. The meeting also discussed the importance of world solidarity and vaccination in defeating the pandemic.
The President spoke of the importance of the population living in the occupied territories to have full access to Covid-19 pandemic of fighting mechanisms.
The president met with the Director General of the World Health Organization in Geneva.
According to the president's press service, the need to increase the rate of vaccination in Georgia, the availability of medical and therapeutic measures of Covid-19, the importance of strengthening and developing digital technologies and telemedicine in healthcare were discussed during the meeting.
The Director General of the WHO says that today we have unequivocal evidence that vaccination protects against the development of serious diseases and fatal consequences. Gabrielius noted that Georgia and WHO have a history of successful cooperation and expressed readiness for future support.
After the meeting with the WHO Director-General during her comments with the media, President Zurabishvili called on the population to be vaccinated.
“I think it is very important today to remind our people from here, from Geneva and the World Health Organization, that vaccination is necessary. The pandemic will disappear nowhere, so it is better that we take all the necessary measures and it starts with vaccination.”
4,212 new cases were reported in Georgia in the last 24 hours. This means that the pandemic is continuing and there may be some increase. Vaccination is essential for everyone and especially for people working in the healthcare sector and schools, for teachers and others.
“If we want children to continue (and we all want that very much) to go to schools and not be forced to introduce new regulations, it is essential that we all be responsible and vaccinate and wear facemasks,” said the President of Georgia.
