Conference on Ending Violence against Women: Time for Action.
Monday, March 28, 2022
The Embassy of Italy in Tbilisi and the Office of the Council of Europe in Georgia, organised on 25 March a Conference aimed at raising awareness and fostering action to end violence against women and girls, while emphasizing the need to strengthen the protection of women’s rights. The event was held both in-person and remotely, through a Zoom video conference.
Gender-related issues have been examined in their overall implications, both at the global level and in Georgia. Efforts within the Council of Europe have been recalled, also in light of the Italian ongoing Italian Presidency of such Organisation, likewise to other international fora, including the United Nations and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
This provided a valuable opportunity to take stock of the progress achieved by Georgia in this respect and to highlight the remaining challenges, alongside the actions needed to further enforcing women rights.
The event has been kicked-off by H.E. the Ambassador of Italy to Georgia Enrico Valvo, the Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia Natalia Voutova, and other distinguished guests, such as the Chairperson of the Gender Equality Council of the Parliament of Georgia Nino Tsilosani and the Advisor to the Prime Minister of Georgian on Human Rights Niko Tatulashvili. The Italian Minister of Equal Opportunities and Family, Ms. Elena Bonetti, intervened through a special video address, while a keynote speech was delivered by Ms. Tamar Dekanosidze, expert of the Council of Europe.
A panel discussion took place, moderated by the Georgian member of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Ms. Lia Nadaraia. Among the distinguished panelists, the floor has been given to the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia, Alexander Darakhvelidze, alongside the Head of the Human Rights Department of the General Prosecutor office of Georgia, Salome Shengelia, the Deputy Public Defender of Georgia, Eka Skhiladze and the Head of UN Division in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Nino Shekriladze.
Such discussions have been further enriched by the participation of both local and international representatives of academia, civil society and International Organizations, such as Ms. Cristiana Carletti, full Professor at “Roma 3” University (and advisor to the Italian Department for Equal Opportunities), the Executive Director of the union Sapari Baia Pataraia, and UN Women EVAW Portfolio Manager Irina Japaridze. The Council of Europe and Italian experts delivered presentations regarding the European standards and promising practices.
The conference ultimately offered a high-level and substantial discussion on the fight against gender-based violence, engaging Georgian authorities, experts, the local diplomatic community, representatives of civil society and the academic world, towards the ending of all forms of violence against women.
In order to inform and raise awareness at the fullest extent within the Georgian public, the event, held at Radisson, Tbilisi, has been streamed live on the Italian Embassy’s social media profiles.
“Having been in this beautiful country for two years already as Ambassador of Italy, I have been personally impressed by how vital the role of women is in the Georgian society, as a true engine for the moral and economic development of the Nation.”, stressed the Ambassador. “Such centrality does come by accident, having solid, strong roots. How not to mention the pivotal figure of queen Tamar of whom you can legitimately be proud. And many others could be recalled who ensured, home and abroad, their contributions in the fields of culture, science and economy” he further indicated, welcoming the progress achieved by Georgia over recent years and inviting Tbilisi’s authorities to keep using this positive momentum to address the remaining challenges.
H.E. Enrico Valvo’s speech at the Conference
Distinguished participants, Dear Colleagues and friends,
I am extremely glad to kick-off today’s Conference, co-organized by the Italian Embassy and the Office of the Council of Europe in Georgia, in co-operation with the Georgian authorities, both at the parliamentary and governmental level.
I would like to start my brief introduction by the title itself of this initiative: “Ending Violence against Women: Time for Action”. The message could not be clearer, pursuing the goal of raising awareness and fostering action to end violence against women and girls, but also to uphold their rights to the fullest extent.
Looking back at history, we should of course celebrate, proudly, the huge advancements that women experienced over the last decades, which probably have been, in comparative terms, the most empowering ever. Yet, as still much remain to be done, we should never allow ourselves to lower the guard on the road to achieving full equality.
This is, in a nutshell, the very reasons why we are organizing this conference, for which I would like to thank my dear colleague, Ms. Voutova, and all her staff for their cooperation. I take this opportunity to welcome the Chairperson of the Gender Equality Council of the Parliament of Georgia, Ms. Nino Tsilosani, and the Advisor to the Georgian Prime Minister on Human Rights, Mr. Niko Tatulashvili, who will provide welcoming remarks.
I also would like to thank the Honorable Italian Minister for Equal Opportunities and Family, Ms. Elena Bonetti, who will provide a special video-address to the Georgian public, as well as Prof. Cristiana Carletti, who will be representing both the Italian Department of Equal Opportunities and the Italian academic community . It is a privilege for me to present such strong commitment, further witnessing the priority that the our Government and Ministry of Foreign Affairs are giving to gender-related issues, traditionally and within the ongoing Italian Presidency of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers.
We are especially glad to welcome high-level participants in today’s discussion, including the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Lasha Darsalia, and the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia, Mr. Alexander Darakhvelidze, alongside both local and international representatives of academia, civil society and International Organizations, taking the floor live and online. To you all goes my strongest gratitude and appreciation. A special thank goes to Ms. Lia Nadaraia Member of the Committee of the Convention the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, who kindly accepted to moderate our panel discussion today.
Through such a wide expertise, we will aim at taking stock of the progress achieved, as well as the remaining challenges, on the path to ending all forms of discrimination and violence against women, both at the global level– taking into account the effectiveness of International instruments and discussion within the main multilateral fora – and in Georgia.
About this last point, let me first stress that, having been in this beautiful country for two years already as Ambassador of Italy, I have been personally impressed by how vital the role of women is in the Georgian society, as a true “engine” for the moral and economic development of the Nation.
Such centrality does come by accident, having solid, strong roots. How not to mention the pivotal figure of queen Tamar of whom you can legitimately be proud. And many others could be mentioned who ensured, home and abroad, their contributions in the fields of culture, science and economy.
Coming to nowadays, we appreciate the progress achieved over recent years by Georgia, of which the ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence on 19 May, 2017, represents indeed a pillar. Yet, more efforts are now needed, as the Istanbul Convention itself remains to be fully enforced in the legal framework, and there is still wide room for improvement to achieve the full protection of women rights and the eradication of all the forms of violence.
Italy welcomes the growing awareness towards such issues by the Georgian authorities and within the society, reflected in an increase in criminal complaints and investigations related to gender-based violence. Nevertheless, the extent of domestic violence and femicides remains a concern to which authorities should keep ensuring adequate priority. I tell this without any wish to lecture anybody: the problem is present in Italy as well as in many other countries of the world despite a wide range of instruments we have enforced to tackle it.
There is a need to continue the work aimed at increasing public awareness, and in particular to change perceptions, stereotypes and behaviors to prevent cases of violence, coupling strict punishment of the perpetrators with educational campaigns.
On the other hand, inequalities, further exacerbated – in Georgia like elsewhere – by the pandemic, are a challenge for the full enforcement of women rights, as they are often a stumbling stone towards the full political and economic participation of women in society. In this respect, we welcome the latest amendments to the code of work, as well as legislation enacted to promote further political participation of women, and we encourage the Georgian authorities to keep using this positive momentum.
On a more general note, I firmly believe that each and any of us, involved at the political, diplomatic level, as a civil servant or in civil society, can make a difference, provided that we keep committed to fostering awareness and identifying innovative solutions. This is the ultimate goal of this conference, within the “Gender Equality and Diversity Month” in Georgia.
Let me conclude my brief introduction expressing the sympathy and strongest support from the Italian side to all the women who are now suffering in Ukraine, because of the military aggression by the Russian Federation. While we hope that at the soonest you will not have to struggle anymore, it should be clear that your strength is an inspiration for all of us.
In the words of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Ms. Jane Addams, “true peace can be find not merely in the absence of war, but just in the presence of justice”. This is our wish for women all around the world.
Thank you very much for your attention.
