OHCHR in the South Caucasus and UNDP Georgia help the Ministry of Internal Affairs train its staff on the rights and communication standard with PWDs

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the South Caucasus Field Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) supported the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia (MIA) by conducting training of trainers (ToT) for twenty-one staff members of the Ministry on the rights of persons with disabilities (PWDs) and standards of communication. The two-day training equipped the future trainers with necessary skills to play a role of tutors for 2200 employees of a Patrol Police Department nationwide.  

Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia Aleksandre Darakhvelidze, Deputy Resident Representative of the UNDP Georgia Anna Chernishova and UN OHCHR Senior Adviser for the South Caucasus Vladimir Shkolnikov welcomed the training participants.

“More attention should be paid to ensuring quality inclusive police services for persons with disabilities, which among other things requires extensive training for police personnel.  This training should aim at ensuring that persons with disabilities can exercise their rights as well as access police procedures on an equal basis with others.“ said OHCHR Senior Adviser for the South Caucasus of UN OHCHR Vladimir Shkolnikov and restated the Office’s support to assist the government of Georgia build a rights-based, inclusive and just society.

“Last year, for the first time, the Ministry of Internal Affairs approved the 2021 Action Plan on the Protection of the Rights of PwDs. Despite a certain progress made and a number of important measures taken for its implementation, we plan to take more proactive steps, which means equipping the law enforcers with proper knowledge on the rights of PwDs and the standards of communication with them. Accordingly, in 2022, the Ministry has made it a priority to conduct nationwide trainings in this direction. “ said the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia Aleksandre Darakhvelidze.

Its notable that the ToT was conducted based on the module developed with the support of the UNDP Georgia and OHCHR in the South Caucasus.

“The training course covered the legal aspects of the rights of PwDs and communication standards with them, which helped us, the future trainers acquire knowledge and provide human rights education to the patrol officers on their special role in protecting and promoting rights of PwDs. Replicating this module of training throughout Georgia will also enable my colleagues in providing effective policing through compliance with international human rights standards.” said Inspector of Especially Important Cases at the Human Rights Protection and Investigation Quality Monitoring Department Tamar Mtchedlishvili.

The co-trainers of the ToT together with the qualified experts of the UN agencies were members of the Advisory Council on the Rights of PwDs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The training was made possible thanks to funding from the UN Sustainable Development Goals Fund (SDG Fund).