Georgia: UN expert to assess human rights of persons with disabilities

The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, Gerard Quinn, will conduct an official visit to Georgia from 4 to 14 September 2023.

During hist visit, Quinn will examine laws, policies and concrete measures that the Government is taking to protect, promote and the rights of persons with disabilities in the country. The visit is taking place at the invitation of the Government.

The expert will travel to Tbilisi, the Kakheti region and other areas to meet with Government authorities, the office of the Public Defender, persons with disabilities and their representative organisations, civil society, UN agencies.

He will also visit institutions for people with disabilities, psychiatric facilities, and establishments providing services for persons with disabilities.

The Special Rapporteur will hold a press conference on Thursday 14 September at 2 p.m. local time at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in Tbilisi, 4 Freedom Square, Tbilisi, Georgia. Access will be strictly limited to journalists.

The expert will present his report to the Human Rights Council in March 2024.

ENDS

Gerard Quinn (Ireland) is the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, appointed by the Human Rights Council in October 2020. Mr Quinn holds two research chairs at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute on Human Rights in the University of Lund (Sweden) and Leeds University (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland). He was the lead focal point for the global network of National Human Rights nstitutions (NHRIs) during the negotiations leading to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and was head of delegation for Rehabilitation International during the UN Working Group (2004). He previously held a chair at the National University of Ireland where he founded and directed the Centre on Disability Law and Policy.

The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

UN Human Rights country page: Georgia

For media enquiries and additional information, please contact:

In Geneva: Barbora Zamrska at barbora.zamrska@un.org; hrc-sr-disability@un.org

In Tbilisi: Meri Makharashvili at +995 599 500 137

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts, please contact Maya Derouaz (maya.derouaz@un.org) or Dharisha Indraguptha (dharisha.indraguptha@un.org)

Follow news related to the UN’s independent human rights experts on Twitter @UN_SPExperts.

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