On the International Day for Tolerance marked today, the Council of Europe Office in Georgia and its partner organisations have hosted the official kick-off event of the Equality Week - 2022.

Every year, under the initiative students, activists, NGOs, and representatives of the public sector take part in series of events aimed to encourage public discussion around the importance of diversity and equality in Georgia. This year, the Equality Week is held on 15-22 November under the slogan of “Georgia is Us.”

“Georgia has made significant progress towards improving legislation to address discrimination and, as latest surveys show, society too, has become more aware of importance of protection of the rights of minority groups. We hope that the governmental agencies and civil society will be successful in addressing equality challenges. We trust that synergies in efforts to improve the country’s legislation and policy as well as practice in the areas of human rights, democracy and rule of law will bring Georgia closer to European standards, set by Council of Europe bodies”, - said Stefen Sirbu, the Deputy Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia in his opening remarks to celebrate the launch of the Equality Week in Georgia.