Seminar in Georgia focuses on human rights monitoring and reporting

TBILISI, 10 May 2002 - International human rights law and monitoring techniques will be the focus of a series of training seminars that started today in the Georgian capital Tbilisi.

The training seminars are initiated by the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), facilitated by the OSCE Mission to Georgia and financed jointly by the European Union and the Italian government. Training will be carried out by experts from the Polish Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights.

"This training reflects the excellent institutional and international co-operation in the field of Human Rights." said Ambassador Jean-Michel Lacombe, Head of the OSCE Mission to Georgia, at the opening of the seminar.

Members of 22 Georgian non-governmental organizations (NGOs), as well as four representatives of state structures from 8 different cities will attend the workshop which forms part of the Joint Programme for the South Caucasus of the OSCE/ODIHR and the European Commission.

"Thorough and impartial monitoring of the situation in a country is a prerequisite for accurate reporting - which in turn is of crucial importance for both national and international actors to improve the human rights situation", said Lydia Grigoreva of the ODIHR Monitoring Unit at the opening ceremony.

Jacques Vantomme, Deputy Head of the Delegation of the European Commission in Georgia, added that "this type of project forms an integral part of activities of the European Commission - work at the grassroots level with NGOs is as important for us as the work with state structures."

The first of three training seminars on "Human Rights Monitoring and Reporting" will last five days. The second seminar is scheduled for June/July 2002.