On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination marked on 21 March, the Council of Europe Office in Georgia launched the campaign “I choose Equality”.
The campaign targets general public to raise awareness about the risks discrimination, hate speech, and hate crime pose to Georgian society, promotes diversity and tolerance, and informs the minority/vulnerable groups about the redress mechanisms.
Various state and non-governmental institutions have pledged support to the campaign. The launching event of the campaign was opened by Cristian Urse, Head of Council of Europe Office in Georgia. Nino Lomjaria, Public Defender of Georgia; Lia Gigauri, Deputy State Minister of Georgia for Reconciliation and Civic Equality; Natia Mezvrishvili, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs; Irina Pruidze, Member of the Parliament; Natia Zedgenidze-Jishkariani, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport; Sulkhan Saladze, Chairperson of the Georgian Young Lawyers Association, Coalition for Equality have officially launched the event.
The event featured “Explore Diversity, Explore History,” an exhibition portraying images and quotes from travel journals celebrating historical Georgian diversity. Videos on equality and diversity were featured. Guests were able to leave their messages on the Equality Wall.
The state institutions have officially joined ‘I choose Equality Campaign’ via their official Facebook pages. The event gives an opportunity to everyone to join the campaign by uploading a photo or a video with a hashtag #IChooseEquality finishing the sentence: I Choose Equality because….
Interested parties can learn more about Campaign on our official Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/IChooseEquality/
I choose Equality Campaign is implemented as part of the Council of Europe co-operation project “Fighting Discrimination, Hate Crime and Hate Speech in Georgia”, conducted with the support of the Danish Neighbourhood Programme in Georgia (DANEP) under the Council of Europe’s Action Plan for Georgia.
