The European Social Charter is the most important international agreement of the Council of Europe, which recognizes and reinforces the fundamental social and economic rights of a human being. The Social Charter is considered to be the "Social Constitution" of Europe, the 1996 updated version of which was ratified by Georgia in 2005. At the same time, the protection of social and economic rights is an important part of the Georgian constitution and national legislation. Despite legislative and institutional changes over the past few years (including the 2020 changes to labour legislation and the creation of a strong labour inspectorate), challenges remain.
On 6-7 June 2023, a workshop organised by the Council of Europe for journalists was held on the topic: media coverage of social issues in Georgia and the European Social Charter. Journalists from general broadcasting and online media, both from Tbilisi and from the regions, took part in the workshop.
The participants of the event got acquainted with the principles of the European Social Charter and the activities of the European Committee of Social Rights. The discussion touched on the issues of the Charter and its implementation in Georgia.
The purpose of the event is to train journalists in effective coverage of social rights. At the meeting, together with the Council of Europe experts, the participants discussed how this mechanism of the Council of Europe can be used in the coverage of social topics, how to make respective emphasis on the social issues. The participants discussed the current practice of covering social topics, including ethical dilemmas and respective solutions, opportunities to make relevant references to the Social Charter.
The Council of Europe local expert, Giorgi Chkheidze noted that " Social rights are human rights. European Social Charter is a window of opportunity for Georgia to learn how Council of Europe Countries are protecting and enforcing effectively social rights. Role of journalists in promoting social rights can not be overestimated. They play important role in conveying message to society about their rights. Today's discussion gives opportunity to representatives of traditional and new media to be more aware about European Social Charter, its impact in Georgia and how can they use charter's standards in their reporting on social issues in the country”.
At the end of the meeting, the participants together with the organisers discussed possible ways of cooperation between the media sector and the Council of Europe, which would increase the effectiveness of coverage of social issues, including in terms of the Social Charter.
"I had only superficial information about the social charter. After listening to the workshop, my knowledge has deepened - I learned what topics are covered by the Charter and also what progress Georgia has made in implementing the recognised provisions within the Charter. The implementation of the provisions of the Charter will significantly improve the realisation of the rights of Georgian citizens in a number of areas and the quality of their life, so I think it is very important for the media to monitor the implementation of the provisions of the Charter and to cover the activities of the bodies responsible for these topics. This will contribute to increasing the accountability of the government and raising awareness in the society about the issues covered by the charter" - Lika Zakashvili, chief editor of "Publika".
The working meeting was held within the framework of the Council of Europe projects "Strengthening the Protection of Social and Economic Rights in Georgia" and "Strengthening Media Freedom, Internet Governance and Personal Data Protection in Georgia". The Projects are part of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Georgia 2020-2023.
