In the office of Foundation Global Initiative on Psychiatry - Tbilisi was held presentation of the report on Application of Article 19 of The UN Convention On The Rights of People With Disabilities In Georgia, Current Challenges And Barriers. Presentation was prepared and presented by experts: Nana Zavradashvili, Lali Chkhetia and Nino Makhashvili.

The analytical report is prepared and issued in the framework of the project “Promo!ng Community Living in Georgia: Situational Analyses on the Implementation of Article 19 of the CRPD – Barriers and Challenges” funded by Open Society - Georgia Foundation and implemented by the Foundation Global Initiative on Psychiatry – Tbilisi.

Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities equalizes the right to freedom and inviolability
to the right of people with disabilities to live in the community and fully participate in community life. This Article will act
against institutionalized caremodels and require fromstate to allocate investments for ensuring living of people with disabilities in community.

By this Article, international law directly recognized the right of people with disabilities to live in the community as a
human right. Article 19 also sets the obligation of the states - parties to the Convention to ensure for the people with disabilities:

• The opportunity to choose their place of residence (Article 19 (a)).
• The opportunity to choose with whom they live (Article 19 (a)).
• The opportunity to access to a range of in-, residential and other community support services (Article 19 (b)).

The opportunity to have access on an equal basis to the community services and facilities available for the general population (Article 19 (c)).The report aims at reviewing correspondence of applicable legislation and policy documents with the requirements set in Article 19 and identify possibilities and challenges regarding implementation of said Article; as well as outline the fields for reform.

Participants evaluated presented report as important and made decision to present it to wider public in October.

To see the full report click here