On September 18 and 19, First Deputy Public Defender of Georgia Tamar Gvaramadze and other representatives of the Public Defender's Office held two-day meetings with Mayors and employees of the Imereti, Racha-Lechkhumi, Kvemo Svaneti, Guria and Samegrelo municipalities, as well as civil society representatives.

The right to property and the right to live in a healthy environment, including challenges relating to landfills, were discussed at the meeting with local civil society representatives on September 18. Representatives of the Public Defender's Office received information about alleged violations of the mentioned rights.

Tamar Gvaramadze talked about the Public Defender’s mandate at the meeting with representatives of the municipalities of western Georgia on September 19. The obligations of the municipalities in terms of ensuring the right to adequate housing and food safety, as well as the recommendations of the Public Defender, implementation of which was imposed on them by the Parliament of Georgia on 19 July 2018, were discussed at the meeting. Representatives of the Public Defender talked about the practices and challenges in this direction in other municipalities, while representatives of the municipalities spoke about local problems and difficulties related to the implementation of the Public Defender’s recommendations.

The Public Defender's Office will continue meetings with representatives of the municipalities and will actively cooperate with them for the purpose of realizing various rights.