The Public Defender's Office cooperates with academic circles in order to promote human rights education and raise awareness. Lecture courses and conference-workshops at the higher education institutions forms a link between the scientific outlook and the reality of protection of human rights. For this purpose, on May 24-25, 2017, the Human Rights Academy of the Public Defender organized lectures for students of various departments of Tbilisi State University on important topics, such as – significance of protection of human rights for conflict prevention and resolution; the rights situation/major challenges of national/ethnic/religious minorities; cases of discrimination and response to them (the notion and forms of discrimination, importance of the Law on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination, etc.); citizens' rights in relation to the police (drug policy challenges, the so-called street drug testing, etc.).

The lectures were led by Gvantsa Chkhaidze, Deputy Head of the Department of Criminal Justice of the Public Defender, chief specialists of the Department of Equality: Mariam Gaiparashvili and Marietta Akhvlediani, Tolerance Center representative Beka Mindiashvili and the Public Defender's Chief Adviser on Human Rights Issues in Conflict Regions, Medea Turashvili.

Specific examples of human rights violations and the practice of responding, the Public Defender's mandate and his role in the prevention of human rights violations, were discussed at the lectures. The students were given the opportunity to actively participate in the discussions and strengthen the theoretical knowledge received at the university by analysis of specific cases. Similar lectures will be held on various human rights issues for students of higher education in the future too.