On January 27-29, the Open Society Georgia Foundation (OSGF) and the Ministry of Corrections, Probation and Legal assistance of Georgia held a 3-day working meeting dedicated to the improvement of the treatment of juvenile offenders in the penal system and the formation of the unified approach to them.
UNICEF representatives and the experts working on human rights and health issues in correctional facilities also took part in the meeting.
The meeting was preceded by several months of monitoring conducted by the OSGF jointly with Georgian Center for Psychosocial and Medical Rehabilitation of Torture Victims. The study aimed to define the healthcare needs of Avchala Juvenile Correctional Facility. It helped to define key problems and needs in the health care sector as well as the factors adversely affecting access to medical care and their causes. Based on the study recommendations have been prepared.
“Our working meeting considered the study findings, which have provided good grounds for the development of the strategy aimed at improving conditions in the system”, says Nino Kiknadze, a representative of the OSGF.