On 20 September, the Georgian National Assembly officially adopted the Code on the Rights of the Child.

The Code had been drafted on 4 February by the Georgian Parliament’s Human Rights Committee with the aid of UNICEF Georgia. The Code covers all rights and freedoms of the child and provides stronger mechanisms for their protection and realization. This includes a special focus on the rights to family, protection from all forms of violence, access to inclusive education and healthcare, social protection, and access to justice. It also addresses equity gaps in the realization of all childhood rights and freedoms through an enhanced system for support and protection which considers needs and circumstances of each child and their family. Finally, it introduces stronger mechanisms for state accountability for the realization of childhood rights and freedoms by introducing a child rights impact assessment tool, interagency coordination, multidisciplinary cooperation, data collection and analysis for the development of evidence-based policy, and specialization of professionals working with and for children.

The Code was adopted in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child from 1989. The main idea of the Convention was that children are not just objects who belong to their parents and for whom decisions are made, or adults in training. Rather, they are human beings and individuals with their own rights. The Convention says childhood is separate from adulthood, and lasts until 18; it is a special, protected time, in which children must be allowed to grow, learn, play, develop and flourish with dignity. Currently, 196 countries ratified the document with the exemption of the United States, who is a signatory to the document but did not ratify it. 

The adoption of the Code was widely Praised by the UNICEF representatives in Georgia. “The adoption of the Child Rights’ Code is an important landmark for every child in Georgia, and I congratulate children on this historic development”, said Dr. Ghassan Khalil, UNICEF Representative in Georgia. “The Code is a critical instrument to provide every right for every child. It embraces main principles that will guide the wellbeing of children for many years and will make significant changes in children’s lives,” he added.