On November 15, 2023, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Georgia Country Office, in cooperation with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia and the Public Security Management Center “112”, organized meetings in the schools of Telavi Municipality on the topic of the harmful practice of early/child marriage. 

The meetings were held in Kurdghelauri and Karajala public schools. During the meetings, the representatives of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Human Rights Protection and Investigation Quality Monitoring Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia and the Public Security Management Center “112” informed the audience about the regulation related to early/child marriage, the harmful consequences of the practice and the need for prevention, as well as about the rules for using the updated mobile application of “112”.

The mobile application of “112” was updated in 2022, based on the memorandum of cooperation signed between the the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Georgia Country Office and the Public Security Management Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia “112”. The application was translated into 5 languages and supplemented with the information about early /child marriage.

Civic activist Chinara Kojaeva took part in the meetings, sharing with the senior students her personal story of escaping early marriage.

The information meetings with students of public schools will continue in different regions of Georgia, within the framework of the cooperation.

The meetings are being held within the framework of the joint UN Programme for Gender Equality, which is implemented with the financial support of the Government of Sweden.