Sta tement by Ms . A na Do bo rjginidze, C o uns ello r o f the Perma nent Mis s io n o f G eo rgia to the U N Office a nd o ther Interna tio na l Orga niza tio ns in G enev a Forum on Minority Issues, 9 th Session 24-25 November, 2016 Mr. Chair, First of all I would like to welcome the Chair of the 9th session of the Forum on Minority Issues and thank distinguished panelists for the informative remarks. Distinguished delegates, In recent years, Georgia has achieved significant progress with regard to the protection of the rights of minorities, through creating legal guarantees and defining further mechanisms for the implementation of legal norms. Georgia's the Law on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination bans all discrimination by both public and private entities on all grounds, including sex, age, ethnic, religion, language, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and political affiliation. The Law prohibits all forms of discrimination, being it direct or indirect. The law was drafted in close collaboration with local and international NGOs and experts, and the Office of the Public Defender was tasked with monitoring its implementation. The Government has also adopted a State Strategy for Civic Equality and Integration and the Action Plan for 2015-2020. The civic integration strategy is based on a more diverse, and more integrated approach and aims at: contributing to the provision of equality, ensuring ethnic minorities’ full-fledged participation in all spheres of public life and preservation of their culture and identity. Each of these directives implies a state language component and also a gender approach. The strategy is especially focused on the protection of the culture of minorities and their access to education. Prior to the submission for adoption of the document to the Georgian government, it was actively considered and discussed by different actors, including target groups.