The Foreign Relations Committee, presided by the Chair, Sophio Katsarava, discussed the draft Parliamentary resolution on “Recommendations of the Parliament of Georgia to the Government concerning commencement of the Procedures stipulated under the law in view of mandatory fulfillment of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities” introduced by Rati Ionatamishvili.

By ratifying the Optional Protocol, Georgia recognizes the competence of the Committee for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities guaranteed under the Convention to receive and consider the individual claims on violation of the rights by the state. Ratification of the Protocol will facilitate to complete fulfillment of the requirements of the provisions of the Convention by Georgia, improvement of the standards in hereof sphere and successful realization of the international commitments of Georgia as the UN member state.

“I started lobbying this issue when I was in the civil sector. It is a strategic question for every person with disabilities. By ratifying the optional protocol, we become of the leading countries in the region”, - R. Ionatamishvili noted.

The draft was backed even by the opposition members. The Committee discussed the bill on State Procurement introduced by the Deputy Foreign Minister, Khatuna Totladze. According to her, pursuant to the Governmental Resolution of 2016, the diplomatic missions and consulates of Georgia abroad shall ensure re-interment of Georgian citizens and payment of the respective sum. Often, the price paid by the diplomatic missions and consulates for the services of the funeral agencies exceed the monetary limits established for the simplified procurements (50 000 GEL), which thus violates the respective norm.

The draft supplements the list of the simplified procurements with the re-interment of Georgian citizens by the diplomatic missions and consulates.

The reporter also introduced the document on Agreement harbored through the exchange of the letters on Application of the standard contractual conditions of project services of July 1, 1994 between Georgia and UN on “Aid between Georgia and UNDP.

The Committee approved the documents.