Lado JAVAKHISHVILI, Georgia
PROJECT: Protection of Child Victims Rights in Georgia

Skilled in law, human rights, public administration and project magement, Lado is a young professional from Georgia. Lado is a Founder and Director of the local Non-Governmental Organization – Institute for Democracy and Justice. He has experience with many fields and directions, including strategic planning, project management, human rights, child rights, child protection, research, data management, sustainable development, budgeting, etc.

Since 2013 he has been working in different fields, including juvenile justice, crime prevention, probation and penitentiary on analytical, monitoring and policy decision issues, including working on complex reforms based on international experience and best practice, conducting and managing research, data analysis, analyzing international regulations and recommendations, studying international experience and best practice, drafting laws and by-laws, etc. From 2013 to 2018 he was managing Diversion programs in the system of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia, in 2018 he was appointed as a Director of the Crime Prevention Center and in 2020 he was promoted as a Deputy Head of National agency for Crime Prevention, Execution of Non-custodial Sentences and Probation. In 2021 he resigned from the position and founded a Non-Governmental Organization – Institute for Democracy and Justice. He also works with different international organizations as a consultant and expert on human rights, child rights, juvenile justice, crime prevention, probation and penitentiary issues.

His experience covers academic activities as well. He has several publications and is a co-author of three Handbooks with Georgian and international colleagues.

Lado holds a bachelor’s degree in Law from the Tbilisi State University, Master’s Degree in Law from Tbilisi State University and Masters’ Degree in Public Administration from Ilia State University.

“This Fellowship is great opportunity for me as a starting point in civil society to launch an interesting project on Child Rights Protection. I have been thinking about Child Victims Rights issues in Georgia for several years and this Fellowship gave me chance to realise my thoughts and ideas. I feel privileged for having an opportunity to work on this topic, conduct research, prepare policy paper and roadmap for policy makers and also to work on public awareness raising too. I believe the project can bring significant and sustainable outcome for child victims in my country.” – Lado Javakhishvili

Protection of Child Victims Rights in Georgia

Fellowship Summary: Researching, drafting, and promoting a policy document and roadmap for stakeholders engaged in protection of the rights of child victims in Georgia.

Lado Javakhishvili is a lawyer by training and has spent nearly 10 years in public service working within the Georgian justice system.  Up until the end of 2021 Lado served as the Deputy Director at the National Agency for Crime Prevention, under the Ministry of Justice, but with a growing desire to contribute to restorative justice and support of juvenile justice beyond the political constraints of working for government, Lado moved his career into civil society.  He founded the Institute for Democracy and Justice in Tbilisi and launched his civic activism with a Fellowship project focused on the protection of the rights of children who are victims of crime.

“Juveniles are some of the most vulnerable of citizens when they become the victims of crime and in Georgia, although there is some State provision for services for juveniles who commit crimes, for juvenile victims there is almost nothing. So, I wanted to use my fellowship to raise awareness to this issue.”

During 2022 Lado has researched and developed a policy document and roadmap to help steer stakeholders responsible for the protection of rights of child victims in Georgia.  As part of the research Lado looked at good practices in other countries and as a benefit of the Fellowship was able to participate in an international conference in Italy on ‘Justice Beyond the Borders’ organized by European Forum for Restorative Justice.

“Participating in the conference was probably the most satisfying and enjoyable part of my fellowship, as like so many others, it was my first chance since the Covid pandemic to actually sit down face-to-face with my peers to learn and share ideas.  There was one particular session, led by a legal professional from Brazil, which I found truly inspirational.”

In addition to the policy paper, Lado has successfully led an awareness-raising campaign, using a series of digital posters on social media to highlight the plight of juvenile victims of crime and promote the need to protect their rights.  “I expect the future beneficiaries of my fellowship will be the 1000 or so juveniles who are victims of crime in Georgia every year”.

Lado has not only kick-started his civic activism through his Fellowship, but it has also facilitated him to extend his networking, with an additional role as an Observer to the EaP Civil Society Forum in Prague at the end of 2022.
“This is a great opportunity and I know that when I look back on my civic advocacy I’ll see that it all started with the Fellowship.”

Fellowship Programs 2021
Country Georgia
Areas of Interest Advocacy
Awareness raising
Topics Human rights
Judiciary & legal system
Project duration May - November 2022

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