From December 20, 2010 to December 2011 GYLA has been implementing the EU-funded new project the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association for Effective Protection and Promotion of Basic Labor Rights in Georgia. The project covers Tbilisi and seven regions of Georgia, where GYLA’s regional offices are located – Kutaisi, Adjara, Gori, Rustavi, Telavi, Ozurgeti and Dusheti. The project is implemented on the basis of the GYLA’s strategic approach that incorporates improvement of civil rights practice in the country by means of combination of three components: ensuring effective legislation, responding to and preventing individual civil rights violations and raising legal awareness of public.

Based on the noted strategy, the project has three main strands:

1. In order to improve applicable labor laws and harmonize them with the European standards, GYLA, with assistance of its parliamentary secretary and in cooperation with corresponding state agencies and other NGOs, will prepare and lobby legal drafts in the parliament.

2. In order to respond to individual violations of labor rights – GYLA’s free legal assistance center will provide legal assistance to victims of labor rights violations. We will particularly focus on protection of the vulnerable groups in the society, such as pregnant women, the underage, persons with disabilities, persons who have reached the pension age, internally displaced persons, persons with particular profession (doctors, journalists, teachers, etc.).

3. In order to raise public awareness and prevent violation of labor rights – GYLA has prepared and with the assistance of its regional offices has disseminated special brochures on labor rights. The brochures were prepared in Georgian as well as Armenian and Azerbaijani languages. Under the project auspices public service announcements were prepared that are broadcasted by the Georgian public broadcaster.