National Disability Day
June 14 is the National Disability Day in Georgia. In order to bring to society’s attention to some of the challenges that persons with disabilities face in Georgia during and beyond pandemic, Sweden Alumni Network Georgia recorded a video clip which was aired on public broadcaster and other TV channels. Alumni Network hopes that this video will inspire society to be more aware and join forces with the PWD community for making Georgia and the world more accessible and inclusive place.
To support SDG5 (achieve gender equality and empower all girls women and girls) and SDG 10 (Reduced inequalities), small video was shooted in Georgia, mainly in the capital, Tbilisi and in Batumi. Respective video tackled the existing challenges Persons with Disabilities face on a daily bases, that COVID-19 has worsened their daily life. Moreover, the idea of the short video was to remind society of the PWD community that live in lifelong isolation, the challenges they face, and no matter of restriction release by the governments, they still remain invisible.
Young vocal activist from Adjara region, Tato Makharadze, stressed on non-accessible infrastructure, blind Esma Gumberidze, Youth Representative of Georgia in UN, tackled the challenges of social network accessibility, and young activist with “Iron Legs” highlighted the importance of PWD inclusion in the society.
Short video was released on June 14, PWD Rights Protection Day in Georgia. As of that day, it came to attention to all major televisions in Georgia and social network pages. Short video has over 30K views and was hosted by two televisions: GBP (national broadcaster,) and Formula (one of the highest rated television in the country).
In addition to interviews, short video was aired during two weeks by 4 televisions, including: GBP (national broadcaster), Imedi, Rustavi 2 and Formula. It has over 30 shares from Sweden Alumni Network Georgia Facebook page. Video is bilingual, Georgian and English subtitles, accessible for international audience.