At the initiative of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Georgia, International Human Rights Day is being celebrated by granting special annual award “Human Rights Tulip” to non-governmental organizations and activists in Georgia that have made a unique contribution in this field.

Above-stated, the second annual ceremony was held on December 4, where the winners were awarded by the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Georgia, Maaike Van Koldam.

The winners have been selected based on the previously announced competition. At the Embassy’s request, partner civil society organizations including the Eastern European Centre for Multiparty Democracy (EECMD), have nominated candidates who met the pre-established criteria.

The 2019 Human Rights Tulip has been awarded to the chair of the Kakheti Regional Committee of “Anti-violence Centre for Georgia”. The second runner-up is the journalist Goga Aptsiauri, who is also an alumni of the EECMD’s Gori Democracy School and was nominated by the EECMD under this aegis.

Goga Aptsiauri is a correspondent of Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty in Shida Kartli. He is a civic activist and seeks to protect the rights of people affected by the August war and those living along the occupation line. Furthermore, he is involved in various international peace negotiation formats, contributing to Georgian-Ossetian and Georgian-Abkhazian peacebuilding dialogue.

Once again, we congratulate Goga on his well-deserved award and wish him every success.