By the invitation of the Faculty of Education Sciences, on May 27, 2020, the Representative of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Georgia, Dr. Ghassan Khalil conducted a distance webinar for students and academic staff of Sokhumi State University on the topic: "Children's Rights in University Programs." The webinar was attended by the academic staff and students of Bachelor's and Master's degree programs of Education Sciences, Teacher Education, Education Psychology, International Relations, Inclusive Education and History.

The invited guest was welcomed by the Rector of Sokhumi State University, Prof. Zurab Khonelidze, who spoke about the situation in the world due to the new coronavirus Covid-19 and thanked Dr. Ghassan Khalil for finding time in such a difficult and extraordinary situation and offering a webinar on this topic.

Dr. Ghassan Khalil spoke about the problems that existed and still exist in child protection issues: children's rights, injustice and violence against children.  It was these problems that made the world think about the legal protection of children's rights. 1979 was recognized as the International Year of the Child, and the UN Commission on Human Rights began working on the creation of Convention on the Rights of the Child.On November 29, 1989, the UN General Assembly unanimously supported a worldwide legal document, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Georgia acceded in 1994. On the webinar, Ghassan Khalil paid special attention to the importance of teaching children's rights in university education programs and emphasized its necessity.

After the report, an interesting question-and-answer, discussion session was held on various topics, including children's hunger, inclusive education, the problems of children with special education needs and children with disabilities, including the problems of children's rights, which were identified after the new coronavirus Covid-19. Dr. Ghassan Khalil provided comprehensive answers to the questions and spoke extensively about UNICEF's activities, future plans in Georgia and around the world.

Natia Jokhadze, UNICEF Education Program Coordinator, spoke about the prospects for further cooperation between UNICEF and Sokhumi State University, and the moderator of the meeting, Tamar Shinjiashvili, clarified that Children's Rights issues are included in teaching  courses of Sokhumi State University, in particular in Legal Acts of Education, Education Policy, International Law and etc., but today's webinar will help and expand the dissemination and teaching of this topic.

At the end of the webinar, Dean of the Faculty of Education Sciences, Lia Akhaladze thanked Dr. Ghassan Khalil for the interesting presentation and for the continued support from UNICEF.