THE TRANSCRIBED SPEECH OF PAATA ZAKAREISHVILI AT THE CONFERENCE, SESSION

Mr. Paata Zakareishvili served as the State Minister of Georgia for Reconciliation and Civic Equality in 2012-2016. Mr. Zakareishvili currently is a professor at the Grigol Robakidze University in Tbilisi. Over the past 25 years, Mr. Zakareishvili worked in various state institutions and civil society organizations in Georgia, focusing on human rights, conflict transformation and peacebuilding. In 2009-2012, Mr. Zakareishvili acted as the Chairman of the Institute for the Study of Nationalism and Conflict (ISNC). Prior to this, he was the Georgian coordinator of the "Schlaining" Dialogue Process under the Conciliation Resources (London) and the Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management (Berlin). In 2000-2001, Mr. Zakareishvili was the Deputy Head of the Penitentiary Department under the Ministry of Justice of Georgia. In 1995-2000, he was the Chief of Staff of the Committee on Human Rights and Ethnic Minority Affairs in the Parliament of Georgia. Over the period from 1995 to 2012 Mr. Zakareishvili was the Georgian coordinator of the programme “Abkhaz-Georgian Peacebuilding and Cooperation Among Multiple Initiatives” initiated by the University of California, Irvine (USA). Mr. Zakareishvili graduated from Kazan State University. He is also a graduate of the Theological Academy in Tbilisi.