A/HRC/39/24 Constitutional Court. Starting from 2019, the competition would also be open to grade 9 learners, and it had already been used in Ghana and Mozambique. He noted that such moot court competitions were a primary form of prevention, improving youth human rights literacy and targeting future decision makers. 24. Mr. Kvaratskhelia shared his experiences in Georgia on human rights education in the context of torture prevention. He noted that, pursuant to article 2 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, States parties must take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture. Broad factors, including the rule of law, the level of poverty, corruption and exclusion, could have an impact on how effective States’ measures were. Inadequate human rights education was at the root of human rights violations, including torture. The Public Defender of Georgia regarded awareness-raising as part of cultural change, and therefore had established a human rights academy in 2015. Since then, the Office of the Public Defender had provided 56 training sessions, both to rights holders and to duty bearers, with a total of 1,200 participants. Furthermore, professors delivered lectures, and thus the academy served as a bridge between theory and practice. 25. He stressed that human rights education should be provided by the State. In order to prevent torture in places of deprivation of liberty, training for penitentiary staff and prisoners was key. He noted that prisoners who had participated in training sessions had started citing the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules) 9 in their complaints. The Office of the Public Defender of Georgia — the national preventive mechanism under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment — had drafted 74 special reports and had issued 1,800 public statements in the media. The Office of the Public Defender had also published monthly bulletins, conducted social media campaigns, intervened as amicus curiae in legal proceedings, and hosted international conferences and internships for university students. He highlighted the power of education as a safe and durable solution to prevent human rights violations. 26. Ms. Dayer noted that preventing violence and discrimination was relevant for pupils and adults, for example in the context of cyberharassment and harmful stereotypes in schools. To prevent violence and discrimination, it was necessary to take action ahead of time and promote human rights and equality. Pedagogical tools may help in addressing insults and harassment, by providing human rights-based guidance, however those tools also needed to be implemented in a non-discriminatory manner by staff. Teachers played an important role in reacting to messages of inequality or violence. The first step was intervention, because the situation tended to worsen when adults did not intervene. As a second step, there should be prevention through human rights education, and frameworks to prevent human rights abuses in the future. 27. She recommended that interventions to prevent violence and discrimination at schools should address the individual, collective and institutional/political levels. Action at the individual level included working on a professional and consistent approach by the adults. At the collective level, adults and students needed a network and contact persons. At the institutional/political level, students should be able to draw up their own projects, because youth participation was very important. She noted that many specific actions could be carried out, however they needed to be part of a broader framework and to be rooted in the needs of each institution. She stressed that equality activities organized for international days, for example against racism and homophobia, were important tools in human rights education. 28. During the discussion, participants exchanged further examples of training for children and for rural workers, including through youth clubs and video clips. Moreover, a children’s parliament could make contributions to the national parliament on issues affecting children. The need to adapt the tools and methodology, based on the age of the child, and to tailor the communication to the addressee, was underscored. Furthermore, tools for impact assessments were required in order to measure the effectiveness and 9 See General Assembly resolution 70/175, annex. 7