ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PUBLIC DEFENDER OF GEORGIA 2013 have their own towels; bathrooms116 and toilets117 are not ventilated; the same situation exists at all of the homes run by the “SOS Children’s Villages Georgia” Association; the vent hoods are dysfunctional and the entire premises is filled up with food smell; 118 there is a strong odor of sweat and dirt in the rooms.119 There is a shared squat toilet in the yard without a flushing tank and a washstand.120 There are no relevant items of hygiene in the toilet. The building does have a shared bathroom with showering equipment and a toilet with an area of 3.7 square meters inside the premises but, because of the existing conditions, an additional bathroom and a toilet are required. In a majority of small family-type children’s homes, the litter bins are not covered. This is true for the bins located both in the yards and inside the buildings. The beneficiaries do not have toys appropriate for their age. The children’s homes do have sports equipment and storage places for such equipment. Two of the children’s homes in Tbilisi121 are located on the second storey reachable by unroofed stairs from the outside. The stairs are furnished with ceramic tiles. Since the stairs are not roofed, the tiles are very slippery when it is snowing or raining. The monitoring groups revealed that many of the children’s homes do not have evacuation plans; those that do have such plans,122 they are outdated. Firefighting equipment is usually located in scarcely visible areas. The educators and the beneficiaries are virtually unaware of threats posed by natural calamities or of the means and methods of minimizing or avoiding such threats. No telephones are available at the children’s homes in Gldani Village, 123 Gori124 and Khashuri125. At the children’s home in Rustavi, 126 a telephone is installed in the corridor, which cannot be used to call cellular service subscribers. Because of bad quality TV signal, the children are no longer watching the TV.127 Recommendations: To the Social Services Agency of the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Protection QQ To furnish the small family-type children’s homes with all the necessary amenities to with a view of providing decent conditions of living for the children; QQ To provide small family-type children’s homes located in the regions with Internet access and properly working television signal; QQ To establish constant supervision over maintenance of norms of hygiene; QQ To train the educators in the management of natural calamity risks; QQ To elaborate a unified evacuation plan for small family-type children’s homes; QQ To equip the small family-type children’s homes with firefighting equipment. 116 Association “Biliki”, Tavzishvili Street No. 20, Gori. 117 Association “Biliki”, Shola Street No. 1, Khashuri; Association “Biliki”, Imereti Street No. 20, Khashuri. 118 The Beam of Hope, “Caritas Georgia”, Eristavi Street No. 2, Tbilisi. 119 Shamanauri Street No. 94, Dusheti. 120 Telavi Education and Employement Center, 1st Lane, Vazha-Pshavela Street No. 1, Akhmeta. 121 The Beam of Hope, “Caritas Georgia”, Eristavi Street No. 2, Tbilisi. 122 My Home, Kipshidze Street No. 9, Tbilisi. 123 “Caritas Georgia”, 26 May Street No. 41B, Village Gldani1. 124 Association “Biliki”, Tavzishvili Street No. 20, Gori. 125 Shola Street No. 1, Khashuri; Association “Biliki”, Imereti Street No. 20, Khashuri. 126 “The Child and the Environment”, Baratashvili Street NO. 19/30, Rustavi. 127 “The Child and The Environment”, Baratashvili Street No. 19/30, Rustavi. NPM Report 62