Tbilisi. 19 September, at the Rooms Hotel Tbilisi, Network of Centers for Civic Engagement hosted a presentation of State Grant Funding-Existing Situation and Perspectives. The event was organized by “Network of Centers for Civic Engagement”, in the framework of the project “Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative”.  As a part of this project, within the support of Civil Society Institute, the Network of Centers for Civic Engagement and the Green Caucasus conducted monitoring of the process of grant issuing by public institutions. The monitoring period covered grants, issued in 2016-2017. Core objective of this event was to examine the actual situation as it stands in terms of state grant funding in Georgia and to discuss possible perspectives in this sense and to present monitoring outcomes.  The director of the Network of Centers for Civic Engagement, Nina Khatiskatsi and Civil Society Program Officer of EU Delegation Georgia, Dominika Skubida welcomed the audience. “We note that the scale and scope of funding for Civil Society in Georgia remains still insufficient to meaningfully improve the sustainability of the sector. Enhancement of enabling environment for diversification of funding, including support for refining state granting system, is therefore our main priority aimed at this objective. We welcome therefore the commitment of the Government of Georgia under the Open Government Partnership Action Plan to increase efficiency and allow local governments to use granting mechanism” - said Dominika Skubida.  The first part of the event was dedicated to present the major findings of the monitoring conducted by both organizations. More specifically, some of the crucial aspects have been emphasized: how clearly the particular details related to grant issuance are defined beforehand and to what extent the state agencies fulfill their commitments, considering each stage of providing grants; as well as the experience of granted CSOs in terms of administering state funds. It is worth mentioning that neither monitoring, nor the reports intend to evaluate the quality of the grant projects or its’ content. The legal environment related to the state grant funding was reviewed during the second part of the event. Levan Paniashili, the representative of Civil Society Institute, talked about CSOs’ State Grant Funding Reform Concept, elaborated by CSI expert team. One of the primary aspects he mentioned were the challenges, which reveal the importance and the need of mentioned reform. Moreover, the speaker analyzed current situation in regard to the reform concept and shared the key findings and recommendations of the document, along with its reflection in the legislation. The representatives of the public institutions, media, local CSOs and international organizations attended the presentation. They had an opportunity to address speakers with questions and get involved in the follow up discussions, after the presentations. In addition, the call for applications for the second cycle of the sub-granting competition on the State Grant Funding Monitoring was announced. The participants were able to receive detailed information about the term and conditions.  Project “Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative” was developed and is implemented by the consortium, led by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in cooperation with four Georgian Civil Society Organizations: Civil Society Institute (CSI), Center for Training and Consultancy (CTC), Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG) and Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC). The project is funded by the European Union and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. Project aims to improve working environment for CSOs in Georgia, to support their capacity building, accountability and transparency and to strengthen their ties and cooperation with other actors.

Samtskhe-Javakheti. Civil Society Regional Forum held in Akhaltsikhe, at Samtskhe-Javakheti State University. The goals of the regional forum are to demonstrate the activities of local CSOs and to promote volunteerism. Lika Kiladze, Chairperson of Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC), Temur Jaliashvili, the representative of the project ”Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative” and Maka Beridze, the Rector of Samtskhe-Javakheti State University delivered speeches during the forum. Up to twenty local CSOs participated in the forum. Their focuses are ethnic minorities, supporting formal and informal education, empowerment of persons with special needs. They also work on gender-related issues and support small businesses. During the event, guests were provided with the opportunity to become familiar with the activities local CSOs are involved in. The participants got introduced with the bilateral volunteerism platform “Time Bank". They were able to choose the activity considering their interests and skills and voluntarily participate in it. Speakers of the forum Lado Apkhazava, the winner of Teacher's National Award and writer Tatuli Gvinianidze discussed the importance of volunteerism. The forum is organized in the frame of the project  ”Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative”. The project was developed and is implemented by the consortium led by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in cooperation with four Georgian Civil Society Organizations: Civil Society Institute (CSI), Center for Training and Consultancy (CTC), Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG) and Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC). The project is funded by the European Union and co-funded by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung

Guria. Civil Society Regional Forum held in the Culture and Recreational Park in Ozurgeti, Guria Region. The goals of the regional forum are to demonstrate the activities of local CSOs and to promote volunteerism. Up to ten local CSOs and the representatives of small business participated in the forum. The event was launched with the concert of children's group "Binuli". Then the organizers of the forum delivered the speeches and underlined the importance of the event. During the forum, the most active volunteer in Guria "Euro Club" was awarded by the "Time Bank", the platform to promote volunteerism. Within the event, the technique of working on Teqa and the preparation of the local tea were presented. Along with other entertaining activities, participants showed examples of making bamboo items. Visitors were also provided with the opportunity to choose an activity the most suitable for them and they could voluntarily involve in the work of local organizations. The participants were introduced with the bilateral volunteerism platform “Time Bank". The forum also included the quiz. Many Presents were gifted to the visitors of the Time Bank tent. The quiz questions were related to the culture of volunteerism in Georgia. The forum is organized in the frame of the project ”Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative”. The project was developed and is implemented by the consortium led by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in cooperation with four Georgian Civil Society Organizations: Civil Society Institute (CSI), Center for Training and Consultancy (CTC), Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG) and Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC). The project is funded by the European Union and co-funded by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung

Imereti. Local Democracy Agency Georgia held a Regional Civil Society Forum in Kutaisi. The main goal of the forum was to attract donors and potential financiers and strengthen civil society in the Imereti region. Local NGOs, media, donor organizations, self-governments and youth (students) were invited to the forum. The Regional Civil Society Forum was organized by LDA Georgia within the project "Civil Society Initiative," which is implemented by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) by the Civil Society Institute (CSI), a training and consulting center (CTC), a strategic research and development centers, (CSRDG) and Education, Development and Employment Center (EDEC). Read more…  Source: The organization’s page