Tbilisi. According to the TI Georgia the manner in which the Georgian government reaches decisions remains opaque. “In 2022, the Government of Georgia considered 372 draft decrees at 47 meetings. None of these decrees have been made public. 40% of government decrees issued in 2022 – 150 out of 372 – dealt with the transfer of state property to concrete entities, which contains clear corruption risks. The government's failure to release documents and respond to public information requests constitutes a violation of at least three laws”. Read more... Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center shares the analytical document: Another Attempt to Reform the Judiciary - Analysis of the Parliamentary Working Group and the Draft Law. “The recommendations issued by the European Commission for Georgia in the summer of 2022 created an important opportunity for the systemic refinement of the judicial system. Unfortunately, due to the lack of political will, this opportunity was not used effectively once again. The working group in the Parliament created only an illusory opportunity for civic engagement and in-depth discussions on judicial reforms. Despite the opportunity for formal engagement of CSOs, Public defenders, and professional groups in the activities of the working group, not a single recommendation made by them, directed to systemic changes, or to the assessment of existing problems in the court, was shared by the parliamentary majority. Moreover, rarely were these initiatives even the subject of genuine analysis and debate. Against this background, it is logical that the reform strategy developed by the working group does not even minimally address the systemic challenges in the judicial system. The package of legislative changes prepared on the basis of the mentioned strategy envisages fragmented, façade changes, which cannot be the source of hope for substantive refinement of the judicial system”. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

The web portal CsoGeorgia.org releases a weekly newsletter of grants competition, contests, vacancies, fellowships, and tenders for civil society organizations, and for any interested person. Newsletter...

Tbilisi. According to the U.S. Embassy in Georgia, a Georgian student, studying in America through the FLEX exchange program, was selected as “student of the month” from among hundreds of participants across the world.  “Mariam Kurdadze was chosen for her high academic performance, volunteerism, and for showing exceptional enthusiasm in sharing her country's Culture”. Read more… Source: The U.S. Embassy’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Salome Kenchiashvili, is the winner of the first scholarship of the Maro Makashvili Award, which is provided by the Gurulian Diary Fund. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Guria. The Members of the "Young Pedagogues Union" leadership school and youth center met the first deputy mayor of Ozurgeti municipality, Giorgi Ghurjumelidze. Adults talked about the needs in their communities: Inadequate schedule of internal traffic and the need for preferential rates for students; Environmental issues and the absence of garbage bunkers in villages; Homeless dogs multiplying on the school territory and in the streets; Dysfunctional and dilapidated buildings and related dangers; Safe access to public schools and kindergartens. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Women participating in the Women's Economic Empowerment project conducted a SWOT analysis of the activities of self-help groups. “According to the analysis, self-confidence, teamwork, opportunity to attend trainings, sharing of ideas and active involvement in public activities were highlighted in the strengths, while limited financial resources, lack of equipment, limited internet and stereotypical attitudes prevailed in the threatening conditions”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. According to the Public Defender's assessment, at the time of the warning made by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia in the evening hours of March 7, 2023, the assembly had a peaceful character and there was no reason to terminate it or use force against it. “As for the cases of violence by individual participants in the rally, if there were any, individual - necessary and proportionate measures should have been taken against them. Contrary to this, the law enforcement officers started using special equipment against the participants in the assembly, including peaceful demonstrators, which contradicts the standard of necessary and proportionate interference with the right”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Samegrelo. On March 8-9, within the UN Women and Jepra partnership, in Tsalenjikha and Zugdidi, Jepra's consultants conducted a “Branding and Communication” training for women farmers.  Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Rondeli Foundation in cooperation with the Eesti Diplomaatide Kool/Estonian School of Diplomacy has commenced the “Training Program for Georgia's Future Civil Service Leaders”. “The 4-month long study program aims to support Georgia’s civil servants on the career ladder by deepening their knowledge and enhancing their skills in the field of security and policy analysis”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Mtskheta-Mtianeti. On March 10, the Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC) held a training for the members of the organizing committee in the City Hall of Dusheti Municipality. “At the training, the parties selected the priorities and discussed the critical organizational issues, the knowledge of which is necessary during the planning and organization of the forums. They also got to know about the innovative model of participatory budgeting and citizen which will ensure the population in Baghdati, Dusheti, and Ambrolauri municipalities be involved in the formation of the 2024 budget”. Find out more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. The report of the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) presents an assessment of the availability of public information in Georgia based on data from 2022. The report also includes an analysis of the trends in the release of public information in 2010-2022 and the rating of access to public information in public institutions. “According to the monitoring conducted by IDFI in 2022, the quality of access to public information in the country has decreased significantly compared to the previous year. The rate of responses (58%) from public institutions in 2022 is the lowest observed since 2010. There was an established practice of a critical threshold of 80% on the rate of responses after 2013, which was successfully maintained until 2022”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

The U.S. Embassy in Georgia releases the statement regarding the current situation in the country: “The Georgian people have, once again, spoken clearly that the only choice for Georgia is a secure and prosperous European future. We welcome Georgian Dream’s decision to withdraw both draft laws on “foreign influence.” We urge the ruling party to officially retract these bills and not pursue further this type of legislation, which is incompatible with Georgian and European values and the protection of fundamental freedoms. We encourage Georgia’s political leaders to work together in earnest on the reforms urgently needed to obtain the EU candidate status that Georgia’s citizens overwhelmingly desire”. Read more… Source: The The U.S. Embassy’s page on the social network

The web portal CsoGeorgia.org releases a weekly newsletter of grants competition, contests, vacancies, fellowships, and tenders for civil society organizations, and for any interested person. Newsletter...

Tbilisi. The ruling Georgian Dream party has passed the first version of the draft foreign agent law in its first reading in parliament. Tens of thousands of people gathered outside to protest what has been widely condemned as a Russian-style law that threatens Georgia’s democracy. Riot police were immediately deployed as the bill was passed, deploying water cannons and pepper spray to clear the sides of the parliament. Numerous arrests were made. HRHT supports the protesting activists and ensures payment of fines to those arrested. The small budget mobilized by the organization will be used until it runs out. Therefore, we are starting to collect donations here. Account Numbers: GEL: GE41TB7249036080100001 USD/EUR: GE85TB7249036180100001 Recipient: THE HUMAN RIGHTS HOUSE TBILISI Description: No to Russian law Learn more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. “Georgian Dream” decided to “recall” the draft law “On the transparency of foreign influence” that had already been passed in the first introduction, which caused mass protests. Women’s Information Center would like to explain to the public „that according to the regulations of the Parliament, a legislative initiative can be declared accepted or rejected by a motivated decision. According to Article 158 of the Regulation, a legislative initiative will be considered rejected if the bill fails in the second reading. According to clauses 16 and 17 of the regulation, a draft law that fails to gather the necessary number of votes for its adoption in the second reading is considered a failure. In such a case, a resolution on the inadmissibility of the draft law is drawn up in the second reading. In addition, if the draft law failed in the second reading at the plenary session, it will not be put to the vote within one month of the session period at the request of the initiator. Also, a draft law that fails to collect the required number of votes 3 times as a result of voting in the second reading during one session will be considered rejected. As for the second version of the draft law, all initiators must sign the project recall. Accordingly, the majority must throw out the law, and “people power” must reject it with their own signatures“. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. European Union in Georgia welcomes the announcement by the ruling party to withdraw the draft legislation on “foreign influence”. "We encourage all political leaders in Georgia to resume pro-European reforms, in an inclusive and constructive way and in line with the 12 priorities for Georgia to achieve candidate status". Read more… Source: EU’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Signing ceremonies of new projects, funded within the GGP Grassroots Human Security Grant Program of the Embassy of Japan, continue. Since the independence of Georgia, Japan has provided 200 grants within the GGP Program, totalling over 20 million USD, in addition to other grant schemes. The GGP projects are excellent examples of successful cooperation between NGOs and state institutions and a great reminder of the positive role civil society can play in community development. We want to thank all the dedicated persons and state institutions, who worked hard to develop the GGP projects during these years. Read more… Source: The embassy’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. The proposed 'foreign agent law' in Georgia poses a significant threat to freedom of speech and democracy and Georgia's future with the Euro-Atlantic aspiration. “We strongly urge the Parliament to withdraw this law!” Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Media Advocacy Coalition appeals to the Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia, Mr. Shalva Papuashvili, to immediately restore the accreditation of journalists in the Parliament, to ensure an unhindered and safe working environment for media representatives in the legislative body, to protect their freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution, especially during the upcoming discussions of the Russian law scheduled for this week. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

The web portal CsoGeorgia.org releases a weekly newsletter of grants competition, contests, vacancies, fellowships, and tenders for civil society organizations, and for any interested person. Newsletter...

Tbilisi. "Helping Hand" will hold its annual Volunteerism Fair in Tbilisi on March 10, 2023. With the support of Peace Corps volunteers, the event was established many years ago. The event's goal is to promote volunteering as one of the most potent instruments for the development of a democratic society, as well as to encourage the active participation of young people and citizens in general in volunteering programs. At the event, volunteers, including students and those from schools, can register and learn more about specific projects. Up to March 3 of this year, organizations interested in participating in the Volunteerism Fair can register here... The National University of Georgia is the event's partner. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network