Tbilisi. The civil society organizations "The Rights' School" and "The House of Tolerance" released the statement and expressed discontent in respect to the situation of the recent month concerning the religious and ethnic minorities in Nigvziani and Tsintskaro. "The Rights' School" and "The House of Tolerance" find it unacceptable that the state does not react to the information on the breach of constitutional rights and criminal offences, and thus still undermines the safety of hundreds and thousands of Georgian citizens", - says the statement. The Statement. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Adjara. The seminar was held on November25 in the association of elderly women to commemorate the International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women. Topic of the seminar was "Let's unite against violence towards women".The medical staff of outpatient department of the municipality's 12 communities was invited to the seminar. Lawyer Marine Zhghenti has delivered the seminar and informed the participants on the notion of domestic violence and how does the state protect the victims of domestic violence. Information materials were distributed, which will be disseminated in all communities of the municipality. For the full text. Source: awa.org.ge

Shida Kartli. On November 25, as part of the "Civic Education and Teacher Training Program" and in connection with the International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women, the schoolchildren have invited to the civic club of Khashuri Public School #9 the guest – the Head of the Shida Kartli gender Equality Resource Center Nino Sukhiashvili. She talked about violence against women and legislation for its prevention, statistics on domestic violence and the UN documents. The study on the victims of domestic violence in Georgia has established that the victims of domestic violence in most cases are women and children, while males are the violators. However, Ms. Sukhiashvili said that elder parents or males can also become the object of domestic violence. According to her, apart from various international organizations that protect the women's rights, the Public Defender is also authorized to examine these issues and protect the rights of women. The guest has awarded the civic club with a gift - the Declaration on the Rights of Women.

Guria. On November 16, the members of the youth center functioning with the "Young Teachers' Union" have delivered information seminars dedicated to the International Day for Tolerance.Main objective of the seminar was to inform more youngsters about the notion and importance of tolerance. Remarkably, the volunteers of the youth center have organized and delivered the information meetings themselves.To better comprehend the topic, several interactive exercises were carried out during the seminar, and the most tolerant participants were revealed through the special test, who were awarded with symbolic gifts dedicated to the Day for Tolerance.Information seminars were delivered simultaneously in various public schools of the Ozurgeti Municipality and the presentation hall of the Young Teachers' Union. The seminars were led by the young volunteers of the youth center.The youth center functions with the Young Teachers' Union within the framework of the "Advancing National Integration in Georgia" program, funded by the US Agency for International Development and implemented by the United Nations Association of Georgia.

ShidaKartli. The Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) has launched a project together with the "UN Women's organization", which aims to promote better coverage of problems of women living in the IDP compact settlements and to advocate their rights. This very project was presented to the young IDP women in Gori in the office of the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association. Local NGOs have informed the journalists about problems existing in the compact settlements encountered by IDP women. Conducted studies illustrate that the number of victims of domestic violence in the IDP settlements is steadily increasing, and in addition IDP women are not much aware of their own rights. The Institute for War and Peace Reporting has created a network of citizen journalists, which will cover the women's problems. The Abkhazian, Ossetian and Georgian journalists already post materials on the web page (women-peace.net) set up within the project framework. The project aims to unite more women around the issues of peace and the women's rights. For the full text. Source: media.ge

Tbilisi. CSOs address the President of Georgia, the Prime Minister, the Parliament and the Government to make amendments to the drug legislation. The statement released by them states that it is necessary to improve the existing legislation in Georgia in order to create the favorable legislative environment for implementing the programs on treatment of drug addicts, their psycho-social rehabilitation and harm reduction. Criminal liability for using the drugs must be abolished, the line of responsibility of users and sellers before the law must be delimited, and the sources of treatment and rehabilitation of drug users must be determined. According to the information released by the organizations, more people end up in jail in Georgia on an annual basis due to drug use than in the medical institutions. The appeal is signed by up to 40 civil society organizations. For the full text. Source: article42.ge

ShidaKartli. The civic club of ShidaKartli has celebrated on November 19 the International Day on Prevention of Child Abuse. A conference was held in relation to this day in the society "Biliki" (path). The contest - "No To Violence" was announced in the ShidaKartli public schools participating in the Civic Education and Teacher Training Program. 7 best topics were selected from the submitted topics, which were presented at the conference. At the conference the schoolchildren were informed about: Why was the International Day on Prevention of Child Abuse was founded; What is violence/abuse; Violence/abuse at home and school. Following the presentation, the invited guests - psychologist, the lawyer of the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association and the representatives of the Georgian Center for Psychosocial and Medical Rehabilitation of Torture Victims and the National Anti-Violence Network - have talked about the causes, forms, results of violence and the ways for its elimination. Second part of the meeting was allocated to questions and answers. The guests answered the questions of interest to the children, and afterwards one-minute videos on the topic of child abuse prepared by the journalistic studio of society "Biliki" were shown, followed by the discussion.

Tbilisi. On November 20, the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association has presented the study – "Mechanisms of Releasing the Convicts and Postponing the Sentences due to the Health Condition in Georgia". The study is based on the analysis of 23 cases administered by GYLA, CSOs Article 42 of the Constitution, Youth for Fairness, and the independent attorneys. When working on the analysis, in respect of medical issues GYLA has closely cooperated with the Physicians' Association of Georgia. The study aimed at reviewing the legislative base and identifying the legislative problems that serve or may serve as factors preventing the effective, timely and full examination of the convicts' applications by the permanent commission or the court practice. "Obviously, the existing problematic situation is caused as by the flawed legislative base, as well as by the ugly practices. Cases described in the study, along with the analysis of legislation and international practice, indicate once again that the current situation requires the attention of the authorized persons and undertaking of relevant measures", – the statement says. The study is funded by the "Open Society - Georgia" Foundation. The study on the "Mechanisms of Releasing the Convicts and Postponing the Sentences due to the Health Condition in Georgia". Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. The civil society organizations "Georgian Young Lawyers' Association", the "International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy", "Transparency International - Georgia" and "Article 42 of Constitution" express concerns over facts of pressure on the local self-government authorities in the various municipalities of Georgia."Interference and pressure in any form over the local self-government activities, which prevents or hinders their normal functioning, is alarming." – says the statement released by the organizations.The organizations urge all political parties and their supporters to refrain from any form of pressure on the agencies exercising local self-governance, and they address respective authorities to probe into the facts of pressure and apply relevant sanctions. The Statement. Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. The UN Children’s Fund released the results of monitoring over juvenile institutions. Juvenile prisoners note in interviews with UNICEF that they are protected from injuries and ill-treatment and that the escort treat them much better."Treatment towards juveniles in prisons is better, nevertheless, challenges still remain”, – says the information released by the organization. UNICEF calls on the government to complete the renovation works of the Avchala special juvenile institution as soon as possible in order for the juveniles placed currently in the Rustavi prison #17 to return to the improved environment. In addition, UNICEF calls on the government to restore as quickly as possible the education process for all juveniles serving in the prison.The organization carries out independent monitoring in the places where the juveniles serve since 25 September 2012. Primary goal of monitoring is to check if the juveniles are in a safe environment, if their fundamental rights are protected, and if they are safeguarded from violence, insult and humiliation. For the full text. Source:unicef.ge

Tbilisi. The Human Rights Center addresses the Chief Prosecutor of Georgia Archil Kbilashvili with a request to launch investigation in the prison riot that took place on 26 March 2005 in the Ortachala Prison."To suppress the so-called prison riot, the authorities at the time used cruel methods. Several (various numbers are given) inmates were killed with firearms. Regardless of this, it is not investigated until now whether the excess of power had occurred, and most importantly - the cause of the inmates' riot is not objectively established. Accordingly, the leadership of the penitentiary system at the time has not been held responsible", – says the letter released by the organization. For the full text. Source: humanrights.ge

Adjara. On November16, the International Labor Organization (ILO) has organized in the Batumi Civic Engagement Center the "Tripartite joint training in the social protection system functioning in Georgia and the modern gender trends". The training was a constituent part of the project - "From crisis to the dignified and safe labor in the Central Asia and South Caucasus", which aims at promoting the introduction of labor-dignity principles in the field of employment, safety of labor and social protection. The representatives of the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Welfare of Georgia, the Employers' Association of Georgia, the Association of Professional Unions of Georgia and CSOs have participated in the training.

Adjara. On November 14, the youth organization and the "Civil Advisers’ Committee” functioning with the Sakrebulo of self-governing city Batumi have organized in the Batumi Civic Engagement Center the public discussion on the "Protection level of rights of the persons with disabilities, and the blind in particular, in the Adjara Region”. The discussion aimed at highlighting the problems of this segment of society and carrying out the dialogue between the Ministry of Health, the Social Protection Office of the City Hall, local governmental agencies, NGOs and the blind in order to solve the problems of persons with disabilities and to develop various recommendations.The meeting was attended by the members and Chair of the Union of the Blind, Deputy Minister of Health, staff members of the City Hall and the representatives of CSOs working on the rights of persons with disabilities and the media.

Tbilisi. The "International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy” echoes the statement of the Minister of Education and Science, Giorgi Margvelashvili, in which the Minister states that "the special commission will be set up in the Ministry that will probe into the cases of persons dismissed at different times from various education institutions, and the Minister of Education and Science will be directly involved in the examination of such disputes”.ISFED has provided the Minister with the list of persons dismissed from the education institutions allegedly on political grounds, which ISFED has studied and publicized in 2012 as part of the pre-election environment monitoring."ISFED hopes that the commission will attentively examine the circumstances related to the teachers dismissed on political grounds and, accordingly, will reinstate them in their positions in case of identification of political grounds for their dismissal", – says the statement released by the organization. The Statement. Source: ISFED page in the social network.

Tbilisi.A seminar for journalists on violence against children will be held on November 19 in the office of the "Open Society – Georgia" Foundation, as part of the program "East-East without Borders". Psychologist KetevanTavartkiladze from the Georgian Foundation for Public Health and Development of Medicine will lead the seminar. The seminar will focus on the following issues: violence in the eyes of a child - what do children say, think and feel about themselves, adults and life; impact of violence on a child's development and well-being; the society's role in protecting the children from violence; media and children: how should the child violence issues be covered without damaging the children themselves. For full text. Source:osgf.ge

Tbilisi. The International Day against Fascism and Anti-Semitism is celebrated on November 9. In this respect, the youth association "Droni", the Georgian Football Federation, the Georgian Technical University and company "Aqua-Geo" will present the planned joint partnership project – "Let's Defeat Fascism and Racism Together – Express Your Position".Within the project framework, eight football teams, representatives of eight various ethnic and national minorities, will meet each other in the course of the tournament in the sports hall of the Georgian Technical University. The event aims at spreading the message of fairness and humanity among persons of various sex and ethnic origin, religious and economic belonging, as well as popularizing the participation, healthy life-style and tolerance.The event will start at 12 pm on November 9. For full text Source: "Droni's" page in the social network.

Samegrelo. Zugdidi-based NGO "Youth for Civil Interests" has completed the 4-day screening of documentaries in the cinema "Atrium" on November 6. According to the Director of "Youth for Civil Interests" GuramChikhladze, 6 documentaries mainly on the human rights and public responsibility were shown. "The project aims to enhance and develop the level of public responsibility, and the society must not stay aside from the ongoing processes in the country", GuramChikhladze said.The film festival is supported by NGO "People in Need" and the United States Embassy in Georgia.

Tbilisi. Over two decades UNICEF assists the Government of Georgia in improvement of social policies and programming in view of the best world practices. It consults agencies that are responsible for the development of policies. The Fund takes another obligation to assist the Government of Georgia in improving the well-being of the most vulnerable population. To this end, UNICEF has drafted the document, which examines those sections of the "Georgian Dream" election agenda that concern the protection of children's rights in Georgia and that propose concrete recommendations. The Recommendations. Source: unicef.ge

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers' Association echoes the developments in village Nigvziani and releases the statement. "GYLA expresses its concern about the recent situation in the village Nigvziani of the Lanchkhuti Municipality, where the relations have strained between the Muslim and Christian populations on religious grounds", - the statement says. GYLA believes that the rights of religious minorities were violated during the developments in village Nigvziani and finds that the authorities must use all adequate means in order to safeguard the exercise of freedom of religion. The organization hopes that "... by interference of the state the current situation will be discharged in the nearest future and all religious confessions will enjoy maximum freedom in the realization of their rights". The Statement. Source: gyla.ge

Samegrelo. Zugdidi-based NGO "Youth For Civil Interests" launched the demonstration of documentaries since November 3 in the Zugdidi cinema "Atrium". Over four days the documentaries on human rights will be shown. Discussion will be held after the movies, led by the invited experts and organizers of the film festival. NGO "People in Need" and the United States Embassy in Georgia are the supporters of the film festival. Attendance at the film shows, which ends on November 6, is free.

Imereti. On November1, the training was delivered for the civic clubs of target schools of the Civic Education and Teachers' Training Program in the "Management of Civic Clubs". The Director of the Kutaisi Education, Development and Employment Center has led the training. 35 schoolchildren have attended the  meeting. For full text. Source: kedec.ge

Tbilisi. On October 29 the Georgian Center for Psycho-Social and Medical Rehabilitation of Torture Victims (GCRT) held a press-conference about the state of juvenile delinquents.Representatives of the organization informed the media about the current state of juvenile delinquents. The talked about the 8 August 2012 chaos that took place in tehAvchala Juvenile Special Institution №11 and appealed to the new Parliament to investigate this fact. For full text. Source:osgf.ge