Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia has published today its latest report which examines the implementation of the provisions of Georgia’s anti-corruption laws in practice.  ''Tamar Kordzaia spoke about the importance of the Open Government Partnership. She noted that the initiative gives a great opportunity to the citizens to get information and answers on their questions from the politicians more easily. MP claimed that many individuals think that after the elections they lose connection with the politicians and OGP is a good chance to eradicate this feeling and reality since the partnership encourages technology and innovation-based development'', is noted in the statement.  In full... Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Georgian Institute of Public Affairs (GIPA), the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) and the University of Bremen offer series of lectures to students in December 2015. The series of lectures "Good Governance in Georgia” - will be led by Levan Avalishvili – Chairman of the Board of IDFI. ''The aim of the series of lectures is to discuss the current state and latest trends in development of good governance, reforms and initiatives regarding public administration in Georgia, mechanisms and challenges of promoting good governance, based on the analysis of international best practice'', noted in the statement. In full... Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. The Public Defender expresses concern about the advertisement titled as ''Sexual Education'' released in social networks by the Saga shop. ''The Public Defender considers that the content of the mentioned video does not match with the level of emotional and cognitive development of the child participating in it as well as of juvenile spectators, and therefore, represents a violent pressure on psychic abilities of juveniles and a blatant violation of the principle of child's best interests guaranteed by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child'', noted in the statement. In full... Source: www.ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. On December 1st representatives of Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) held the next meeting regarding the access to the Open Data at Tbilisi State University within the scopes of the project: "Open Data: Source of Changes and Innovations".  ''Giorgi Kldiashvili spoke about priorities of Open Data Portal - data.gov.ge and mentioned that it gives opportunity to every user, representative of private sector or other interested person to access the data and use it to create applications, business projects and e-services'', is noted in the statement. In full... Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. On November 30th, participants of the training course - "Open Parliament - Voice of Youth" visited the Parliament of Georgia in Tbilisi. The visit was organized within the framework of the project "Supporting Involvement of the Parliament of Georgia in the Open Government Partnership".  ''Tamar Kordzaia expressed her gratitude to the IDFI for its active work and support for increasing openness and transparency of the Parliament. MP talked about the importance of youth engagement in the legislative work since the laws the Parliament passes directly or indirectly affect every citizen indiscriminately at some point in life thus students should inform themselves on the work of the Parliament'', is noted in the statement. In full... Source: idfi.ge

Shida Qartli. The final conference of the project ''Democracy School'' was held on November 21. Main objective of the project was to strengthen the self-governance of students and to promote involvement of students in school life, to identify impeding and contributing factors of the self-governance of students. The participants of panel discussions were the experts, working in the field of education, as well as the chairmen of the self-governance of students from different schools. In full… Source:The web-page of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. On November 18, the meeting was held at the United Nations Children's Fund, on which the draft project about the early and pre-school upbringing and education was discussed. The meeting was attended by the representatives of PHR. They drew the attention to such problems as defining the number of children in kindergartens; appointing, where appropriate, a personal assistant to the children with disabilities; provision of food to those children, who are on a special nutrition program. In full… Source:The web-page of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. Violence against children is an extremely harmful experience, which is the biggest hindrance in the development of the adolescent. Prevention of physical punishment of children or psychological pressure on them remains a challenge for the modern world.  ''The Public Defender calls on the responsible agencies to ensure protection of juveniles from all forms of violence. In addition, the Public Defender considers that the best way of prevention of violence against children is to raise public awareness and to carry out educational activities in this direction'', is noted in the statement. In full... Source: ombudsman.ge

Adjara. On November 7-8 an integrated training-seminar ''Civic Activism'' will take place in Batumi. Within the framework of the project blind youth and volunteers will work together on such issues as: the role of a citizen in public life of the country, identification of the problem and the ways of solution, advocacy, the concepts of citizenship and civil rights, etc. The event will be open to anyone from 17 to 25 years, who believes that limited skills does not mean limited capabilities and would like to get information about civic activism. In full... Source:The web-page of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University and the University of Bremen, with the financial support of Federal Foreign Office of Germany, announce lecture series organized within the framework of the project ''Strategic Plan Georgia 2020 – Strengthening Public Involvement (ZigB) Georgia''. Students can take part in two-day long lecturing courses on the topic ''Accounting and Investments'' (for detailed information about the lecture click here). Lecturing courses will be led by PhD students from the University of Bremen - Sebastian A. Tideman, Max Neubauer and Oliver Steinebach. In full... Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. On 26 October 2015 the Public Defender presented a special report on the state of children's rights in the boarding schools subordinated to the Orthodox Church of Georgia and Muslim denominations of Georgia.  ''The monitoring showed that the quality of care in the above-mentioned institutions varies and is not regulated by a unified child care system, as the beneficiaries of the boarding schools are not under state care – are not involved in social service care program. This makes it difficult to realize the child's fundamental rights and freedoms, such as the right to health, the right to education, protection from violence, and so on'', noted in the report.  In full... Source: www.ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. On October 14, Georgian national and regional TV broadcasters joined a special agreement among broadcasters. The objective of the memorandum is to activate existing self regulatory mechanisms related to children issues. In full… Source:The web-page of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. On October 10, the First Lady of Georgia has laid the foundation for the construction of the first hospice for children in Georgia. The initiator of the mentioned social project is the "Open Society - Georgia Foundation”. "The Children Hospice will work in three main areas: a 24-hour service for 10 children at the same time, a day care center, where children and their parents will receive the necessary services during the day, and a home care service, which will foresee serving children at home. The construction of the Children Hospice will be finished by the end of 2016 " – is stated on the web-page of the organization in a social network. In full… Source:The web-page of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. On October 7, a discussion on the topic of social movements in the Ukraine and Georgia has taken place at the Georgian-American University. The project is funded by the Children and Youth Development Fund and aims to focus the interest of young people at civic consciousness, political culture, politics, as well as to improve their qualification in specific areas of public policy. In full… Source:The web-page of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. The Information Center on NATO and EU hosted the students of the Center for Liberalism. The conversation at the meeting touched upon the European integration of Georgia. The Director of the Information Center highlighted the importance of the involvement of students in the integration process. He also talked about those opportunities, which the EU projects offer to young people. In full… Source:The web-page of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. The present paper provides an evaluation of the Georgian national legislative framework on children with disabilities and reflects major legislative gaps in the view of the CRC and the CRPD. In addition, it proposes recommendations for further elaboration of a package of the legislative amendments. In full... Source: unicef.ge

Shida Qartli. On September 19, the presentation of the project "Unknown Soviet Histories” has taken place at the Gori State Teaching University. At the informative meeting the members of ''Cooperation for Piece and Progress'' have introduced the project participation rules to the interested youth. More specifically, the contest has been announced, which includes interviews with interesting respondents and recording of oral histories. The project is implemented with the support of the South Caucasus Regional Office of the Heinrich Boell Foundation. In full… Source:The web-page of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. Association of Young Economists Georgia publishes the assessment report – "Youth Entrepreneurship in Regions”. Its objective is to evaluate entrepreneurial capabilities of youth, to identify their needs and to provide recommendations. The research has been carried out by Business Consulting Network Georgia in collaboration with Harju Economic Development Center (HEDC) within the framework of the project "Supporting the Youth Entrepreneurship and Investment Opportunities Study in Georgia”. Project is financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia and the Government of the United States. In full… Source:economists.ge

Tbilisi. In Georgia there might be a court approval needed for marriage of individuals from 16 to 18 years. The Public Defender submitted a legislative proposal to the parliament regarding prevention of early age marriage and change of rule for marriage approval for individuals less than 18 years. "With this initiative the Public Defender has shared the recommendation of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which calls on the State of Georgia to perform this particular type of change. In the end the Committee has supported the proposal and has started working on transforming it into a legislative initiative” – is noted in the statement of the organization. In full… Source:www.ginsc.net

Tbilisi. On September 2 the representatives of the Georgian Youth Euro-Atlantic Coalition have met with the representatives of the Information Center for NATO and European Union. The objective of the Coalition is to increase the involvement of youth into Euro-Atlantic integration process of the country and to facilitate this process. It has been planned at the meeting to implement joint projects together with the Information Center in the near future. Source: The web-page of the Coalition in a social network

Tbilisi. The Memorandum of Cooperation has been signed between the Children and Youth Development Fund and the humanitarian organization "World Vision Georgia” on August 12 at the conference hall of the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs. Based on the Memorandum, within the framework of the State Youth Policy and for the purpose of popularization and promotion of informal education, the parties will facilitate development/implementation of joint events; encouragement of healthy lifestyle popularization; correct planning of free time of young students… In full… Sourse: www.fondi.gov.ge

Tbilisi. Representatives of the Public Defender's office, UN Children's Fund, office of the Personal Data Protection Inspector and other state agencies and CSOs have discussed the need to protect personal data and fill the gaps on July 29 in the office of the "Open Society - Georgia" Foundation. With the Foundation's support, CSO "Initiative for Rehabilitation of Vulnerable Groups" has carried out over 6 months a legal analysis of protection of children's personal data in the penitentiary system. This CSO continues working on issues related to protection of children's data in the penitentiary system. Read more... Source: www.osgf.ge