Tbilisi. On May 15, 2017, the Public Defender of Georgia held a working meeting with representatives of various ministries and NGOs and discussed issues relating to availability of healthcare services in the occupied territories, recommendations developed by the Public Defender in this direction and solutions to the problems. ''The Public Defender of Georgia has elaborated the following recommendations for the Government of Georgia and the Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Affairs: A mechanism should be developed for enrolling Georgian citizens living in the occupied territories in the referral program; amendments to the Government’s Decree on Establishment of Commission for Making Decisions on Provision of Medical Assistance within the framework of Referral Service and Definition of Rules of Actions should be drafted in order to make uniform practice with regard to all citizens living in the occupied territories, regardless of their citizenship, of a compulsory nature'', is noted in the statement. In full… Source: www.ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. The Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees of Georgia has signed agreements with non-governmental organizations, winners of grant competitions. ''In order to support return and reintegration of Georgian citizens, residing abroad, the Ministry has been implementing a Grant Program since 2015. This year, the amount of GEL 590 000 has been allocated from the budget in this direction, which is distributed to non-governmental organizations as a grant. From 2017 the program covers the entire territory of Georgia'' – is stated on the website of the Public Defender in a social network. Reade more... Source: The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. The Georgian National Platform responds to the presidential election and referendum, conducted in the Tskhinvali region. ''In the circumstances, when even after nearly 9 years of completion of an active phase of the conflict tens of thousands of people are still not given the opportunity to return back to their homes and live in peace, it is impossible to consider that the so-called elections, conducted on these territories, have anything common with democratic processes. Even more alarming is an attempt to change the name of the mentioned area, in the future it may be aiming at annexing these territories by Russia'' – is noted in the joint statement. Read more... Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. On February 9, 2017, the Public Defender of Georgia presented a special report to the public, which combines analysis of the practice and recommendations concerning the Law of Georgia on Occupied Territories. ''The report reviews issues, such as, arrival in the occupied territories, economic activity, documents issued by the de facto authorities, the gaps and obstacles in practice and in the Law on Occupied Territories in terms of protection of human rights. The report also provides solutions to the mentioned gaps and obstacles'', is noted in the statement.  In full... Source: www.ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Women’s Information Center (WIC) express its position following the decision of the occupation regime of Abkhazia about closure of the road, going from Gali to Zugdidi . ''We are deeply concerned about this step, which will cause serious humanitarian problems for the local population. Checkpoints will make studying process even harder for the school children, who will not have direct access to their schools unless they detour. Also arranging so called customs checkpoints on Enguri Bridge will serve as economic pressure for local population. Access to the healthcare services will become harder. This situation contradicts UN security Council resolution 1325, on Women, Peace and Security. The resolution is about protecting humanitarian rights of women and girls in conflict and post conflict environment, which is blatantly violated at present. We demand from the government of Georgia carefulness and caution around this issue and to do its best and stop such behavior of the occupation regime. It is important that this subject is raised during Geneva international discussions, planed on March 28-29. We also call international missions and European Union Monitoring Mission (UNMM) to get involved into the process of solving this problem and to use their all mechanisms for it'', is noted in the statement. In full… Source: The web-page of the organization is the social page

Tbilisi. On December 13-16, 2016, Public Defender Ucha Nanuashvili and representatives of the Public Defender's Office took part in the Georgian-Abkhazian meeting organized by the Council of Europe. ''The meeting, which was aimed at exchanging information and discussing the human rights situation of the conflict-affected population, was also attended by representatives of the Georgian and Abkhaz civil societies. The topics of discussion included the right to education, awareness-raising about human rights, the freedom of movement and the related right to health, women's and children's rights, and the situation in the penitentiary system'', is noted in the statement. In full… Source: www.ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. On 27-29 September, 2016, meetings were held between the institutions of the Public Defender of Georgia and the Danish Parliamentary Ombudsman in the Danish capital of Copenhagen. The aim of the meetings was to share experience on the issues of asylum seekers and refugees. ''The Public Defender’s Office will analyze the acquired knowledge and the best experience of a successful country and will use it during its activities aimed at protection of the rights of asylum seekers and refugees, as well as improvement of their situation'', is noted in the statement. In full… Source: www.ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. The Human Rights Academy of the Public Defender held training on International Protection of Refugees with financial participation of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Gudauri on September 12-14, 2016. ''Principles and mechanisms of international refugee law, as well as compliance of the national legislation and practice with international standards, were discussed at the meeting,'' is noted in the statement. In full… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. "Transparency International – Georgia” will lodge an application against Russia in Strasbourg to protect the rights of 11 citizens. "With the application we prove that since 2008, as a result of a creeping occupation performed by the occupational forces of Russia, the property rights of citizens of Georgia have been violated" – is noted in the statement of the organization. In full… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) was representing G.G. in court, who had been permanently residing in the municipality of Akhalgori since 2006. ''Based on the order of the Minister of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees of Georgia of June 20, 2014, G.G. was deprived of a status of displaced on the grounds that he had obtained the status via forging documents and information. Based on the decision of the Tbilisi City Court of June 9, 2015, the order of the Minister has been recognized void and the status of G.G. has been reinstated'' – is noted on the website of the organization. In full... Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. At the presentation held on June 21, 2016, the Public Defender of Georgia talked about the rights situation of IDPs and conflict-affected citizens, the changes implemented last year, as well as the existing challenges and problems, which are reflected in the Parliamentary Report 2015. ''The monitoring and survey of individual applications revealed that despite some progress, poor living conditions and lack of living space are still major problems for the majority of IDPs. Low level of awareness of the rights situation of IDPs is also a problem,'' is noted in the statement. In full… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. On February 25-26, 2016, training - ''Reporting on Issues of Internally Displaced Persons-Refugees'' was held for journalists within the framework of the project ''Enhancing Capacities of the Public Defender's Office to Address the Situation of IDPs''. ''The program was aimed at raising awareness on the rights of internally displaced persons-refugees'', is noted in the statement. In full… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. On December 23, 2015, the Public Defender held a roundtable on the theme: ''Challenges in the protection of the rights of asylum seekers, refugees and persons with humanitarian status and their solutions''.  ''The Public Defender considers that the authorities should more actively involve international organizations and NGOs in the development of legislation and, most importantly, make its implementation more transparent. Public Defender's representative Tamta Papuashvili talked about the main challenges, trends and solutions revealed by the Public Defender's Office; reviewed the asylum legislation, justification of the refusal to grant refugee and humanitarian status on security grounds and procedures for appealing against such decisions'', is noted in the statement.  In full... Source: www.ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. On 7 December 2015, the Public Defender presented a special report on the rights of asylum seekers, refugees and persons with humanitarian status.  ''The report offers the results of the monitoring carried out by the Public Defender's Office to survey the situation of the rights of asylum seekers, refugees and persons with humanitarian status. The document highlights the general situation of asylum seekers, refugees and persons with humanitarian status, including access to asylum procedures, permits for state border crossing and complaints/appeals procedures in courts. Special attention was paid to the shortcomings in the legislation, with regard to which relevant recommendations have been prepared'', is noted in the statement.  In full... Source: www.ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia publishes the blog post about collective center facilities for internally displaced people in Samegrelo. ''Transparency International – Georgia'' has enquired information about the conditions, in which internally displaced people have to live at collective center facilities in Samegrelo - Zemo Svaneti region. Within the frames of the study the current condition of the collective center facilities located in Zugdidi, Tsalenjikha, Senaki and Khobi municipalities have been surveyed in those parts, where the rehabilitation has not been performed up to date'' – is stated on the web-page of the organization. In full... Source:www.transparency.ge

Tbilisi. On June 30 GYLA has completed the project it had been implementing since 1 May 2012, and which aimed to render legal aid to Internally Displaced Persons. The project was funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and implemented through the Danish Refugee Council (DRC). As part of the project, personal consultations were delivered to over 9200 IDPs, up to 250 field visits were organized in various locations, etc. For the full text... Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. The Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information has requested information on the number of IDP families, which received accommodation in ownership during 2009-2015, as well as funds allocated from the budget for securing IDPs' social support. The Institute has released a publication based on received information. For the full text... Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. On March 13, the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association has filed a lawsuit in court on behalf of one of the IDPs, requesting partial invalidation of normative acts of the Government of Georgia and the Minister of Involuntarily Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees. In particular, "... under current regulations, the Ministry is not considering applications requesting accommodation submitted by IDP families, whose family member/s are foreign citizens along with the Georgian citizenship (have dual citizenship). At this point, applications of 218 IDP families are left without consideration only because their family members are foreign citizens...", the organization's web page says. For the full text... Source: gyla.ge  

Samegrelo. GYLA's Zugdidi Office has hosted a round table on February 17, where the study on the "State Policy on Providing IDPs with Accommodation" was presented. In addition, a video "IDP Stories" was shown at the meeting, produced by the organization's Zugdidi Office. "IDP Stories" (geo)...     Source: the organization's web page in the social network.

Tbilisi. On December 8, GYLA held presentation of the research  about State Policy of IDPs’ housing solutions. The research analyses effectiveness of state implemented activities in terms of IDPs’ housing solutions. In addition, the research offers concrete recommendations that will promote improvement of existing gaps  For the full text Source: gyla.ge  

Kvemo Kartli. Staff members of charity humanitarian center "Apkhazeti" have visited the IDP-settled building on September 9 in Marneuli. Project monitors have informed those interested in starting up or expanding business about a new project and provided consultations on business issues.The project - "Income Generation and Business Support Initiative" is funded by USAID Georgia/NEO. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Shida Kartli. Centre "Abkhazeti" published a stori - "Kids from Shavshvebi". Story was created by JumpStart Georgia in collaboration with Charity Humanitarian Centre "Abkhazeti" as part of the project Visualizing for Data-driven Advocacy. The project aims to raise funds for the reconstruction of an unused bath house in Shavshvebi IDP settlement in order to convert it into a kindergarten for settlement children. The Story  Source: the organization's page in the social network