Tbilisi. Economic Policy Research Center has translated Luke Coffey’s very interesting proposal into Georgian, opening a necessary discussion on the possible ways to accelerate Georgia’s integration into the North Atlantic alliance:  “Here is a way to get Georgia into @NATO *right now*—even with the Russian occupation. It won’t be easy and my proposal is a little controversial (although it shouldn’t be). But if anyone has a better way then please share it” – Luke Coffey Tweeted on his official twitter page. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Shida Kartli. The Rondel Foundation publishes the fifth edition of “Monitoring of the situation at the occupation line in the Tskhinvali region” prepared by Elene Mindiashvili. “On December 12, Mamuka Chkhikvadze, a citizen of Georgia who had previously served in the Georgian Armed Forces, was detained near the village of Nikozi. Gela Gochoshvili, arrested in August, was released. A motion detector was installed at the house of Data and Valia Vanishvilis. People living in villages adjacent to the dividing line will receive financial assistance during the winter period”. Read more... Source: kremlin-roadmap.gfsis.org

Guria. Innovation and Civic Development Center - Progress House hosted the meeting on social enterprise, with participation of the CSOs operating in Guria region. The meeting was organized within the project “Civil Society STAR Initiative”, being implemented with support of the EU and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS). Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. The Public Defender's Office will continue to work as usual on the holidays announced until January 10. Hotline 1481 will be available on New Year's Eve as well. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. GCSD launched a new project - “Enhancing Georgia’s Capacity to Counter Targeted WMD Assassination Attempts”. “The project aims to enhance Georgia's capacity to detect and respond to the targeted use of weapons of mass destruction”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Under the program “Enhancing the Capacity of Georgia in Preventing Violent Extremism and Radicalisation”, GCSD organized a three-day training on the prevention of terrorism, violent extremism, counter-terrorism, and radicalisation. Read more… Source: www.gcsd.org.ge

Tbilisi. Media Advocacy Coalition negatively appraises a decision of the Parliament of Georgia to review the legislative package restricting gambling games and their advertisements in an expedited manner. “Review of the bill in an expedited manner and its adoption via two hearings in one day precludes full-fledged parliamentary discussions, submission of opinions by interested parties and refinement of the draft. These procedures are fundamentally important for initiatives that can entail significant financial implications for both the state budget and the media sector”. Read more... Source: The website of the Coalition on a social network

Tbilisi. Mark Clayton, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to Georgia, met with Nino Lomjaria, Public Defender of Georgia, and expressed his support to the Public Defender’s Office and personally to the Public Defender of Georgia. The Ambassador noted that he closely monitors the assessments made by the Public Defender and trusts her statements as an objective source of information. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. The Social Justice Center responds to a statement of Irakli Garibashvili in regard to tightening of a drug policy. “We consider that use of a repression and punishment-oriented rhetoric by the Prime Minister is extremely problematic. Instead of promoting a care-oriented policy, the statement of the Prime Minister causes stigmatization of drug users and their further exclusion from the society, while opinions expressed in the context of so-called prescription drug addiction are not aimed at elimination of root causes of the problem”, - is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. The Social Justice Center became a Coalition Chair Organization. Participants elected the Steering Committee composed of nine organizations: Social Justice Center, Georgian Democracy Initiative, Georgian Young Lawyers Association, Transparency International Georgia, Open Society Georgia Foundation, International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, Rights Georgia, Human Rights Center, and Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information. Read more… Source: coalition.ge

Tbilisi. According to information released by Transparency International Georgia, the Parliament of Georgia hastily reviews a legislative initiative on amendments to be made to the Local Self-Government Code, based on which the number of officials at city assemblies will be increased. “It is unclear how an increase in the number of officials is going to improve and make the performance of city assemblies more effective, as it is indicated in the explanatory note of the bill. An increase in the number of deputy chairmen of city assemblies will, first of all, increase budget expenditures”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. With the financial support of the Open Society Georgia Foundation, Mariam Natroshvili collected oral stories of people becoming homeless and published them in a book. “It is one step, one story from a roof over your head to homelessness in Georgia. Some of the heroes of stories gathered here once had a house, but today they live in a shelter. We have collected these stories there. Shelters scattered on the outskirts of the city enclose a lot of different and, at the same time, similar adventures”. Read more… Source: The website of the Open Society Georgia Foundation on a social network

Tbilisi. UNICEF organized a two-day working meeting about the transformation of the disability assessment and status determination system. “The goal of the meeting was to present the information to the government bodies that are engaged in strengthening the system, discuss the current situation, achievements, and future plans”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Supported by the EU and the Green Lane NGO and in the scope of Global Entrepreneurship Week, on November 24, CENN hosts a regional meeting - Importance of Measuring Social Impact and Its Methodology.  Registration… Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

On November 11, 2021, the International Day of Social Entrepreneurship, there was held a multi-actor meeting in an online format on “Enabling environment for social entrepreneurship in Georgia - current situation and perspectives”... The meeting was organized by the Civil Society Institute (CSI) in collaboration with partner organizations and Mariam Lashkhi, Deputy Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Parliament of Georgia. The main purpose of the event was to establish a platform for cooperation among actors in the field in order to facilitate a supportive enabling environment for social entrepreneurship. About 50 representatives of the public, civil, and private sectors were invited to the meeting to discuss these issues. Read more…  The project - “Advancing Social Entrepreneurship for Sustainable and Inclusive Society” is implemented by the Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG) with the support of the European Union and “Bread for the World”. Partners of the project are Social Enterprise Alliance Georgia (SEA), Civil Society Institute (CSI), Georgian Civil Development Association (GCDA), Democratic Development Union of Georgia (DDUG), European Venture Philanthropy Association (EVPA), and LEPL Youth Agency.

Tbilisi. GCSD organized a simulation training on countering and preventing violent extremism. “As a result of the training, participants learned more about the role of their services in the process of preventing and countering violent extremism. The training was conducted under the program “Enhancing the Capacity of Georgia in Preventing Violent Extremism and Radicalisation”. The project is implemented by GCSD with the financial support of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs”. Read more… Source: www.gcsd.org.ge

Tbilisi. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung publishes research: The Political Landscape of Georgia: Diversity, Convergence and Empty Spots. See findings of the research at the link...  “According to the research, the majority has strong sympathies for the West and the European Union, supports introduction of a minimum wage by law, voluntary engagement in the accumulated pension scheme, and increase of taxes for businesses that pollute the environment”.  Source: The website of the organization on a social network

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center releases a declaration: Statement of the State Security Service creates an impression of political threat. “The November 3 statement of the State Security Service, in which the agency announced an investigation into the fact of conspiracy to overthrow the state government, is an attempt to substantially subordinate political processes, taking place in the country, to the security logic and allow criminalization of the existing political discontent and its expression. At the same time, the statement reinforces doubts about instrumentalization of the security system in the political and party interests”, - is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. The Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG) presents “Crowdfunding Events Guide”, published by the organization. “The publication incorporates information about crowdfunding models and its concept. Online version of the guide... The guide has been published by the CSRDG within the framework of the “Civil Society Initiative” project with the support of the European Union and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation”. Read more… Source: The website of the organization on a social network

Tbilisi. Temi Qedeli’s products will be presented and sold in Shota Rustaveli Boutique Hotel. Organization expresses gratitude for supporting enterprises and increasing their visibility. Read more… Source: Organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. IDFI Informs that the organization became a member NGO of PWYP network. “IDFI aims to actively use the PWYP platform to promote the introduction of beneficial ownership and extractive industry transparency principles in Georgia”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Society and Banks advises how to make sure you do not become a victim of phishing, fraud. Pay only through those websites that are trustworthy for you and protected; Do not open suspicious emails and, moreover, links received in your mail box; Do not share your PIN code and codes received by SMS with others; Be careful when using the ATM and post terminal; In case of loss or theft of a card, contact the card issuer immediately; Insure your card against unauthorized transactions. Read more... Source: The website of the organization on a social network