Tbilisi. Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) releases published an article: ''OGP Featured Commitment of December''.  ''Open Government Partnership published December Newsletter in which Ukraine's commitment on Regulating Access to Communist-era Archives became the Featured OGP Commitment. The above-mentioned commitment aims at regulating access to the files of the Soviet period secret services and law enforcement agencies. General Law of Ukraine does not provide effective mechanisms for accessing these files and many of the archives remain closed for researchers or the documents are difficult to access. The archives are spread out among different institutions and are not well-administered'', is noted in the statement.  In full... Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. On December 4th 2015, IDFI requested information from the Ministry of Finance regarding gratuitous financial support to Georgia since independence from various states and organizations. ''According to information provided by the Ministry of Finance, the total sum of grants Georgia received from states and organizations in the years 1995-2015 equals $2 071 470 000 USD. From this sum, Georgia received the largest share in 2008 – $392 260 000 USD. Another important year in terms of receiving large amounts of grants has been 2010, when Georgia received $ 272 870 000 USD. In 2014, the total sum of gratuitous financial grants accumulated $ 182 140 000 USD; whereas, in 2015 up until November 23rd the total sum consisted of $ 129 500 000 USD'', is noted in the statement.  In full... Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. ''The Association of Young Financiers and Businessmen – AYFB'' talks about the necessity of reform of the pension system and makes the analysis of the model, proposed by the government. ''f a retired person decides to spend the accumulated amount during 20 years, s/he will have to take GEL 345 per month in real terms, while it’s needless to say that the nominal course will be much higher. In addition to this, if a citizen decides to opt for example 8% of the contribution instead of 6%, taking into account the same economic indicators s/he will receive GEL 465 per month in 30 years '' – is stated on the web-page of the organization. In full… Source: afba.ge

Tbilisi. The article was writen in the framework of the project ''Strategic Plan Georgia 2020 - Strengthening Public Involvement'' and was published on the blog ''Georgia 2020''.  ''According to Government of Georgia (GoG), civil service reform is one of the most important priorities. According to strategic plan ‘Georgia 2020’ ‘facilitate the development of a human resources management system as part of efforts to ensure the stability of public service provision and the recruitment of qualified staff through relevant material and career motivation'', is noted in the statement.  In full... Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Eurasia Partnership Foundation has changed the name to – ''Europe Foundation''. ''Changing the name to Europe Foundation is an important event for our organization, as far as the new name clearly reflects our values and aspirations'' – states Ketevan Vashakidze, the President of the Foundation. In full… Source:epfound.ge

Tbilisi. Open Society Georgia Foundation wishes you Happy New Year. The office of the Foundation will be closed for Holidays from December 25 until January 11, 2016.  In full... Source: www.osgf.ge

Tbilisi. On 18th of December 2015, the European Commission published its fourth report on the implementation of the Visa Liberalization Action Plan which indicated that all requirements were fully met by Georgia.  ''This is an updated version of JumpStart's visualization showing the long process of establishing a visa free regime with the EU and the progress that each of the six Eastern Partnership countries have made'', is noted in the statement.  In full... Source: feradi.info

Tbilisi. On December 22, the Women’s Initiatives Supporting Group (WIGS) and the Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center held a press conference. ''At the press conference the organizations assessed important decisions regarding the protection of the rights of LGBT individuals, made by the court in the year 2015. The assessment was related to the effectiveness of the state response on the crimes, committed with homophobic / transphobic motives'' – is stated on the web-page of the organization. In full… Source:emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. On December 14-18, 2015, the fourth training - The Role of Human Rights in Conflict Transformation – was held within the framework of the Public Defender’s Academy of Human Rights. Civil society representatives participated in the training.  ''At the opening of the training, the Public defender talked about the activities of the ombudsman’s office in terms of protection of the rights of conflict-affected population. The main aim of the training was to brief the civil society representatives of the role of protection of human rights in conflict and post-conflict situations'', is noted in the statement. In full... Source: www.ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. The article was writen in the framework of the project "Strategic Plan Georgia 2020 - Strengthening Public Involvement" and was published on the blog "Georgia 2020".  ''The process of forming statehood, civil service and bureaucracy in Georgia turned out to be full of equally complicated and contradictory challenges and mistakes. Despite initiation of the reform and numerous amendments to the legislation, none of the governments of Georgia managed to create stable and depoliticized civil service. This has several factors: severe social-economic environment, high level of unemployment and low level of political culture'', is noted in the statement.  In full... Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. The Parliament of Georgia approved through the third reading the law on restriction of juvenile marriage registration. ''According to the amendment, the marriage of the minor individual, reaching 16 years age, shall be allowed only with the consent of the court and in the case of having such reasons, as pregnancy and child birth'' – is stated on the web-page of the organization. In full… Source:www.ginsc.net

Tbilisi. On December 16, the Parliament of Georgia has discussed and adopted a draft law on volunteerism in the first reading. The initiator of the bill is the Legal Affairs Committee of the Parliament, while the author is the Civil Society Institute. The bill regulates the relations of the volunteer, the host organization and the third party on the territory of Georgia. Volunteering is defined as a socially useful activity, performed by an individual voluntarily or disinterestedly in the circumstances of organizational order, using own knowledge and skills. The draft law envisages the notion of a host organization, determines rights and obligations of a volunteer and a host organization. It regulates issues, which are linked to the volunteerism relations, in particular, the reimbursement of costs related to the volunteering activities, the security environment, the responsibilities of a volunteer, etc. The draft law has been introduced to the legislators by Ani Mirotadze, the member of the Parliament. According to her statement "This is a certain form of relationship, which determines the rights and obligations of volunteer, including its security, as well as the function of a host organization, roles and responsibilities, which the organization assumes in respect of a volunteer.” Draft Law on Volunteerism…

Tbilisi. The head of ''Young Barristers'' requests a meeting with Mamuka Akhvlediani, the Chairman of the Tbilisi City Court. ''Archil Kaikatsishvili in his official letter, sent on December 9 to Mamuka Akhvlediani, the Chairman of the Tbilisi City Court, requested the Court not to transfer the resonant case for the review to the judge, who made previous decisions. On December 14, the Court confirmed that the case was transferred to the same judge for the review. Archil Kaikatsishvili requests a meeting with the Chairman of the Court'' – is stated on the web-page of the organization. In full… Source: www.barristers.ge

Tbilisi. On the 15th of every month, the Institute for International Cooperation of the German Adult Education Association (DVV International) organizes public debates on topical issues. Discussions aim to develop civic awareness and active citizenship. The partners of the project are: Caucasus International University (CIU) and non-governmental organizations "American - Georgian Initiative for Liberal Education" (AGILE) and "You for democracy". On December 15 there will be a discussion on the following topic: "Georgia facing new challenges - hybrid wars and the threats they make”. In full... Source:The web-page of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. The analysis of freedom of expression on the Internet in Georgia, government policies in terms of developing Internet infrastructure and protection of Internet users’ rights revealed the following tendencies over the last year in Georgia: "Internet penetration rate continues to grow steadily; nonetheless, hindrances such as high costs, low quality of services, poor infrastructure, especially in rural areas remain...", is noted in the statement. In full... Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. The article was writen in the framework of the project ''Strategic Plan Georgia 2020 - Strengthening Public Involvement'' and was published on the blog ''Georgia 2020''.  ''The developed countries of the modern world have long realized the necessity of the pension system reform, which would adequately respond to financial, demographic and economic challenges of the civilized world. Growth and aging of the world population, increase in life-expectancy, frequent financial crises and decreased labor force led to the urgency of pension system reform in the mid-1990s'', is noted in the statement.  In full... Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. East-West Management Institute (EWMI) invites interested non-governmental organizations to the informational meeting related to the Public Policy and Accountability Grants (PPAG) program. The meeting will be held on Wednesday, December 9, 10:30 pm, at the office of the organization (3rd Fl., #5 Marjanishvili str., Tbilisi). Grant proposal… Source:The web-page of the program in a social network