Tbilisi. Within the framework of the project "Civil Society STAR Initiative", LDA Georgia held a meeting with the members of the gender equality council of Tkibuli municipality about public and private cooperation. The following issues were discussed at the meeting:  General overview of corporate social responsibility;  The importance and positive results of corporate social responsibility;  State and corporate responsibility;  State agencies and civil society organizations; More... Source: LDA Georgia 

Tbilisi. Mestumre is embarking on a remarkable journey that will span six months, touching the lives of individuals from eight elderly houses across Georgia.  This training will equip volunteers with the essential skills needed to ensure that their interactions with the elderly are not only pleasant but also constructive throughout the project.   more... source: MAC Georgia

Tbilisi. The inaugural informational meeting between the Georgian Down Syndrome Association team and parents took place on September 7 as part of the "Reproductive Health of Girls and Women with down syndrome" project. The objective of this meeting is to address the reproductive health needs of females with down syndrom During the virtual assembly, parents were provided with comprehensive information regarding the project and the events that have been scheduled as part of its framework.  More ... Source: Georgian Down Syndrome Association

Kakheti. European Union in Georgia (EU) and UNDP Georgia under the Human Rights 4All project join hands with Qedeli Community to promote social inclusion, independent living, and empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in the Sighnaghi municipality through the implementation of a personal assistant service. “The Community hosted the gathering with the representatives of Signagi as well as other municipalities from the Kakheti region to share best practices of personal assistant service. It will help to ensure PWDs in the area are able to exercise their rights and equal opportunities as everyone else. Qedeli is a dynamic, life-sharing community for adults with disabilities in Georgia that has been striving for more than two decades to overcome the stigmatization of PWDs and promote their social inclusion”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. On April 5, 2023, Public Defender Levan Ioseliani met with Wolt couriers who are on a strike and listened to their problems related to their labor rights and discrimination. According to the applications filed with the Public Defender’s Office, some of the couriers were blocked by the Wolt application, which is why they cannot continue working, while others received a warning message about their dismissal from the company. The couriers name their protest against the company as the reason for the violation of their rights. The Public Defender continues to study the mentioned applications and will make a decision in the near future. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Samegrelo. The new home for the elderly in the village of Rukhi provides care services for the vulnerable older people of conflict-affected communities. “Most of its residents had been living without fundamental care or had experienced domestic violence”. Read more… Source: www.ge.undp.org

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center publishes a document that contains an analysis of visions of political parties in regard to implementation of social policy. “The COVID-19 pandemic further aggravated the socio-economic situation of population and forced them to confront toughest problems, including extreme socio-economic vulnerability, food shortage, homelessness. The role of municipalities in solving these problems is substantial - it is the local government that has to study challenges of population thoroughly and carry out effective interventions tailored to their needs. Unfortunately, despite the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused irreparable damage to the socio-economic situation of citizens, pre-election programs of political parties do not envisage specific ways to overcome emerged difficulties”. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center Appeals to Court to Suspend Construction of Namakhvani HPP and Revoke Construction Permit.  By the organization, ‘The construction permit was unjustifiably issued by the LEPL Technical and Construction Supervision Agency of the Ministry of Economy on April 22, 2020, with gross violations of legal requirements. According to a lawsuit filed by the Social Justice Center, the permitting agency grossly violated the requirements of the law and issued a construction permit without proper justification on an exceptional basis'.  Read more…   Source: The webpage of the organization

Tbilisi. Fair Labor Platform responds to an initiative of the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs of Georgia to use the assistance of the Labor Inspection Service and inspect the status of labor and wage rights of healthcare workers employed in the hospital sector. “Despite the delayed response from the agencies, we welcome this initiative and hope that it will be followed by effective steps resulting in improvement of working conditions of medical personnel”, - the platform states, - “The COVID-19 pandemic significantly worsened already tough working conditions of healthcare workers (especially nurses and attendants). In the circumstances of the pandemic, they appeared to be unprotected. According to data of “Georgian Trade Unions Confederation”, 23 nurses died of COVID-infection while on duty, and the named number reflects only the data available on their database. Both the state and private hospital sectors, which for years were focused on shifting the health care service from public good to business profit logic, confronted the coronavirus pandemic completely unprepared. This was especially evident in the personnel and labor policy”. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. With the letter of 30 June 2021, IDFI once again addresses the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Gharibashvili, the Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia, Kakha Kutchava, Minister of Finances of Georgia, Lasha Khutsishvili and the Chairman of the Finance and Budget Committee of the Parliament of Georgia, Irakli Kovzanadze with the request for the Government to increase the living subsidy for the repressed individuals from 7 GEL to 44 GEL with the 2021 and 2022 budget. This decision would at least slightly improve the difficult financial conditions of the families of the repressed individuals, who are also a risk group considering their age. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. This paper has been drawn up within the framework of common platform created by the Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC) and the Good Governance Initiative (GGI) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This publication was made possible with the support from the American People provided through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Responsibility for the content of the publication lies with the Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC) alone and it does not reflect the views of the USAID or the Government of United States. Read more… Publication… Source: The organization’s page in the social network

Tbilisi. According to a statement released by Social Justice Center, “Georgian Manganese”, which was avoiding questions about harm caused by extraction for years, had to become a party to negotiations as a result of the protest of residents of Shukruti and thus acknowledge its responsibility. “Unfortunately, the rule and conditions for compensation of harm caused by extraction of minerals to affected local population are still not defined at the legislative level. Respectively, population of Shukruti had to carry out private negotiations and reach civil agreement on the procedure and amount of compensation for suffered harm directly with the company. Besides, released information about the agreement, as well as an uneven and non-transparent nature of the negotiation process are essentially problematic, as fairness and credibility of the agreed mechanism of compensation remain questionable, while facts of the ongoing criminal persecution against protesters raise additional questions about the subject of the agreement”, - is noted in the statement of the organization.  Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Imereti. From the very first days, the Public Defender has been monitoring the events developing in the village of Shukruti, Chiatura municipality, where locals demand fair compensation for the property damaged by the ore mining works carried out by the Georgian Manganese Ltd. The affected citizens also demand the involvement of the State in the process. Given the difficult situation, the Public Defender of Georgia calls on the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development to engage in the negotiations between the Shukruti population and the company as a mediator in order to to protect the citizens' property rights and allow them to live in a healthy environment. The Public Defender continues to study the case in the context of the right to live in a healthy environment, as well as the alleged pressure exerted on one of the protesters. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center presents an article by Tamta Melashvili: “Beyond emancipation and exploitation: Women at collective farms in Soviet Georgia”. “This article serves as my attempt to develop a rough idea of how women worked and, in rare cases, succeeded to be promoted in collective farms in Georgia in practice, how they maneuvered when promoted within male-dominated authority fields, and what their agency was like. I will try to adjust experience of Izolda beyond dichotomous representation of a woman emancipated in the communist regime or a woman exploited by the same regime (Fidelis, 2010). Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Samtskhe-Javakheti. Social Justice Center publishes a video, in which local activists and young people share concerns about difficulties and social challenges of their life in Javakheti. “High migration and thousands of local people left without a status of citizenship, poverty, undeveloped social infrastructure, cheating practices of casinos in Akhalkalaki, weak policy of youth employment - this is the basic list of those social problems, which people in Javakheti face”. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. The Georgia Fair Labor Platform has released initial data* from its Wage Theft Calculator, showing that 87% of users have been the victim of wage theft.  A Calculator is an online tool that helps users understand wage theft and calculate how much money they might be losing. It classifies “wage theft” as an employer’s failure to pay any money legally owed to an employee, such as unpaid overtime, unpaid tips, illegal salary deductions, and more. Read more…  Source: osgf.ge

Tbilisi. “Senior Generation Portal” - a special website with the name is going to start functioning on February 1. Taoba.org.ge covers all important issues that are of interest to the elderly.  A page “Taoba - Home for the Elderly” has already been created on Facebook, a social network, where the population of retirement age will be able to access a variety of information they are interested in. Information will be available in text, audio, and video formats, besides, there will be a possibility to ask questions and receive answers.  The first web portal for senior generation citizens in Georgia has been created with the funding of the Center for Training and Consultancy as well as with the support of Bread for the World.  Read more…  Source: The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia has addressed the Government of Georgia with a recommendation to eliminate discrimination against persons with disabilities who have reached the retirement age. “According to the recommendation, the part of the Government’s Decree (No 279) on Social Package, which prohibits the simultaneous enjoyment of a disability social package and an age pension and allows only one of them, is discriminatory. In view of all the above, the Public Defender of Georgia established direct discrimination on the ground of disability and called on the Prime Minister of Georgia to ensure that reaching the retirement age by a person with disabilities does not always exclude the possibility of receiving the social package and the -age pension at the same time”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. IDFI calls on the Prime Minister to increase the subsidy for those repressed in the 2021 budget.  According to news released by the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information, in the near future, the Parliament of Georgia of the tenth convocation is going to vote for the draft law on the state budget of Georgia for 2021, submitted by the Government. The state budget still does not envisage increase of a GEL7 household allowance for those recognized as victims of political repression (hereinafter: those repressed). The organization once again calls on Giorgi Gakharia, the Prime Minister of Georgia, to make sure the Government of Georgia increases the household allowance for those repressed from GEL7 to GEL44 in the 2021 state budget. “This decision will a little bit, but still alleviate difficult economic situation of family members of those repressed that are in the age risk group, especially on the background of the pandemic, which is still in constant dynamics”, - is noted in the statement of the organization. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. The Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) publishes a report on a study: Labor relations and social protection during the pandemic. “Population of Georgia was extremely unprepared for the economic crisis entailed by the pandemic. The state policy was not determined while institutions were unable to provide systemic social assistance to affected individuals and families during the pandemic. An anti-crisis social policy, developed at the state level, did not appear sufficient to ensure social protection for people with a significantly reduced income or those left without income at all”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge