Imereti. 15 Kutaisi-based NGOs have made a statement on February 28 concerning the developments in Kutaisi. "We call on the respective authorities of Kutaisi's local self-government and the central authorities to reach the constructive cooperation regime in respect of all important issues for the city and entire country, and not to allow the entry of relations between the central and local authorities into deadlock, which in the first place will damage the interests of the society", says the statement. For the full text. Source: gyla.ge

Kakheti. On March 1, NGO "Strategic Research and Development Center" has organized the information meeting in the Telavi Civic Engagement Center, attended by the representatives of NGOs, local self-government, media outlets and Ministry of Infrastructure. The meeting aimed at assessing the problems identified as a result of the study conducted by the "Strategic Research and Development Center" in four villages of the Telavi Municipality and informing the local self-government thereabout.

Samegrelo. The organization "Transparency International - Georgia" has executed the "Memorandum of Mutual Cooperation" with the Zugdidi self-government on February 28. The Memorandum provides for the exchange of information between the parties and active participation of citizens and NGO sector in the local self-government activities. The organization will have its own corner in the Gamgeoba and the Sakrebulo, where citizens will be informed about how the organization can assist them. In the nearest future TI plans to publish the report on the "Ratings of the Sakrebulo", which will be a kind of assessment of the Sakrebulo's activities.

Samtskhe-Javakheti.On February 27, the public hearing on the mid-term development program of the Akhaltsikhe Municipality was held. The program covers the years of 2013-2017. Representatives of local authorities and NGOs have attended the meeting. This document is still a draft and until its approval the Municipality Sakrebulo will listen to the opinions of citizens.The development plan was drafted as part of the "Good Governance in Georgia" Program funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), with assistance of the Association of Local Authorities of Georgia.

Kakheti.In the Sighnaghi District, NGOs "Civic Initiative" and the Nukriani Community Union "Nukriani" implement a joint, coalition project "Online-civil participation in the self-government decision-making process". The project aims to create a good practice and mechanism of co-participation and civil engagement of the rural population, which will increase the citizen participation in the local decision-making process and the accountability of the municipality representatives.The project is financially supported by the "Open Society - Georgia" Foundation.Area – Youth.

Tbilisi.The "All-Civil Movement Diverse Georgia" has organized a conference on February 26 "Ethnic Diversity for Harmonious Development". The conference was organized as part of the project "Let's Endorse Diversity – Respect Everyone" and aimed to inform the interested parties about the study carried out within the project framework, which examined the problems of communities of ethnic minorities living in Georgia. Conference participants have expressed their views on the ways and forms of solution of these problems. Source: npo.ge

Tbilisi.The Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) has released the staff lists of the self-government units for 2012 and the 10 December reports submitted to the President and Parliament. IDFI has disseminated information on the staff lists of 15 municipalities of Georgia and the 10 December reports received from 18 municipalities. Staff lists. 10 December reports Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Batumi. On February 22, the Heinrich Boll Foundation has organized another discussion in the Batumi Civic Engagement Center on the topic "From center or to center". According to the deputy of the Adjara Supreme Council Aleksandre Chitishvili, the legislative body works in this direction and specific initiatives are being prepared. In the experts' opinion, increasing the functions of self-government and the strong local governance are the determinants of the state's degree of democracy. The civil society and media representatives and students have attended the meeting.

Tbilisi. The Caucasian Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development has released another video as part of the project "Civil Society for Development". In the video, representatives of regional civil society discuss the importance of citizen participation in local self-governments based on their own beliefs. Video: Importance of Citizen Participation. Source: partipate.ge

Adjara. On February 20, a public discussion was held in the Batumi Civic Engagement Centre on the economic development strategy of Batumi in 2012-2015. Representatives of the state, non-governmental organizations and media have attended the meeting. A strategic plan was presented but holding a discussion over it became impossible due to the harsh debates on the issue. This document was drafted with the financial support of "Good Governance in Georgia Program / G3". The Program foresees the development of socio-economic development strategies for 10 self-governments/municipalities of Georgia.

Kakheti. On February 23, at 12 pm the community union "Nukriani" will present the project "We Learn". The project aims to set up the community education center on the base of the culture house/library of village Nukriani and offer informal cultural-educational programs to the youth living in the Sighnaghi Municipality through the Community Education Center. The project is funded by the "Open Society - Georgia" Foundation.Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Imereti. Kutaisi-based NGOs call on the Kutaisi self-government to work in coordination. In relation to this fact the NGO sector has informed public in the Civic Engagement Center about its joint statement. "Having maintained full political neutrality, we call on each party engaged in the political processes to observe the legislation of Georgia and international obligations undertaken by our country, to respect each other and the entire society and to conduct political processes in a peaceful and instructive environment", - says the statement.NGOs demand that the Kutaisi self-government publishes detailed information on expenses borne from the reserve fund of the City Hall on a monthly basis, as well as for it to justify any expense borne from the local budget. NGOs also demand that the work on the local budget of 2014 starts soon, which, in their opinion, will contribute to the formulation of objectives and tasks of each program within the budget.

Kakheti. A meeting was held in the Telavi Office of the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association concerning the mass dismissal of public servants from offices.According to the Head of the Telavi Office MarekhMgaloblishvili, the newly appointed officials abuse their authority and ignore the requirements of the law. NGOs call on the citizens to publicize the facts of pressure, while they urge the authorities to probe into the qualification of their cadres and the lawfulness of their activities.

Imereti. NGO Coalition "Transparency for Self-Government" demands the resignation of the Kutaisi Mayor. According to the Coalition, their monitoring and the public information obtained from the City Hall has revealed number of violations in the self-government: employment of persons in the City Hall according to the party interests, increase of number of personnel, non-targeted expenses. In case of ignoring the demands of the Coalition, participants of the initiative plan to organize permanent rallies starting from February 21. The Coalition "Transparency for Self-Government" unites 20 Kutaisi-based NGOs.

Samegrelo. Representatives of NGOs and the authorities have discussed the regional development strategy on February 19 at the coordination meeting held in the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti Regional Administration. The Coordination Council has established working groups, which will work on the regional development strategy. According to the UNDP Program Manager Florian Delon, experts of their organization are actively involved in the elaboration of the regional development strategy. According to the Head of the Regional Service of the Regional Administration Gela Svirava, groups of the Council should finish working on the strategy by May of the current year.

Samegrelo. With the support of the US Agency for International Development, the National Association of Self-Government has presented on February 18 the socio-economic development plan of the Zugdidi Municipality. Leadership of the local self-government and NGO representatives have attended the presentation. According to the document, the development priorities of the Zugdidi Municipality are the arrangement of roads of local importance, water supply of the city, development of agriculture and tourism, as well as the management of solid waste. The Coordinator of the program "Democratic Governance in Georgia" in Samegrelo Vakhtang Javakhadze has stated that by the end of the current week the draft development plan for Zugdidi will be submitted in the Zugdidi Sakrebulo for consideration, and throughout the examination process the Zugdidi-based NGOs can make comments to the document.

Adjara. On February 15, the Civil Advisers' Council has organized in the Batumi Civic Engagement Center the meeting of the members of public assembly and the local CSO and media representatives with the new Chairman of the Sakrebulo of self-governing city Batumi Irakli Chavleishvili. The meeting unfolded in the question-and-answer mode. The Sakrebulo Chairman has talked about the existing situation in the Sakrebulo and the expected changes. He stated he does not intend to dismiss anyone due to their party belonging, and that hard and effective work is key for him. In addition, he called on the civil society to be active and get involved in the solution of problems existing in the city.

Guria. A round table was held in the Ozurgeti Office of the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association on February 15 concerning the issues of appointment-dismissal of public servants. According to the information provided by the Ozurgeti Municipality Gamgeoba to GYLA, 25 persons were dismissed from the Municipality's structural units. Out of these, the agreements of 12 employees have expired, 4 of them were dismissed due to liquidation of structural units, and 8 of them were dismissed based on personal applications.According to the Head of GYLA's Ozurgeti Office TamazTrapaidze, the fates of public servants should not be linked to a political setting. "We should offer local self-governments to set up the competition commission in a rapid manner, which will always get rid of political inconveniences by observing the relevant laws. If this sector is not depoliticized, we will end up with the same results that we had before."

Samegrelo. On February 13, the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia Tengiz Shergelashvili has met with the municipality Gamgebelis and international and non-governmental organizations in the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti Regional Administration. Representatives of the UN Development Program, who are actively involved in drafting the development plan for the Region, have attended the meeting. Mr. Shergelashvili has talked about the regional development strategy and the criteria for selecting to-be-funded projects. He prioritized projects involving the supply of drinking water, construction of roads, and the shore-strengthening works. Deputy Minister has called on the representatives of international and local NGOs to broader involvement in the implementation of regional projects.

Tbilisi. The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy has presented the second monitoring report of the post-election processes. The report includes information on staff changes in the self-governments, protest rallies and the legal persecution against the self-government servants. "We believe that the current situation once again illustrates the need to carry out the self-government reform in the nearest future, in order to ensure tangible independence of self-government and non-interference in issues within its competence", the organization has stated. For the full text. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Samegrelo. A public discussion was held in the Civic Engagement Center on February 8 concerning the ongoing staff changes in Ozurgeti. The Ozurgeti Municipality GamgebeliKoteSharashenidze, representative of the Regional Administration PaataManjgaladze and the representative of the Georgian Union for Democratic Development Irakli Papava have talked about the dismissal of persons employed in the structures of the Municipality Sakrebulo and Gamgeoba after the elections. According to KoteSharashidze, the opinion that allegedly public servants and village trustees are persecuted on political grounds is incorrect and unjustified. Meeting participants have also discussed the creation of the competition-attestation commission, which will work on the selection of new staff in a competent manner. Representatives of NGOs and political parties, journalists and citizens have attended the discussion.

Tbilisi. The National Association of Local Authorities of Georgia has released the public statement on the self-government reform and the appeal on the working group set up with the Ministry for developing and coordinating the reforms. For the full text. Source: nala.ge