KvemoKartli. The Ratevani Women's Council delivered the training for the residents of village Ratevani on the following topic: community mobilization and community participation in the decision-making process. The training aimed at raising the awareness of local population on the importance and ways of participation of local population in the decision-making process. The Council plans to deliver other similar trainings and consultations. The activity is implemented with the financial support of the EED Fund within the framework of the "Strengthening and Engagement of Rural Women in Natural Resources Management in the South Caucasus Countries" project. Source: CENN

Guria. The offices of the "Union of Democratic Development of Georgia" hosted the training, which was delivered for the initiative groups (Tkhinvali, Chanieti, Makvaneti, Meria and Ureki) within the framework of the "Public Initiatives for Changes" project funded by the Management Systems International Georgia (MSI-Georgia). Training participants were informed about issues such as civil participation and public monitoring. In addition, the notion of local self-government and its powers was discussed. The procedure for drawing up the budget and the budgetary revenues and costs were also discussed at the meeting.

Guria. The local self-government has answered 10 questions of the civil society in the Ozurgeti Democratic Engagement Center on July 7. The meeting was organized by the Ozurgeti Democratic Engagement Center. To collect questions of concern, the Center staff have approached the representatives of the civil society in advance, who have sent questions of interest to them to the Center. Local self-government has prepared relevant responses. The following topics were discussed at the meeting: decentralization, budgetary priorities of the municipality, transparency of the Sakrebulo activities, construction permits, selection of self-government servants, attracting foreign investors, public transport, and women's engagement in the local self-government activities. Chairman of the municipality Sakrebulo Aleko Mameshvili has answered the questions of the civil society. The Democratic Engagement Center is funded by the US Government. It offers the public a favorable place to gather and engage in open debate and discourse on many issues of public concern. The process of supporting the dialogue aims to foster the civic engagement of citizens.

Tbilisi. The "Local Self-Government Monitoring Guidebook" was developed by the Caucasian Institute for Economic and Social Research within the framework of "Local Self-Government Monitoring Guidebook for Regional Non-Governmental Organizations and Media". This project was implemented with the support of the Eurasia Partnership Foundation and funding of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). To evaluate the relevance of the Guidebook and submit recommendatory proposals, the Institute would like you to fill the below questionnaire. Your evaluation and opinions are important for the authors of the publication. Local Self-Government Monitoring Guidebook (Geo) Questionnaire (Geo) Please send the filled questionnaire before July 6, 2012 at the following e-mail: info@ciesr.org