Tbilisi. Social Justice Center (formerly EMC) responds to a package of intended changes in legislation on construction initiated at the Parliament of Georgia.  The organization considers that it creates direct risks of criminalization of homelessness and is unequivocally contrary to international standards of human rights.  Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. According to information released by Transparency International Georgia, there is a bill initiated in the Parliament, which envisages tightening measures of liability for petty hooliganism, as well as disobedience to a lawful demand of the police. “On the background of the ongoing political and social crisis in the country, while public protests are growing and the economic situation in the country is extremely dire, these changes will place a heavy burden on the population and can be considered as a step towards restricting civil space. We call on the Parliament of Georgia not to support this initiative and, taking into account the difficult economic background, not to increase the number of fines”, - is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center (formerly EMC) prepared a report on drug policy trends for 2020. “The report contains a review of a current drug crimes related situation in the field of justice, 2020 statistics on the criminal prosecution of drug crimes and convictions, drug testing, the number of probationers and other relevant issues”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. According to the ruling of the judge Diana Pharkosadze dated 27 April 2021, Rights Georgia’s claim was fully upheld and the court assigned Migration Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to grant humanitarian status to Somalian citizen A.M.A. in Georgia. The applicant was represented by Rights Georgia’s lawyer Rusudan Mchedlishvili. Read more... Source: rights.ge

The web portal CsoGeorgia.org releases a weekly newsletter of grants competition, contests, vacancies, fellowships, and tenders for civil society organizations, and for any interested person. Newsletter...

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center presents an article by Mariam Devidze – “Visible or invisible: Climate change and work of rural women”. “Climate change is a global problem that confronts all countries around the world with a lot of challenges. According to a statement made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the consequences of climate change hamper the implementation of agricultural activities and water supply, which has an impact on such issues as food safety, availability, and retention of prices. It should be noted that the main contributors to climate change are rich countries and populations, while its detrimental consequences affect mostly poor countries (including Georgia) and marginalized as well as vulnerable groups of the population, and there are also women among them. As a result, social and global inequality is furthermore exacerbated”, - is stated in the article. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Imereti. According to information released by the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), on April 28, the Tskaltubo Magistrate Court announced an operative part of the decision, according to which “Enka Renewables LLC”, a construction company that builds the Cascade of Namokhvani HPPs, was found guilty under Part 1 of Article 798 of the Code of Administrative Offenses that implies non-compliance of an implementer of activities with terms stipulated by the environmental decision. The court imposed a fine of GEL 5000 on the company as an administrative charge. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. According to the opinion of the Social Justice Center (formerly EMC), the Code of Administrative Offenses becomes even more repressive with intended changes. “The changes completely disregard the necessity of a reform of the Code of Administrative Offenses demanded by civil society organizations and human rights defenders over the years, while instead they provide even more room for arbitrary use of police repressive mechanisms and charges. We call on the Parliament not to support the initiated changes and, in return, to start working on a fundamental reform of the Code of Administrative Offences in a timely manner”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. With the support of UN Women, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia organized an information sharing meeting with the CSOs on „Geneva International Discussions and the Women, Peace and Security Agenda“. “At the meeting, the representatives of the women’s CSOs raised issues related to IDP and conflict-affected women and offered specific views and initiatives to Georgian participants of Geneva International Discussions on ways to promote inclusive peace process in the country”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. On May 19, Georgia’s Responsible Business Awards Meliora 2020 will be conducted in an online format. This year the Contest is intended to take place in a special format and companies will be awarded for those projects and initiatives, which they have implemented to fight against the COVID pandemic within the framework of their corporate social responsibility (CSR). “At the award ceremony, companies will be awarded for projects they have implemented to overcome the crisis caused by the pandemic, while categories are going to be as follows: supporting employees, supporting clients, customers, and suppliers, supporting society and local communities, as well as supporting SMEs and most suffered industries. Georgia’s Responsible Business Awards Meliora 2020 is sponsored by Moore ABC. Meliora 2020 is implemented within the framework of the project “Civil Society Initiative: Sustainable, Open and Accountable Civil Society Organizations for Development of Georgia” funded by the European Union and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS)”, Georgia’s Responsible Business Awards. Read more… Source: meliora.ge

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) negatively responds to draft changes to be made in the Code of Administrative Offenses and calls on the Parliament not to support planned amendments. “On April 26, at the Parliament of Georgia, there were registered two bills that are supposed to be reviewed in an expedited manner. One of them concerns changes to be made in Articles 166 (petty hooliganism) and 173 (disobedience to a lawful demand of police) of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Georgia. According to the bill, sanctions, envisaged by both Articles, are significantly tightened, besides, the role of the judge is reduced - taking into account factual circumstances of a case, determine the size of a sanction or use a verbal warning”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Shida Kartli. April 23 organized by CENN and the Society Biliki, the EU-supported rural innovation knowledge hub in Gori has been launched. “The Innovative Knowledge Hub is a youth workspace that will be accessible to young people living in Shida Kartli region aiming to empower young people at the local level and promote their social and green entrepreneurship development”. Find out more… Source: eeas.europa.eu

Tbilisi. Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) releases the blogpost: The Significance of the Modernized Convention 108 for Georgia. “By signing the Convention 108+, Georgia will undertake an international commitment to ensure a higher standard of data protection, greater accountability of the controller, and effective oversight of data protection. Particular emphasis should be placed on the obligation to ensure effective oversight of data processing for national security and defense purposes, which will be an important step forward in terms of increasing the accountability of the security sector”.  Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) made a presentation of the report on “Analysis of Election Disputes”. “The purpose of the report is to identify main trends and legislative gaps that hinder the fair resolution of election disputes and create distrust in electoral processes. In the document, GYLA evaluates election disputes, related to the 2020 parliamentary elections, as during the pre-election period as well as on the polling day and afterwards. The report contains main shortcomings identified in the process of revision of election disputes. Besides, it includes an analysis of a problematic practice reflected in decisions made by election administrations and courts”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center (formerly EMC) publishes an analysis of an environmental decision made in regard to the Namakhvani hydropower plant. “The environmental decision concerns only one part of the two interdependent cascades of Namakhvani hydropower plants - the Lower Namakhvani HPP and does not evaluate the Upper Namakhvani HPP. Separation of permits for interdependent hydropower plants in any form and partial, segregated assessment of the environmental impact of two hydropower plants is a violation and neglect of environmental principles, environmental impact assessment standards. In turn, the environmental decision of the Lower Namakhvani HPP is conditional and contains an obligation of additional submission of important environmental studies. It is prohibited by law to issue an environmental decision without substantive researches, while the existence of studies that must be submitted mandatorily, confirms that the decision was made without conducting a thorough assessment of environmental impact. The environmental impact assessment report does not meet the standards stipulated by law. Geological, seismological and hydrological surveys of the hydropower plant are incomplete and unable to assess the situation on the ground”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Samegrelo. The Georgia Red Cross Youth and Volunteering Development department organized “ My First Job” workshop. The workshop was led by the Georgia Red Cross Society Zugdidi branch volunteer trainer Romeo Malazonia. He shared useful tips about how to look for vacancies, how to write CV/Motivational letter, communication with potential employers, tips for successful interview and etc. Read more… Source: The Red Cross Society Page on the Social Network

Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) publishes an interview with Nino Chkhobadze, an environmental defender, Co-Chair of the Greens Movement of Georgia/Friends of the Earth - Georgia. “The Chernobyl disaster contradicted a narrative about Soviet power or predominance in the field of science, threatened the politics of the Soviet Union. That is why, for a long period of time, they tried in the USSR to hide information about Chernobyl. “Even today, cases of the high level of lead [in the blood] in western Georgia, in our opinion, maybe the result of the Chernobyl disaster”. Read more… Source:idfi.ge

Tbilisi. On April 23, IDFI held a working meeting with the staff of the Supreme Council of Ajara on issues related to the submission and consideration of the petition. “Implementation of written and electronic petition is the 4th commitment envisaged in the 2020-2021 Open Governance Action Plan of the Supreme Council of Ajara.The opportunity for submitting the written petition to the Supreme Council of Ajara shall be in force from May 1, 2021”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center responds to decisions announced by the administration of the Government of Georgia in regard to the Namakhvani HPP project. “The statement of the Government once again reconfirms that state authorities are still unprepared to lead a democratic and real dialogue around the project, while proposals, presented by the Government, are more of an attempt to solve the problem ostensibly, fragmentarily and superficially. By failing to meet the principled and critical demand of guards of the Rioni Valley to suspend construction works of the Namakhvani HPP, the Government has once again missed the opportunity for a real, democratic and fair dialogue, thus forcing guards of the Valley to continue their protests in the streets”, - is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. European union in Georgia publishes an information you need to know about vaccination in the time of COVID-19. „It could be a friend, a loved one, a colleague or a neighbour. We all know someone who is strongly opposed to vaccination and this fear is driven by belief in anti-vaccine conspiracies. The COVID-19 health crisis has provided ample opportunities for the spread of disinformation not only in Eastern Partner countries, but all over the world. Do you want to change your friends or relatives minds about vaccination? Read the cards and find out everything you need to know about vaccination in the time of COVID-19”. Read more… Source: www.euneighbours.eu

Samegrelo. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) protected a juvenile who was sexually harassed in a public place. “Zugdidi District Court confirmed the fact of sexual harassment committed against a juvenile and fined the responsible person GEL 600. The person, subject to the administrative liability, applied to the Kutaisi Court of Appeals contesting the court decision, however, the Court of Appeals also shared the factual and legal reasoning, provided in the first-instance court decision, and left the decision unchanged. GYLA carried out this case with the support of USAID/PROLoG”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. According to information released by “Rights Georgia”, almost four years after the start of the investigation, a petition submitted by Archil Chopikashvili, a lawyer of the organization, has been satisfied and Afghan Mukhtarli, an Azerbaijani journalist, who was abducted by unidentified people in May 2017 in Tbilisi and handed over to the Government of Azerbaijan, has been granted the status of victim. Besides, the qualification of the case has been specified. Read more… Source: www.rights.ge