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

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center has highlighted in the video all those major problems that the agreement signed between the state and the company on the Namakhvani HPP project has. “The agreement was signed in 2019, behind closed doors, and just two years later was made public. Under this agreement, the state concedes its interests in favor of a private company”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more on this topic... Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. GCSD conducted online trainings on prevention of violent extremism and radicalisation. “This is the first PCVE curriculum in Georgian which reflects and was adapted to the Georgian context. The curriculum includes "Countering Violent Extremism: An Introductory Guide to Concepts, Programming and, Best Practices" a trainer's guide, thematic videos, presentations and supporting Exercises. The project is supported by Hedayah Center in the framework of STRIVE Global Program funded by the EU. The training material was translated and adapted for the local context by the GCSD. For more please, follow the link... Source: gcsd.org.ge

“Civil Society STAR Initiative” - is a new project funded by the European Union and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. The purpose of the project is to facilitate enhancement of civil society as an independent, sustainable, transparent and accountable actor. Information about project news, competitions or editions can be obtained at the website on a social network - Civil Society STAR Initiative Visit the site and get informed The project is supported by the European Union (#EU) and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (#KAS), while it is implemented by: the Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (#CSRDG), the Civil Society Institute (#CSI), the Center for Training and Consultancy (#CTC), Education Development and Employment Center (#EDEC) and the Institute for European Politics (#IEP)  “Civil Society Initiative” - is based on the knowledge and experience gained during implementation of the “Civil Society Sustainability Initiative” project (CSSIGE 2017-2020), supported by the European Union.

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. “I am an heiress too”, a new campaign of both Sapari and “Naambobi” web platform, calls on people to overcome gender prejudices during distribution of inheritance. “I am an heiress too”, a Facebook campaign, is basically based on life stories of respondents in regard to distribution of inheritance and exposes many of unjust traditions that are rooted in our customary law or culture. Read more… Source: sapari.ge

Tbilisi. On April 21, the Public Defender presented a special report – “Impact of closure of so-called checkpoints in 2019-2020 years on legal situation of population living in the occupied territories”. “According to the opinion of the Ombudsman, formal regime, imposed by the de facto Government to regulate movement on the occupation line, as well as establishment of various barriers, such as unpredictable closures of so-called checkpoints, unlawful detentions, problems related to de facto documentation required for relocation and etc., restrict freedom of movement of residents of the occupied regions and create unjustified obstacles to them in terms of access to livelihoods. It is important to have the Government of Georgia use support, provided by the international community, and apply all possible mechanisms to protect rights of people living in the occupied territories. This includes negotiations with representatives of the occupation regime so as to convince them to let international missions access conflict regions”. Read more... Source: www.ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. On June 19, GYLA called on parties, involved in the mediation process, to sign a compromise proposal presented by the President of the European Council, however, the organization made it clear that the agreement should be implemented in accordance with the Constitution of Georgia and international standards. The organization urges political parties to “prevent initiation of a bill that aims to extend the amnesty to crimes committed by law enforcers on June 20-21, 2019 (regardless of what the qualification of the investigation is). Otherwise, not only the issue of individual criminal responsibility of an offender is going to be endangered, but also public trust in and respect for the law enforcement system, as well as fulfillment of the state obligation to combat the sense of impunity that an offender may have due to his official position. As a result, among other benefits, the right to freedom of assembly or expression will also be significantly harmed”. Read more… Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. The Center for Development and Democracy (CDD) shares a guide to citizen participation in a local self-governance implementation process. For participation of citizens... “Participation of citizens in a decision-making process is a cornerstone of democracy and has great effect on substantial improvement of local self-governance related processes and issues”, - is stated in the document. Source: The website of the organization on a social network

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center (formerly EMC) presents an overview of the situation related to work and employment of LGBTQ people in Georgia. This chapter is part of a study - “Social exclusion of LGBTQ Group” carried out by the organization. “Present chapter contains a survey of an employment status and current working conditions of LGBTQ people in the first section. It aims to expose the practice of breach of human rights, which occurs in the workplace, creates a disgraceful work environment and, sometimes, leads to unemployment”. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. Partnership for Human Rights (PHR) calls for protection of rights of children at the Ninotsminda boarding school through court. “Instruct the Ministry of Health and the Ninotsminda shelter for children to not restrict the Public Defender from entering there and carrying out thorough monitoring; The Ministry of Health to visit the shelter immediately and study the situation existing there”. With these demands, the organization, as a holder of a special plaintiff status, has already appealed to the Tbilisi City Court in order to protect rights of children living in large institutions. Read more… Source: phr.ge