Tbilisi. The Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) responds to parliamentary review of the bill initiated in regard to determining narcotic drug quantities. The organization calls on representatives of the ruling political team to stop rhetoric that misleads society while stating as if inaction of the state over the years in regard to introduction of a humane drug policy is the fault of civil society organizations, activists and experts. “Proposed version of the bill improves current legislative order, however, its content does not completely reflect principles of a humane drug policy that meets human rights and the reason for this is again a punishment oriented Georgian drug policy and its repressiveness”. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. Art Inception Georgia presents EU funding programs in the field of culture. “This is a Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), which covers directions and priorities of 2021-2027 years. AI Georgia actively works to increase involvement of Georgian artists and organizations in these programs”. Write to the Platform to schedule an online consultation. Read more… Source: The website of the Platform in a social network

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...

Shida Kartli. Located in close vicinity to the administrative boundary line with the South Ossetia/Tskhinvali region, the outpatient clinic in the village Nikozi has been serving conflict-affected communities for over 30 years. During the lockdown, we helped the clinic purchase a new X-ray machine and other modern devices, furnish and equip a clinical and biochemical laboratory, and provide critical healthcare services to IDPs and older people. Read our press release for more... Source: UNDP’s page on the Facebook

Tbilisi. Media Development Foundation (MDF) has carried out a survey in 4 regions of Georgia, findings of which are available here... The organization conducts already the second survey that aims at studying what impact disinformation and conspiracies have on public perceptions and which anecdotal evidences are most prevalent in society. “Besides, the purpose of the survey was to study public attitudes towards certain foreign policy related issues and the coronavirus pandemic, including vaccination aspects. The survey refers on the anecdotal evidence method, which basically uses informally collected data based on personal experience”. Read more… Source: mdfgeorgia.ge

Tbilisi. Georgia Fair Labor Platform responds to the fact of non-payment of a deserved labor remuneration to twelve workers, employed during construction of a hotel in Gonio, considering it as theft of their salaries committed by the company “Labau Gonio” LLC. “Workers state that despite completing work, the employer company still does not pay their deserved salaries. Current salary indebtedness in favor of employees is about GEL 27 000.  We call on the Labor Inspection Office to start systematic work to eliminate an unlawful practice of misappropriation of labor remuneration of workers (stolen wages) by employers in Georgia and, within the framework of the new mandate, while inspecting labor rights of employees at their work places, set as one of the priority areas identification and legal responsibility of those employers who have applied the practice of stolen wages as a norm”, - is noted in the joint statement. Read more… Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Georgian Stone LLC owned by the former head of Architecture Service of Kobuleti municipality - Badri Romanadze received GEL 24 647 168 from Kobuleti municipality procurements during 2015-2020 - GEL 6 million without a competition. “Suspicious circumstances were also revealed in the procurements of Poti and Terjola municipalities, in 2020 the company won 4 procurements by offering the lowest bid, however, the value of contracts was more (GEL 3,074,239) than the highest bids offered to the buyer by competitors. We call on the Anti-Corruption Department of State Security Service to start the investigation on the aforementioned facts immediately”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. In the publication "TimeBank: Textbook about New Volunteering" you will read everything about modern volunteering. If you would like to learn what volunteering is, to read about foreign and Georgian experience of the TimeBank; also, if you are eager to know more about the success stories of the TimeBank and learn whether you are ready or not for volunteer work, this book is for you. The publication is created within the “Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative” project. The project was developed and is implemented by the consortium lead by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in cooperation with four Georgian Civil Society Organizations: Civil Society Institute (CSI), Center for Training and Consultancy (CTC), Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG) and Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC). The project is funded by the European Union and co-funded by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. Read more…  Source: Timerepublik Georgia’s page on the Facebook

Tbilisi. The new piece by Lasha Dolidze provides a brief overview of key international trends caused by the Covid-19 crisis, which are relevant to Georgia and are affecting or will affect Georgia’s economic development in 2021 as well as in the years to come. Full version of the publication... The document was prepared by the Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC), in the frames of Good Governance Initiative | GGI Georgia, USAID/Georgia. Source: EPRC’s page on the Facebook

Tbilisi. The Heinrich Boell Foundation presents a study carried out by Ana Lolua, which touches upon representation of women in exhibitions held in Georgia during the late socialist period and dedicated to the Second World War.  “This article contains an analysis of forms and meanings of representation of women in exhibitions dedicated to the Great Patriotic War and held within the period from the end of the 60s to the beginning of the 80s, on the examples of the exhibition of the Peoples Friendship Museum dedicated to the Great Patriotic War and the permanent exhibition of the Gori Museum of Battle Glory”. Read more… Source: feminism-boell.org

Imereti. EDEC in cooperation with UNDP, invites young people from Imereti, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, and Shida Kartli regions to participate in the project "Protecting IDP Rights during the COVID-19 Crisis in Georgia". „The project aims to support IDPs and conflict-affected youth to get involved in solving the challenges and problems created in their communities as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic“. Read more… Source: The organization’s page in the social network

Tbilisi. The Center for Development and Democracy (CDD) has launched a Georgian online educational platform Kentsero. “Visit and sweeten your studies with us At this stage, you will find on the site schools of democratization and good governance as well as international relations, interesting subjects and fun quizzes presented by experts in the field”, - is stated on the website of the organization in a social network.  Read more… Source: The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, Green Alternative and the Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center release a joint statement in regard to dissolution of a protest rally against the Namakhvani HPP project and resumption of construction works by “Enka”. “Demands of local population, protesting against unlawful actions of a company “Enka” and the Government in the Rioni gorge for almost 100 days, are fair and constructive. Taking into account growing nature of a conflict among the project-affected community, the company and government agencies, as well as the fact that there is still insufficient information on project implementation-related threats, we consider that: The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia and LEPL Technical and Construction Supervision Agency have to restrict “Enka Renewables” to carry out construction works (including preparatory works) until threats, posed by implementation of the project to the environment, human lives and health, cultural heritage and material values, are studied and evaluated in accordance with requirements of law”… Read more… Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. On January 28, 2021 the Georgian Bar Association Chairman David Asatiani, Executive Director Giorgi Tshekhani, Head of Administration Salome Tkeshelashvili and Head of Analytical Department Tamta Devdariani had a second online meeting with USAID/PROLoG Experts Jay B, Myerson and John Hardin Young to discuss election systems of bar associations. Read more… Source: ewmi-prolog.org

Ajara. “Protect Batumi Boulevard” society protests against a plan of “Ambassador Batumi” Ltd to build a 16-story hotel on the old boulevard and publishes a manifesto for signatures: “Stop destruction of Batumi Boulevard”.  “Despite the fact that the 16-story hotel is completely inappropriate for the boulevard and directly contradicts legislation, as well as threatens and reduces the cultural and historical value of it, the project has already been approved by the Adjara Cultural Heritage Protection Council while the head of the Adjara Cultural Heritage Protection Agency intends to give his approval on its implementation.  It is our duty to stand up against this disorder and protect Batumi Boulevard from destruction. Following the above, we demand:  1. Stop construction of the 16-story hotel on the territory of Batumi Boulevard immediately and revoke an issued permit.  2. Suspend the issuance of a permit for any construction on the territory of the boulevard until a development plan of Batumi Boulevard is approved”, - is stated in the text of the manifesto.  At this stage, the mentioned manifesto is signed by about 3500 people.  Read more…  Source: manifest.ge

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia is responding to the decision made by the Interagency Coordination Council on January 22, 2021, on the re-opening of kindergartens and the resumption of remote education in Tbilisi, Kutaisi, and Rustavi from March 1.  The Public Defender believes that the long-term prolongation of remote education should be the last resort, which should not hamper the effective exercise of the right to education. In addition, it is important that the infrastructure, access to water, and sanitation provide the necessary conditions for the prevention of the virus in schools where the learning process is ongoing or is planned to be resumed.  Read more…   Source: The web-page of the organization

On January 28-29, 2021 the CSO National Forum was held in the online format. The forum brought together up to 200 representatives of civil society and other sectors from all the regions of Georgia but also from the Eastern Partnership countries. The main focus of the forum was the role of Civil Society in promoting reforms and the challenges they face. The conference was welcomed by a representative of the EU Delegation to Georgia, Ms. Dominika Skubida. She underlined the importance of civil society as a partner in promoting reforms: “I have had the privilege to observe the development of the civil society in Georgia during the last four years. I am pleased to see how active and diverse civil society has become, especially in the regions.” In the opening panel, representatives of the Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative presented key results of this four-year-long EU support program in areas such as diversification of funding sources with emphasis on state funding available for CSOs, increased cooperation between civil society and businesses in the framework of the CSR activities of the later, empowering of the youth as civic activists and promoting work of CSOs through the campaign ‘This Country is Yours’. The panel was followed by a discussion among participants about the role and challenges of civil society in the regions of Georgia. During the last panel, international experts presented their views about the current situation in civil society across the Eastern Partnership region. Background information - Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative is implemented by a consortium led by Konrad Adenauer Foundation in partnership with Georgian civil society organisations: Civil Society Institute (CSI), Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG), Center for Training and Consultancy (CTC) and Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC) and aims to address key challenges of the Georgian civil society sector. The project is funded by the European Union and co-funded by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

Tbilisi. IDFI published a policy Document – “The Concealed Beneficiaries behind Fictional Characters”. „Beneficial ownership has become one of the most hotly debated topics globally. Governments, as well as international and civil society actors, are trying hard to implement new regulations tackling problems associated with beneficial ownership“, - Is mentioned in the document, - “Though Georgia became a member of the Open Governance Partnership and pushed for more transparency, the government largely ignored the recommendations of non-governmental organizations and, particularly, of the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), for creating a registry of beneficial ownership. It should be noted that the Government of Georgia took the obligation to consider creating such a registry in 2016, during the Anti-corruption Summit in London, but never fulfilled it. Additionally, on the Anti-corruption Summit, Georgia undertook the following commitments: ensure that law enforcement agencies have access to information about the beneficial owners of offshore companies; sign bilateral agreements with partner countries for the purpose of exchanging this information; take necessary steps in order to ensure the transparency of ownership of companies taking part in public procurement; form public-private information sharing partnerships aimed at detecting, preventing and disrupting money laundering. Though overall, it can be argued that Georgia has implemented positive measures towards the fulfillment of the obligations undertaken at the Anti-corruption Summit in London, it failed to execute any significant actions in achieving the transparency of the beneficial ownership. Therefore, the problems in the sphere of beneficial ownership still remain”. Read more…  Source: The web-page of the organization

Tbilisi. In parallel with Transparency International's annual Corruption Perceptions Index, the organization's Berlin Secretariat website is published in the article, as it will be intensively reviewed at this stage. The organization offers a Georgian translation of this article: “Georgia’s score of 56 points in the 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is unchanged from 2019, when it dropped by two points compared with 2018. Moreover, Georgia has not seen significant improvement in the ranking since 2012, when CPI scores became comparable year to year. In a country once celebrated as a reformer, anti-corruption efforts have stagnated in nearly a decade”. Read more…  Source: The web-page of the organization

Tbilisi. International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy responds to questions posed by representatives of the election administration and parties. This response involved the elections in regard to the results of PVT of the October 31, 2020 parliamentary elections including those related to imbalances revealed at 8% of precincts. After the change in the governing body of ISFED, it was decided by the staff and board members of the organization to thoroughly re-examine shortcomings, identified in summary protocols, in order to provide comprehensive answers to questions raised by society. In this regard, in the first half of January, representatives of the head and regional offices of the organization reviewed summary protocols and attached documents of all polling stations selected for parallel vote tabulation (850 stations), including those of 25 special and so-called COVID polling stations, as well as three polling stations opened in penitentiary institutions”, - is stated in information released by the organization, - “within the framework of the revision, ISFED identified those summary protocols, in which sum of numbers of votes received by election subjects and void bulletins was more, equal or less than the total number of voters who participated in the elections. Within the revision process, there were also analyzed attached documents (correction protocols, explanations, and resolutions), besides, ISFED compared verified copies of summary protocols handed over to observers at the closing of the polling station and summary protocols uploaded on the website of the Central Election Commission”. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

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

Ajara. Civil society organizations respond to the fact of termination of authority of an “Adjara Cultural Heritage Protection Agency” member. They consider that the order contains signs of alleged discrimination and aims to intimidate other members of the Agency so as to make them refrain from expressing critical views in the future. “According to the order of Director of the Agency, the status of Shota Gujabidze was terminated due to his different, critical views in regard to the policy of the Agency, which fact Director of the Agency assumed as “deliberate discrediting” of the Agency”, - is noted in the statement, - “it turned out on January 28 that Zaur Akhvlediani, Director of the Agency, the terminated authority of Shota Gujabidze as a member of the Agency due to his critical views without even listening to his justifications, which fact contains signs of alleged discrimination. It serves to punish Shota Gujabidze for being critical regarding unlawful decisions made by the Agency”. Interests of Shota Gujabidze are defended by GYLA. Read more… Source: gyla.ge