Samegrelo. With the money won at the intellectual TV show "Answer to Georgia" aired on TV Imedi, the volunteers bought and handed over the development resources to the Khobi Day Care Center for Children with Disabilities "Our House".  The volunteers took part in the TV show "Answer to Georgia" within the Civil Society Sustainability Initiative project on September 19. By participating in the TV show, the volunteers aimed to raise public awareness about volunteering and to encourage engagement in the volunteer activities. Read more… Source: the organization’s page in the social network

Tbilisi. On December 9 and 10, there was conducted an online conference in the format of a virtual study tour, organized by Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD). “The virtual study tour aimed at sharing experiences on parliamentary openness; Within the framework of the tour, on December 10, Davit Maisuradze, Head of Open Governance Direction at the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), delivered a speech to participants of the conference about the experience of parliamentary openness in Georgia and facilitation of the parliamentary openness process by civil society”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. “Media Advocacy Coalition” member organizations respond to the statement of Nika Gvaramia, Director and a founder of “Mtavari Channel”, in which he stresses that “he has been threatened to be arrested and have his property confiscated”. “We have repeatedly expressed reasonable doubts that Nika Gvaramia is systematically pressured by representatives of the ruling party in different ways due to his critical points of view. On the background of constant criticism of representatives of the authorities against the media that is independent from the Government, we are concerned that the purpose of the criminal persecution, initiated against Nika Gvaramia, is to change the editorial policy of “Mtavari Channel”. This process will have a negative impact on the team of “Mtavari Channel” and the work environment of journalists. We, “Media Advocacy Coalition” member organizations express our support to both Nika Gvaramia and “Mtavari Channel”. We call on international partners to put issues related to safety of journalists and freedom of media on the political agenda, protect Director and a founder of “Mtavari Channel” from obvious threats and political persecution”, - is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. On December 11, the Constitutional Court of Georgia satisfied a lawsuit of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association in regard to the case – “Giorgi Gotsiridze v. the Parliament of Georgia”. “The subject matter of the dispute in the case was the normative content of the first paragraph of Article 1502 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, which precluded possibility of temporary placement of posters, slogans, banners by the owner or with the consent of the owner for a short period of time within the framework of a spontaneous action at those sites that are not allocated for such a purpose”. Read more…  Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Human Rights House Tbilisi, on behalf of its member organizations, and Human Rights House Foundation find the developments following ISFED’s statement on December 11 alarming, as the statements go beyond healthy debate and criticism and try to discredit not only the organization but the civil society in general. „We believe that after dissemination of the statement, the discussion on this fact has been unhealthy. Instead of discussing specific facts concerning the PVT, statements and actions are seeking to discredit and attach the general activities of the organization and the entire civil society sector, including mentioning possible investigation. The organization has made a public statement about the mistake, which we welcome. ISFED has been monitoring the fair conduct of elections in the country for 25 years and we hope that the organization will be able to continue this important activity in a safe environment and to inform the public about the causes and consequences of the above-mentioned shortcoming“, is noted in the statement.  Full statement... Source: hrht.ge

Tbilisi. IDFI calls on the Prime Minister to increase the subsidy for those repressed in the 2021 budget.  According to news released by the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information, in the near future, the Parliament of Georgia of the tenth convocation is going to vote for the draft law on the state budget of Georgia for 2021, submitted by the Government. The state budget still does not envisage increase of a GEL7 household allowance for those recognized as victims of political repression (hereinafter: those repressed). The organization once again calls on Giorgi Gakharia, the Prime Minister of Georgia, to make sure the Government of Georgia increases the household allowance for those repressed from GEL7 to GEL44 in the 2021 state budget. “This decision will a little bit, but still alleviate difficult economic situation of family members of those repressed that are in the age risk group, especially on the background of the pandemic, which is still in constant dynamics”, - is noted in the statement of the organization. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. USAID commends ISFED for taking the initiative to thoroughly review its parallel vote tabulation (PVT) data and transparently share the findings of its internal audit. “As a professional and reputable civil society organization with a responsibility to provide transparent information, ISFED undertakes its own data quality assurance processes to ensure the integrity of the findings as a standard practice. This is in accordance with international best practice when variance exists in PVT data. We support the efforts of all organizations and institutions involved in election monitoring to be as thorough and transparent as possible. We appreciate that ISFED has done so in this complex post-election environment”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page in the social network

Tbilisi. EU is proud to transfer a €60 million (GEL 240 million) grant to help Georgian citizens and businesses through the pandemic. Funds will contribute to the Government Anti-Crisis Economic Plan. More here... Source: EU’s page in the social network

Tbilisi. Tolerance and Diversity Institute (TDI) publishes the report: Freedom of Religion, Xenophobia, Rights of the Migrants. “The current year has been particularly problematic in Georgia in terms of human rights protection and equality. The Covid-19 pandemic and its consequences severely affected vulnerable groups. The current situation has highlighted a number of systemic problems in the human rights field. The state failed to ensure freedom of religion and belief for all, neglected equality between religious communities, and the separation of religion and the state. The ongoing pandemic intensified the hate speech, which was especially acute towards ethnic Azerbaijani and Muslim citizens. The coronavirus pandemic has further aggravated the social and human rights situation for migrants living in Georgia”, is noted in the report. Read more… Source: tdi.ge

Tbilisi. IDFI participated in the webinar organized by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The event provided a platform to generate open discussions and build capacity among relevant stakeholders on the potential of open data in enhancing good governance in public procurement. During the event IDFI discussed the system of public procurement in Georgia and the remaining challenges in regards to the availability of procurement-related information in open-data format. Read more… Source: The organization’s page in the social network

Tbilisi. The Human Rights Center has published a collection of analytical documents related to monitoring of supposedly politically motivated cases.  The collection contains 6 analytical documents prepared during 2020: Appraisal of ongoing criminal cases against Giorgi Ugulava; Legal analysis of criminal cases related to June 20-21, 2019 developments; Legal appraisal of ongoing criminal cases against Irakli Okruashvili; Legal analysis of the criminal case against Giorgi Rurua; Legal appraisal of the ongoing criminal case against Nika Gvaramia; Problems related to distance legal proceedings in the circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic and the state of emergency. See the collection in full... Source: The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. The Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) publishes a collection: Extractive crossings: Politics, ecology and social justice. “Authors of research articles worked using history, anthropology, social geography or political ecology methods, where the specifics of a local context and its connection with global processes were the main focus of the research. Taking into account the fact that the research direction of extractivism is itself based on interdisciplinary methodology and is not brought down to field or scientific specialization, knowledge, gathered also under this umbrella, is qualitatively rich and multifaceted”. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. The Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) publishes a report on a study: Labor relations and social protection during the pandemic. “Population of Georgia was extremely unprepared for the economic crisis entailed by the pandemic. The state policy was not determined while institutions were unable to provide systemic social assistance to affected individuals and families during the pandemic. An anti-crisis social policy, developed at the state level, did not appear sufficient to ensure social protection for people with a significantly reduced income or those left without income at all”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. On December 11-21, 2020, within USAID and UNAG’s #PITA Program, we are starting a Training for Trainers for a new cohort of the Mobile Task Force: Youth for Building Resilience - Promoting Media Literacy and Critical Thinking.  Read more… Source: The organization’s page in the social network

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia publishes the blogpost: Is Georgia a Captured State. “Georgian civil society organizations have talked about the problem of informal governance in Georgia for years. In 2018, this assessment was made even graver when international organizations also began to raise concern about democratic backsliding and signs of state capture. Evidence accumulated by the end of the second term of the Georgian Dream’s governance is sufficient to argue that corruption in Georgia has assumed the form of state capture. As it stands today, a single person keeps a firm grip on Georgia’s executive government that has been made free of democratic checks and balances through weak Parliamentary oversight and an unofficial pact of no interference and mutual support with an influential group of judges in complete control of the judiciary. Without holding any official position of public accountability, Bidzina Ivanishvili has successfully managed to place key Georgian public institutions, including ones supposed to be independent by law, in the service of his private business interests and security”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) has reviewed a draft budget of Georgia for 2021. “In the circumstances when it is expected to encounter 6% decrease in the economy and mentioned decrease has not been observed historically at such a minimal level since the 1990s (even during the 2008 war), it is particularly important to know how adequate and flexible steps of the Government in the part of social assistance of population are going to be”. The main findings of the research are high risk of lack of tax revenues in the budget, increase of the national debt, increase of administrative costs, high rate of social expenditures... Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. On December 8, 2020, the pre-session of the 3rd cycle of the UN Universal Periodic Review was held in a virtual format where the representatives of non-governmental organizations and the public defender’s office informed the Permanent Missions to the UN about the human rights situation in Georgia. The delegates also heard specific recommendations that are advisable to be received by Georgia from the representatives of respective countries. IDFI’s Head of Rule of Law and Human Rights Direction – Ketevan Kukava delivered a statement at the Pre-Session and highlighted the issues related to the administration of justice/fair trial and freedom of expression/access to information in Georgia. Ketevan Kukava also suggested specific recommendations that are necessary to be taken into account to eradicate existing shortcomings. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Georgian Democracy Initiative presents a report, which aims to provide a brief review of problems and challenges existing in Georgia in 2020 in terms of protection of human rights and freedoms. “The document contains a review of issues related to both civil as well as political rights and the rule of law. In the country, indicators of the degree of protection of both specific constitutional rights and the rule of law are primarily individual cases and developments, which reflect, on the one hand, the will and, on the other hand, the ability of the Government to fulfill its constitutional obligations. It is namely the review of individual cases/developments that a larger part of the document is devoted to”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: gdi.ge

Tbilisi. With the financial support of USAID/PROLoG, Ivane Javakhishvili State University has published a collection of 2020 articles – “Protection of human rights and democratic transformation of the state”. A collection of 2020 articles can be found here... Source: ewmi-prolog.org

Tbilisi. According to Government Defence Integrity (GDI) Index 2020, Georgia has received a score of 60 out of 100, placing it in the category of having a moderate risk of corruption in the field of defense.  In the document, published by Transparency International – Defence & Security (TI-DS) is said: "Georgia shares this risk category with 5 more countries from the Central and Eastern Europe region[1]: Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Bosnia, and Herzegovina and Northern Macedonia. Latvia has received the highest score – 67 (low risk) and Azerbaijan the lowest – 15 (critical risk)". Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. According to the appraisal of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, delegation of the authority by the Parliament of Georgia to the Government of Georgia to determine quarantine measures, leaving a number of vulnerable groups out of the anti-crisis plan of the Government, disregarding human rights in environmental decisions, appointment of judges of the Constitutional Court to their positions through non-transparent and unbalanced procedures, uncertainties in regard to publicness of criminal proceedings, carrying out the 2020 parliamentary elections with violations and other points were among problematic issues during the year. The organization positively appraises amendments made to the Labor Code of Georgia, which have somewhat improved labor rights of those employed. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

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