Tbilisi. The LEPL Public Service Development Agency (Agency) has drafted Policy Document and Action Plan on public service development, delivery, quality assurance and evaluation, which are planned to be submitted for approval to the Government in December 2020. In February 2020, the Agency submitted through e-mail the drafted documents to civil society representatives, including the Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information, and requested comments. IDFI submitted its views on the policy document and action plan to the Agency. Two of the six recommendations submitted by IDFI concerned the content of the documents: the need to set a specific objective and measures related to the enforcement mechanism and the issue of cooperation with municipalities. The rest of the IDFI comments served to ensure the pertinence of the goals, objectives and indicators. In October 2020, the Agency returned to IDFI the responses (paper of the notes) to the comments received, according to which neither of the two substantive comments submitted was accepted, and the comments submitted regarding the correct formulation of the objectives and indicators were agreed and taken into account by the Agency. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. The Human Rights Center monitored administrative proceeding of three activists of the Shame Civil Movement - Aleksi Machavariani, Nodar Rukhadze and Giorgi Mzhavanadze (founders and organizers of the rally) in the Tbilisi City Court. “According to the assessment of the Human Rights Center, the fact of violation of law by detainees could not be revealed through the evidences provided in the case. The decision of the court was not based on evidences collectively. The judge relied on testimonies of patrol inspectors, which were not supported by video evidences reflecting the fact of violation”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: humanrights.ge

Tbilisi. Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies publishes the organization’s research fellow’s Davit Batashvili’s blogpost: What Russia has Gained in Karabakh “The Russian contingent in Karabakh is a key that Moscow can use to allow or forbid Armenians and Azerbaijanis to hurt one another. There should be no doubt that this crucial lever will be employed by the Russians in their relations with both sides. Russia’s quest to dominate its neighborhood has not gone anywhere and the South Caucasus is a part of it”. Read more… Source: www.gfsis.org

Tbilisi. Part of civil society organizations of Georgia responds to dispersal of a rally of Namakhvani HPP construction opponents that was performed using police force. “While local population, society and field specialists have a number of critical conclusions and questions related to legality of construction of the HPP, as well as its extremely high impact and risks, construction of a large-scale energy project is carried out opaquely and without obstruction, neglecting these questions and opinions. The Government applies repressive methods in response to concerns and peaceful protests of local population and attempts to suppress protests of locals via police force, thus grossly violating fundamental rights of project-affected population”, - is stated on the website of the organization in a social network. Read more… Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. The Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies publishes a blog post by Kakha Gogolashvili, the organization's chief researcher: What Armenia Did and Did not Lose as a Result of the Ceasefire Declaration in Karabakh  “To conclude, we can point out that the outbreak of hysteria in Armenia, accusing Prime Minister Pashinyan of making a “treasonous deal” and equating the result to a “catastrophe,” is incorrect. This is a panic reaction of the society caused by confusion and an insufficient understanding of the results. In reality, Armenia has managed to conclude the situation with relatively small setbacks if one can say this considering that thousands of soldiers and civilians have died. However, when I say this, I am speaking about political outcomes. As for the long-term humanitarian consequences, they may turn out to be beneficial for Armenia as opening up roads and other communications of regional importance, which the declaration entails, will bring significant economic and social benefits for Armenia if actually implemented”, - is said in the organization's website.  Read more...  Source: www.gfsis.org

Tbilisi. Today, on November 16th, the world celebrates International Day for Tolerance. Initiated by the UNESCO, this day is observed since 1995 as a reminder of the importance to promote tolerance, and the need for respect, dialogue, and cooperation between cultures and civilizations. “#USAID’s #PITA program intends to implement diverse activities within the Tolerance Week, including youth micro grants and exchange programs dedicated to the tolerance and diversity, a video campaign “Tolerance IS…” and awareness raising campaigns by the PITA’s youth network across 13 municipalities of Georgia”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page in the social network

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) responds to a protest of the disaster affected local community of the Tsablana village and calls on the Government of Adjara to ensure realization of the right of disaster-affected families to adequate housing immediately. “Currently, population of the Tsablana village, like a large part of Adjara eco-migrants, live in “bifurcated” circumstances. Due to the fact that population do not possess sufficient funds to bring their apartments, received in Batumi, to suitable for living condition, they continue to live in their old houses in villages, which are actually located in a life-threatening area. As a result of construction works of the “Adjaristskali” HPP, a part of the village springs have dried up, which fact further complicated the already less useful for the village agriculture. Thus, the local community is forced to live in a life-threatening zone, difficult social conditions and poverty”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. On May 7 and June 12, 2020, the Deputy Public Defender and members of the Special Preventive Group paid special visits to the Center for Mental Health and Prevention of Addiction Ltd. The purpose of the visits was to study the measures taken by the institution to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus and their impact on the patients’ rights. “The facility took certain measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus. However, even after the approval of the state standard for the management of the clinical condition in psychiatric institutions under the conditions of COVID 19, the institution did not fully implement a number of recommendations provided by the standard”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. The Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC), within the framework of the USAID/Georgia Good Governance Initiative (GGI Georgia), has conducted a study: COVID-19 epidemic - Is response adequate to danger? Is lockdown a solution?.. Did restrictive measures protect countries from the epidemic? What were the consequences of the strict lockdown policy in the areas of healthcare and economy? The answers to these questions can be found in the publication... Read more… Source: The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) responds to the fact of fining Mamuka Diakonidze, a homeless man, by the patrol police on November 10, during curfew. The organization calls on the Ministry to stop applying repressive measures against homeless groups living on the streets and instead take all measures to engage social and municipal services in order to provide them with shelter. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) disputed against 38 precincts in court in regard to the issue of legality of summary protocols of Precinct Election Commissions and data recounting. According to the organization, out of all appeals on contested precincts, the court satisfied only 12. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Kakheti. It's been 21 years since Qedeli community was established. „We would like to present you a small book, to take you to the journey, community had been gone through during these period of time. The book is dedicated to the memory of one of the community members Levan LIparteliani. Qedeli community is deeply grateful to all the people who had been supporting and contributing to its development for the 21 years“.  The Book... Source: The organization’s page in the social network

Zemo-Svaneti. Within the funded project “Let’s Clean Svaneti Together!”, Upper Svaneti Local Action Group (LAG Upper Svaneti) held clean up campaigns in the communities of Mestia municipality: Nakra, Mulakhi Tsvirmi, Kala and Ipari on November 10 and 11. Two waste bins and information boards were installed on each location. ““Let’s Clean Svaneti Together!” – is one of the winning initiatives of the Contest for Volunteering Initiatives announced by the Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC). The campaign which aims to reduce environmental pollution and encourage the participation of youth in volunteering activities is implemented within the “Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative” project”. ”Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative” 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: The organization’s page in the 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...

Tbilisi. Myth Detector publishes a blog post: Do face masks protect us against coronavirus infection? An article, published by News Front Georgia, refers to a FB user post and contains such conspiracies and disinformation as: COVID-19 is a flu type virus and the global pandemic is an artificial process designed to reduce population. “In reality: 1) wearing face masks significantly reduces the risk of virus transmission; 2) COVID-19 is not a flu type virus and it is a much more acute infection; 3) assertion that the pandemic serves to reduce population lacks evidences and is a conspiracy theory”. Read more… Source: www.mythdetector.ge

Tbilisi. ”Social Entrepreneurship Forum” is an annual event and this year it will be conducted on November 19, the International Day of Social Entrepreneurship. One of the supporters of the Social Entrepreneurship Forum 2020 is the Civil Society Institute. To take part in the forum, please register at... Source: The website of Social Enterprise Alliance in a social network

Tbilisi. Europe Foundation supports the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression. The Foundation calls upon the authorities to refrain from restricting these rights and to prevent further escalation of the situation. The organization joins public demand to conduct negotiations between the ruling party and other political subjects, participating in the elections, thus seeking a constructive way to defuse current political situation and ensure further stable, democratic development of the country. Read more… Source: www.epfound.ge

Tbilisi. “Bloggers from Zemo Racha” is one of the volunteer initiatives that won the "Ideas Competition for Voluntary Initiatives" announced by the Center for Education Development and Employment (EDEC) in the frameworks of the program “Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative”. Within the initiative, the initiative group from Upper Racha invites young people from Oni municipality aged 15-18 to take part in a program “Bloggers from Upper Racha”. The program aims to assist vulnerable groups, promote their integration into society, support formal and non-formal education, address local community issues, and promote volunteering”. The program “Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative” 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: The organization’s page in the social network

Tbilisi. Public Defender releases the special statement on freedom of expression and quarantine measures. "In a democratic society, members of society should have the opportunity to express their views on any restrictions, including to argue, through assembly and demonstration, about the lawfulness, effectiveness and appropriateness of the restrictions imposed for the purpose of protecting public health. It is exactly this type of opportunity that distinguishes a democratic state from an undemocratic one. In view of the above, the Public Defender calls on the state authorities to respect the freedom of expression of demonstrators and to refrain from sanctioning them for violating the regulations that prohibit movement in cities from 22:00 to 05:00". Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) publishes a blog post: The Overview of the Memory Politics of Georgia. In this report, IDFI discussed the memory politics of independent Georgia since 1991, achievements and challenges in the three basic directions – legal dimension, institutional dimension, and memorial dimension. Based on the report, it can be argued that there are challenges in the three directions.  “First of all, one of the most important challenges is that 80% of KGB documents were destroyed during the Tbilisi Civil War, which makes the full-scale lustration almost impossible in Georgia. Moreover, the assumption that part of the archives may still be preserved in Russia should be considered. This could possess particular threats for Georgia within the context of tense relations between Russia and Georgia”, - is mentioned in the report.  Read more…  Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. During the COVID-19 pandemic, European governments urged their citizens to stay at home by reviewing material prepared under the Women’s Information Center project. European governments urged their citizens to stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Isolation was a necessity to prevent the spread of the virus. It is important to know what this decision meant for many women and children. People experiencing domestic violence paid the highest fees for public health care. European countries responded differently while fighting against the virus, however, most of them decided to impose isolation in March 2020. From that moment on, there have started talks not only about the COVID-19 pandemic but also about the domestic violence pandemic”... Read more…  Source: ginsc.net

Tbilisi. “Rights Georgia” conducted an individual survey of journalists and cameramen affected by the November 8 rally. The survey gives an impression that in some cases water cannons have been applied by law enforcers to target specifically media representatives. The organization considers that there are signs of a crime defined by the Criminal Code of Georgia, which entails the responsibility for unlawful interference in professional activities of a journalist.  Read more… Source: The website of the organization in a social network