Tbilisi. Public Defender Nino Lomjaria met with family members of deceased programmer Tamar Bachaliashvili and their lawyer. According to the Public Defender, she is ready to be involved in the examination of the case and to explore the criminal case materials together with the lawyer of the family. The Public Defender also plans to meet with Prosecutor General Irakli Shotadze and hear answers to questions around the case personally from him. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. An electronic card, prepared by the “Network of Centers for Civic Engagement”, contains information on forms of violence, free public services for victims of domestic violence, state policy against violence, 112 and SAFE YOU mobile applications. “In January-May 2020, 112 received 7729 notifications regarding family conflicts”. Read more… Source:The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. The “Salam” platform successfully continues to document endangered Ibero-Caucasian languages that are common in Georgia. “We would like to inform you that the #Salam platform, with the financial support of the Endangered Language Fund operating in the USA, creates an audio/video archive of languages. This year, with the support of the Fund, we started establishment of an archive of critically endangered Tsovatushetian and Udi languages. Data, collected within the framework of the project, will be provided to all interested parties in the form of supporting material. As part of the linguistic expedition, scientists are currently visiting the village of Zemo Alvani, populated by Tushetians of the Tsovati community, where active recording of Tsovatushetian texts is performed. Today they were at the pasture of Tsovatushetians in #Tbatana, 2000-2300 meters above sea level. We hereby share photos from our expedition”, - 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 submitted its opinion of a “Friend of the Court” in regard to the case – “N(N)LE Political Union of Citizens “New Political Center”, Herman Sabo, ZurabGirchiJaparidze and Ana Chikovani v. the Parliament of Georgia” tothe Constitutional Court. “The Constitutional Court will review the case on September 2. The plaintiff disputes constitutionality of the norm of the Electoral Code, which requires a political party to have every fourth candidate in its proportional representation list filled by a representative of an opposite sex (for example, if the first three in the list aremen, the fourth candidate must necessarily be a woman). The plaintiff considers that this article contradicts the right to free elections guaranteed by Article 24 of the Constitution”. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International - Georgia considers that supporting a new legislative initiative on anti-corruption reform will significantly increase effectiveness of fight against corruption. “International practice proves that independent anti-corruption service is an effective mechanism of fight against systemic corruption. This model has been successfully implemented in many European countries. The proposed reform implies qualitative improvement of theanti-corruption policyof the country; it is especially important that it will enable real investigation of cases of so called “elite corruption” and their prevention”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source:transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia addressed Irene Khan, newly appointed UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, as well asHarlem Désir, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, in regard to developments ongoing atAdjara TV. In the sent letters, the Public Defender of Georgia provides people, having the mentioned mandate,with information regarding violations revealed as a result of investigation of developments ongoing at the TV Company, which violations pose threat to the media pluralism,existing in the country, and have negative impact on freedom of expression. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Web portal of civil society organizations' will resume its activities in September… The web portal of civil society organizations' - www.csogeorgia.org – conveys feelings of gratitude to its users and says them goodbye. The portal will resume the activities in September. Stay in touch with us, we will be back soon…

Adjara. The Democracy Research Institute conducted one-day training on the basic principles of juvenile justice on 15 August in Batumi. Trainer was Maia Nasrashvili. “The training was conducted in the framework of the project - Cooperation for Improvement of Juvenile Justice Standards. The project is being implemented with the financial support of EU/UNDP joint initiative COBERM”. Read more… Source: Organization’s page 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...

Tbilisi. In the wake of a sharp spike up in COVID-19 cases in Abkhazia, signatory civil society organizations call on the Government of Georgia to further enhance humanitarian and medical assistance to Abkhazia. “In our opinion, in response to the current crisis in Abkhazia, it is important to have the Government of Georgia and our society show visible steps of solidarity in support of the Abkhazia region. Besides the inherent purpose of demonstrating supremacy of human life and humanism, these steps have significant political potential of reconciliation and transformation of the conflict”. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. A platform On.ge prepared an article with the support of the East-West Management Institute (EWMI ACCESS): Hundreds of people died due to disinformation spread on COVID 19.  “The coronavirus pandemic has been followed by an infodemic in the world - the term refers to a crisis caused by spread of fake news. In the first three months of 2020, at least 800 people died worldwide due to spread of fake news in regard to the coronavirus. Most of them died as a result of drinking methanol and alcohol-based cleansers. While about 5800 people were hospitalized”. Read more… Source: The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. According to news released by the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information, on August 14, the Bureau of the Supreme Council of Adjara approved the first Action Plan of the Supreme Council Open Government for 2020-2021. “The Action Plan aims at increasing civic engagement and access to information, enhancement of accountability, as well as introduction of innovations and technologies within the Supreme Council”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. On August 14, the Civil Society Institute (CSI) conducted its 16th meeting and, thus, concluded awarding of winners of a high school seniors competition “This Country is Yours” as well as meetings with young people in regions. Awarding of winning teams from Tbilisi is going to be held in September. The last stage of the competition is a super final, in which one team from each region, including Tbilisi, will take part. The super finale envisages gathering for 2-3 days, interesting meetings, as well as quizzes and will be planned in accordance with the epidemic situation. The competition “This country is yours” was carried out throughout the country and about 150 teams participated in it. The winning students and their curator-teachers were given laptops, face masks, maps, notebooks, and an almanac “Freedom, Justice and Democracy in Georgian Thought” as gifts... Public meetings with young people were conducted by well-known writers, publishers, journalists and education experts. They talked about civic values, activities of civil society organizations, civic responsibility, activism and education. The social campaign “This Country is Yours” is carried out within the framework of the “Civil Society Sustainability Initiative” project, implemented by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) in collaboration with the Civil Society Institute (CSI), the Center for Training and Consultancy (CTC), the Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG) and the Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC). The project is funded by the European Union and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

Tbilisi. UN Women presents the Country Gender Equality Profile of Georgia, which includes the gender equality indicators and the review of the local legislation and the policy framework against Georgia’s international commitments. The Country Gender Equality Profile (CGEP) represents a guide to assess the existing situation regarding women’s empowerment and gender equality. The CGEP describes and analyses the present situation in Georgia mainly based on the indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), while at the same time considering the BPfA and CEDAW frameworks. Read more… Source: georgia.unwomen.org

With the support of USAID, the Georgia Red Cross Society delivered 270 food and 270 hygiene parcels to the local people of Mestia. In order to reduce the risk of infection, the locals were informed about hygiene rules and preventive measures as well. This humanitarian aid is intended for older people aged 70 or over, who live alone. The Georgia Red Cross Society has already distributed more than 100,000 parcels of basic necessities throughout the country. Read more… Source: The organization’s page in the social network

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia responds to imposition of an obligation of non-disclosure on the defense party in the case of murder of Giorgi Shakarashvili. The Public Defender considers that unjustified imposition of an obligation of non-disclosure on the defense party in a given situation may entail violation of the right to equality of the parties. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. The Public Defender presented a special report for the first time this year, which contains a detailed evaluation of the status of implementation of tasks assigned to state agencies by the resolution of the Parliament of September 20, 2019 on the basis of the 2018 report of the Public Defender of Georgia on the state of human rights and freedoms in Georgia. The Public Defender addressed state agencies and local self-government bodies with 310 recommendations listed in the 2018 parliamentary report. The Parliament of Georgia considered about 78% (244 recommendations) of these recommendations and issued 259 tasks to ensure their implementation. Read more… Source: The website of the organization  

Imereti. Local Democracy Agency Georgia held a consultative meeting with representatives of civil society organizations, in Bagdati and Oni Municipalities. The meeting held within the framework of the project "Civil Society Development Initiative" and it’s purpose of the meeting was to provide these groups with information about the project activities as well as consultations. The project "Civil Society Development Initiative" is implemented in partnership with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), Civil Society Institute (CSI), Training and Consulting Center (CTC), Georgia's Strategic Research and Development Center (CSRDG) and the Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC). Read more…  Source: The page in the social network

Tbilisi. Is sport linked with politics? Should we separate sport and politics? What connections are there between sport and politics? - These are the issues that the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) touches upon in its publication – “Russian sport and politics”. “Sport and politics are significantly linked to each other in the history of both contemporary and Soviet Russia. If the Soviet Union used sport to assert its superiority over the West and improve the reputation of the Soviet regime on an international level, the contemporary regime of Putin uses sport for several purposes: first of all, Putin associates his image with victory and power through sporting events and relevant propaganda; besides, such large-scale events as the Olympic Games and the World Cup are used by the Putin regime to rebrand its image internationally, on the one hand, while on the other hand, to consolidate Russian people at the time when there are serious socio-economic problems in the country; at the same time, there are influential businessmen from the entourage of Putin, who get actively involved in the sports field, control most of the sports clubs and organizations, and use them to enact various corruption schemes. Consequently, it can be noted that separation of sport from politics is virtually impossible in both contemporary and Soviet Russia. Russia still remains a state where business, crime, sport and politics are closely intertwined with each other”, - is stated in the publication. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Kakheti. In Pankisi, Jokolo village, Rondeli Foundation organized an award ceremony for the "My World" project participants. The students, who actively participated in the project, read magazines, took quizzes and engaged in the discussions were given special prizes.  The project, My World has been implemented by GFSIS since 2013 aimed at increasing development opportunities of youth from vulnerable communities and strengthening the affiliation with the Georgian State. The project is implemented in the vulnerable communities of Georgia - Pankisi, Mountainous Guria and Adjara, IDP communities of Zugdidi and Tserovani.  Read more…   Source: The web-page if the organization

Tbilisi. International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) informs about one more organized network operating on Facebook. Since the run-up to the 2018 presidential elections, ISFED has been monitoring behavior of websites operating against both opposition and ruling parties on Facebook. Two large-scale operations, carried out by Facebook against Georgian websites, groups and accounts, confirmed links that these websites have with both “Georgian Dream”, the ruling party, and “United National Movement”, an opposition party. With the 2020 parliamentary elections approaching, there can also be observed a large-scale campaign in favor of one more party - the “Alliance of Patriots of Georgia” on Facebook. It is noteworthy that this network, along with the positive campaign carried out in favor of the “Alliance of Patriots”, leads a clearly negative, discrediting activity against both the ruling party and, especially, other opposition parties”, - is stated in the information released by ISFED. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

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...