Tbilisi. According to the TI Georgia the individual entrepreneur Alexander Khergiani who was the Deputy Head of the Municipal Administration of Mestia received 243,034 GEL from the Mestia Municipality procurements.   “Alexander Khergiani is a business partner of the Deputy Mayor of Mestia Neli Naveriani’s son, in Hatsvali 2015 LLC (https://bit.ly/3lphQQU). Neli Naveriani is the spouse of the Majority MP Viktor Japaridze’s cousin. TI Georgia calls on the Anti-Corruption Agency to examine each procurement and establish whether it contains potential signs of corruption or not”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. UNICEF shares an informational blogpost about a panic attack. “A panic attack is an intense feeling of fear and anxiety. It often happens if people feel anxious about something happening in their life or have experienced something difficult or stressful. Panic attacks can feel very frightening, especially for children, but they can usually be stopped with treatment. It’s important to know that a panic attack won’t cause any harm and, even if it may not feel it during an attack, the feeling will pass”. Read more… Source: www.unicef.org

Kvemo Kartli. Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC) and Kvemo Kartli Regional Hub, organized another workshop for the members of the Bolnisi Youth Council on the topic "Local Self-Government Budget and its Monitoring", the aim of the workshop was to raise awareness of the Youth Council representatives on the peculiarities of the formation and functioning of the local self-government budget, planning, and execution of the self-government budget and monitoring issues. Find out more... Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. According to the TI Georgia, Martin Gabrieliani, who has held various public positions in Akhalkalaki Municipality since 2013, receives state procurements. Since August 2019, his company Megobroba-5 LLC has received 36 public procurements and signed contracts for 1,390,861 GEL. Whence, his company received 667,186 GEL (47.9%) from the Akhalkalaki budget through 21 procurements. “Transparency International Georgia calls on the Anti-Corruption Agency of the State Security Service to examine state procurements of Megobroba-5 LLC and establish whether there were possible corrupt deals between it and the procuring organizations”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. 20 young women peacebuilders from all over the world were in Georgia for a four-day meeting.  Supporting leading women's organizations from conflict and post-conflict countries to build peace, strengthening the leadership skills of young women peacebuilders, and developing their capacities - peacebuilders selected from 4,500 applicants joined the pilot program. Read more… Source: ginsc.net

Tbilisi. Civil society and community organisations are responding to the attack on MP Tariel Nakaidze and believe that “this attack is directed not only against an individual politician but aims to discredit the human rights work in general and harm the human rights condition of minorities in Georgia”. “Unlike the MPs supporting the Russian Law, Tariel Nakaidze often uses the Parliament tribune for defending human rights and discussing the challenges of religious and ethnic minorities, women and LGBTQI persons. Minority rights protection is part of those European values that are strongly protected in the EU and are an organic part of our traditions. The hate speech and politics of hatred promoted by government representatives, besides being against democratic values and the spirit of human rights, irreversibly deepen political polarisation and harms pluralism and diversity”. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge Photo: IPN

Samtskhe-Javakheti. The US Embassy in Tbilisi opened another American space in Georgia. “We are glad that now we can offer many resources and activities to the people of Akhalkalaki. All over the world, American spaces are places for learning and gathering open to all. The American corner of Akhalkalaki is now proudly represented in the English language classroom of Public School #3”. Read more… Source: The U.S. Embassy’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Coalition for an Independent and Transparent Judiciary calls on the Georgian parliament. “We call on the Parliament of Georgia to recognize the existing problems in the judiciary and, by taking into account the recommendations of the Venice Commission, to promptly start the fundamental reform of the judicial system, which will contribute to the fulfillment of the European Commission’s twelve recommendations”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Civil society organizations address to EU Commissioner Varhey. “Taking into account that part of civil society is involved in the process of monitoring the implementation of the recommendations, we ask for the interim evaluation to be public and accessible to the stakeholders, including the civil society of the country. Public accessibility of the mid-term evaluation of the European Commission will ensure the transparency of the process, enable the active participation of civil society in it, and significantly contribute to the effective supervision of the implementation of the priorities”, is noted in the joint statement. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on 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...

On March 17-19, 2023, Anton Vatcharadze, Memory and Disinformation studies direction head at the Institute for Development of Freedom of information attended the “On the Bridge of Memory” conference organized by Esimde, an international memory research organization, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The conference centered around two core themes: memory and decolonization. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Welcome to UNDER 30', the podcast series by the EU-Council of Europe youth partnership that brings research results, explores trends in young people's lives and themes relevant for youth policy and practice. The EU-CoE youth partnership is a co-operation programme between the European Commission and the Council of Europe in the field of youth, created in 1998, connecting youth research, policy and practice. Read more… Source: eu-coe-youth-partnership.transistor.fm

Tbilisi. According to the TI Georgia the manner in which the Georgian government reaches decisions remains opaque. “In 2022, the Government of Georgia considered 372 draft decrees at 47 meetings. None of these decrees have been made public. 40% of government decrees issued in 2022 – 150 out of 372 – dealt with the transfer of state property to concrete entities, which contains clear corruption risks. The government's failure to release documents and respond to public information requests constitutes a violation of at least three laws”. Read more... Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center shares the analytical document: Another Attempt to Reform the Judiciary - Analysis of the Parliamentary Working Group and the Draft Law. “The recommendations issued by the European Commission for Georgia in the summer of 2022 created an important opportunity for the systemic refinement of the judicial system. Unfortunately, due to the lack of political will, this opportunity was not used effectively once again. The working group in the Parliament created only an illusory opportunity for civic engagement and in-depth discussions on judicial reforms. Despite the opportunity for formal engagement of CSOs, Public defenders, and professional groups in the activities of the working group, not a single recommendation made by them, directed to systemic changes, or to the assessment of existing problems in the court, was shared by the parliamentary majority. Moreover, rarely were these initiatives even the subject of genuine analysis and debate. Against this background, it is logical that the reform strategy developed by the working group does not even minimally address the systemic challenges in the judicial system. The package of legislative changes prepared on the basis of the mentioned strategy envisages fragmented, façade changes, which cannot be the source of hope for substantive refinement of the judicial system”. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

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. According to the U.S. Embassy in Georgia, a Georgian student, studying in America through the FLEX exchange program, was selected as “student of the month” from among hundreds of participants across the world.  “Mariam Kurdadze was chosen for her high academic performance, volunteerism, and for showing exceptional enthusiasm in sharing her country's Culture”. Read more… Source: The U.S. Embassy’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Salome Kenchiashvili, is the winner of the first scholarship of the Maro Makashvili Award, which is provided by the Gurulian Diary Fund. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Guria. The Members of the "Young Pedagogues Union" leadership school and youth center met the first deputy mayor of Ozurgeti municipality, Giorgi Ghurjumelidze. Adults talked about the needs in their communities: Inadequate schedule of internal traffic and the need for preferential rates for students; Environmental issues and the absence of garbage bunkers in villages; Homeless dogs multiplying on the school territory and in the streets; Dysfunctional and dilapidated buildings and related dangers; Safe access to public schools and kindergartens. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Women participating in the Women's Economic Empowerment project conducted a SWOT analysis of the activities of self-help groups. “According to the analysis, self-confidence, teamwork, opportunity to attend trainings, sharing of ideas and active involvement in public activities were highlighted in the strengths, while limited financial resources, lack of equipment, limited internet and stereotypical attitudes prevailed in the threatening conditions”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. According to the Public Defender's assessment, at the time of the warning made by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia in the evening hours of March 7, 2023, the assembly had a peaceful character and there was no reason to terminate it or use force against it. “As for the cases of violence by individual participants in the rally, if there were any, individual - necessary and proportionate measures should have been taken against them. Contrary to this, the law enforcement officers started using special equipment against the participants in the assembly, including peaceful demonstrators, which contradicts the standard of necessary and proportionate interference with the right”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Samegrelo. On March 8-9, within the UN Women and Jepra partnership, in Tsalenjikha and Zugdidi, Jepra's consultants conducted a “Branding and Communication” training for women farmers.  Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Rondeli Foundation in cooperation with the Eesti Diplomaatide Kool/Estonian School of Diplomacy has commenced the “Training Program for Georgia's Future Civil Service Leaders”. “The 4-month long study program aims to support Georgia’s civil servants on the career ladder by deepening their knowledge and enhancing their skills in the field of security and policy analysis”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network