Samtskhe-Javakheti. At the initiative of the Akhaltsikhe Civic Engagement Center,a discussion was organized on August 15 in its conference hall on - "Violence shouldnot  be  a  method  of  parenting,  let's  protect  children  from  domestic  violence".Psychologists,  lawyers,  civil  society  members,  teachers  and  the  specialists  ofinclusive education have attended the meeting. What is domestic violence; forms ofdomestic  violence;  what  should  be  done  to  prevent  domestic  violence  –representative of CSO "Union of Meskhetian Women" has discussed these topics.Along with the field specialists, youngsters have also been involved in the meetingand  the  question-and-answer  discussion.  Participants  have  brought  examples  ofviolence and expressed the opinion that as a first priority, the population must beaware of which behavior is considered as violence, as this will raise awareness onone's own rights and increase appeals to relevant authorities.

Kakheti.  The  Community  Union  of  Georgia  has  organized  a  meeting  in  Telavi,attended by the members of the Community Union operating across Kakheti, headsof the regional offices and the chiefs of the revision commissions. As the Head ofthe Business Projects Unit of the Community Union of Georgia Giorgi Amisulashvilihas stated,  the meeting aimed at searching for  ways of  solution of  agricultural,economic and other problems. He added also that apart from the meeting, CSOmembers  were  provided  with  training  in  project  drafting,  and  processing  andimplementation of business ideas

Adjara.  At the initiative of CSO "Progress",  the interns of the Health and Social Affairs Commission of  the self-governing city Batumi's Sakrebulo have visited on August 13 together with the Head of the Commission Dimitry Darchia the municipal canteens on the balance of the Social Service Agency. The visit aimed to get the interns of the Batumi Sakrebulo familiar with the functioning of canteens.Youngsters have visited all five canteens, got familiar on the spot with the situation,service conditions, number of beneficiaries, food ration, etc.Interns have focused on the volume of demand for the services of a "free canteen",caused by a grave social background in the city. Youngsters hope that in the future the self-government will dedicate more attention to the solution of this problem, and accordingly more funds will be allocated from the budget to resolve this issue.

Samtskhe-Javakheti.  A  meeting  was  organized  in  the  Akhaltsikhe  CivicEngagement Center as part of the Youth Week. The Week was organized by theorganization World Vision and the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs of Georgia. Atthe  meeting  attended  by  the  civil  sector  representatives  and  the  youth,representatives of the Ministry and the Children and Youth Development Fund havediscussed  issues  of  concern  to  the  youth.  According  to  the  organizers,  variousactivities are being organized across the country as part of the Week. The meetingaimed  to  exchange  information  between  the  non-governmental  sector  and  thestate, as well as to take into account the interests of the youth by the state as wellas the civil sector. It was clearly demonstrated that it is planned to launch youth-focused programs from the start of a new education year.

Tbilisi.  "Transparency International  -  Georgia"  has published a blog post  -  "Thesystem of remuneration of expenses borne for discharge of powers by the Sakrebulomembers requires improvement". For  the  full  text Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi.  Religious  unions  affiliated  in  the  Religious  Council  functioning  with  thePublic Defender have released a statement. "We are concerned over the violence,persecution  and  physical  destruction  of  the  peaceful  Yazidi  population  by  theterrorist groups (ISIS) in Iraq. ... Persecuting people because of a different faith oropinion is totally impermissible. We condemn all  violence and conflicts and warswaged in the name of religion, because we firmly believe religion can be the source of tolerance and peace only", says the statement. For the full text Source: www.tolerantoba.ge

Adjara.  The  Civil  Society  Institute  and  the  Civil  Development  Agency  have organized  a  discussion  on  August  13  in  the  Batumi  Civic  Engagement  Center,concerning the issues that  those interested in going and working in Turkey and Greece must know definitely in order for them to fully protect their rights. Meeting participants have discussed the problems of illegal migration to Turkey and Greece as well, and a documentary was also shown.Youngsters from Batumi in Khulo Adjara. Members of the "Batumi Youth Center" have visited the Khulo Youth Center in connection with the International Youth Day. Short films on youth problems were shown, followed by a discussion.The visit was carried out as part of the project "Advancing National Integration in Georgia",  implemented by  the  UN Association of  Georgia  (UNAG),  with  financial support of the US Agency for International Development. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Adjara. Members of the "Batumi Youth Center" have visited the Khulo Youth Centerin connection with the International Youth Day. Short films on youth problems wereshown, followed by a discussion.The visit was carried out as part of the project "Advancing National Integration inGeorgia",  implemented by  the  UN Association of  Georgia  (UNAG),  with  financialsupport of the US Agency for International Development. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Samtskhe-Javakheti.  The  Georgian  Red  Cross  Society  has  organized  aninternational  camp  in  borough  Bakuriani  on  August  1-10,  with  support  of  theAustrian Red Cross and the EU Fund "Erasmus +".Austria,  Azerbaijan,  Belarus,  Germany,  Armenia  and  Georgia  -  youngrepresentatives of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies from six countries havegathered  in  the  camp.  Over  10  days  they  were  participating  in  various  eventsfocused on climate change. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. The Tbilisi Human Rights House and its member organizations have released a statement. "We are concerned with unprecedented punitive measures applied by the Azerbaijani authorities against human rights activists and organizations. ... We urge the Council of Europe and members of the Committee of Ministers to undertake relevant measures so that the Azerbaijani authorities respect and observe obligations taken under the ECHR, as well as other international treaties and agreements", says the statement. For the full text Source: article42.ge

Tbilisi. The Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center has reacted to an amendment made to the 5 December 2000 Order of the Minister of Labor, Health and Social Welfare of Georgia "on the Provision of Operative Information from Medical Institutions to the Agencies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs". For the full text Source: emc.org.ge

Samtskhe-Javakheti. Representatives of the Government of Georgia and the UN Development Program have participated in restoration of the scorched forest in Borjomi. They have visited preparatory reforestation works in village Daba. The forest in Borjomi scorched during the August 2008 war is being restored since 2013. The initiative is implemented with support of the Government of Georgia, Government of Finland and the UN Development Program (UNDP).

Tbilisi. Transparency International - Georgia has published Gigi Chikhladze's blog post - "What will the new regulation on awarding bonuses in civil service be like". For the full text Source: transparency.ge

Samtskhe-Javakheti. At the joint initiative of the Caucasus Environmental NGO Network (CENN), the Ministry of Nature and Natural Resources of Georgia and the National Forestry Agency, the priorities and action plans of the National Forestry Program were discussed in the Samtskhe-Javakheti Regional Administration.

Tbilisi. A photo exhibition - Regional Youth for Promoting Informal Education - was held on August 12 in the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs as part of the Youth Week. After the exhibition the management of the Ministry, LEPL Children and Youth Development Fund and World Vision Georgia have held a conference on specifics of partnership between the state and the non-governmental sector.

Tbilisi. The UN Development Program invites all interested parties to participate in the online survey concerning the minority-related issues in Georgia. The survey. Source: UNDP Georgia

Tbilisi. The Women's Information Center has released the Georgian translation of final recommendations of the Committee for Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The document was presented based on Georgia's fourth and fifth integrated periodic report."We hope getting familiar with these recommendations will be interesting and useful for your future activities aimed at protecting women's rights and gender balance", says the organization's page in the social network. For the full text. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Mtskheta-Mtianeti. Representatives of CSO "Stepantsminda" and the Polish organization "Civis Polonius" have started implementing a joint project in the Kazbegi Municipality. A training in the "Youth leaders' academy" was delivered on August 4-8 with participation of youngsters from various villages of the Kazbegi Municipality. Main objective of the training was to share the Polish experience on the importance and role of the youth councils. Key function of the youth councils will be the participation in various ongoing processes within the Municipality, solution of problems of the youth and implementation of new ideas. A meeting was organized as part of the training with representatives of the local authorities. At the meeting the youngsters have asked the Municipality Gamgebeli (local governor) and the Sakrebulo (local council) Chair about issues of concern to them. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Imereti. The Georgian Young Lawyers' Association has organized a summary meeting as part of the project "Be Active and Participate in Decision-Making Process". A discussion over identification of Tskaltubo's infrastructural problems and ways of their solution involved leading officials of local authorities, as well as members of the Sakrebulo, CSO representatives, employees of the single-seat MP's bureau, ordinary residents of Tskaltubo and media representatives. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Adjara. Trainings in "Small Business Management" are underway in CSO "Deserving Old Age" as part of the project "Resource Center for the Elderly". Trainings aim to engage the aged in a small business and promote their participation in a labor market and economic empowerment.Trainings were delivered to up to 50 beneficiaries, and majority of them will receive small grants. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. The Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information has organizeda round table - "Switchover of Georgia's Regional and Local Broadcasters to a DigitalBroadcasting Platform - urgent issues and challenges".At  the  round  table  the  representatives  of  regional  broadcasters,  the  GeorgianNational  Communications  Commission  and  companies  providing  necessaryequipment  for  digital  broadcasting  have discussed problematic  issues  related toswitchover of regional televisions to digital broadcasting. For the full text. Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. CSO Identoba has published a blog post - "Who visits Identoba's web page and why?". "identoba.com exists for three years now. During this period the number ofvisitors of the web page from Georgia and many countries globally has exceeded million. ... Taking into account the current data and counting the daily, monthly and annual statistics, Identoba's most readers are from Georgia", says the blog post. For the full text. Source: identoba.com