Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia continues to scrutinize the activities of the bureaus of the AAR majority candidates elected to the Parliament of Georgia. "Although the Bureaus of the majority MPs were able to identify the problems persisting in the region during a year and a half of their operation, not one of them has submitted to Parliament a legislative initiative or amendments over that period to resolve the issues". For the full text Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center has released a legal analysis of religious confrontation reported in Terjola. "Few days before the self-government elections, local Orthodox Christians in the town of Terjola, guided by the clerics, have protested against the construction of place for religious assembly by the Jehovah witnesses. Similar to other religious conflicts identified in Georgia earlier, the local authorities have displayed unfair loyalty towards the majority and suspended lawful construction by the illegal and unjustified decision. ... The expression of religious violence by the dominant religious group and clerics has turned into a certain trend." For the full text. Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. On June 25 "Internews-Georgia" has presented summary results of media monitoring project "Monitoring of Regional Televisions - Self-Government Elections 2014". The project included monitoring of evening news and public-political programs broadcasted by 16 regional TV broadcasters, covering the period from May 12 through June 15, 2014. The reports. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. CSO "Article 42 of the Constitution" has organized a project presentation on June25. The project – "Promoting Gender Equality at Working Places" – aims to enhance gender equality and achieve economic empowerment of women. Representatives of the Parliament of Georgia, executive authorities, Public Defender's Office and CSOs have attended the presentation. For the full text. Source: the organization's web page in the social network.

Adjara. The Civil Society Institute has organized a briefing over persons with disabilities in the Khelvachauri Youth Center on June24. Members of the Youth Center got familiar with the proper terms for addressing persons with disabilities, as well as stereotypes prevailing in the society. Head of the organization of persons with disabilities Temur Kakabadze and the psychologist of the same organization - Vakho Lipartia have moderated the meeting.Second half of the meeting was devoted to discussion, at which youngsters have expressed their opinion on the subject. Participants have also discussed the importance of inclusive education, the role of the state in solving the problems of persons with disabilities, public attitude, etc. Similar meeting will be held in the Keda Municipality at the end of the month.

Kakheti. A meeting was held on June 25 in Telavi at the initiative of CSO "Kakheti Civil League" as part of the project "Supporting the Improvement of Kindergarten Management and Provision of Services".Local self-government representatives, kindergarten staff and parents, and CSOs operating in this field have attended the municipal conference on pre-school education. The participants have discussed all initiatives planned in the field.

Tbilisi. Transparency International – Georgia has developed animations, in which simple examples explain the importance of integration with the EU for Georgia, as well as consequences of the Association Agreement executed between Georgia and the EU. Source: the organization's page on Youtube.

Guria. A meeting was organized on June23 in the Ozurgeti Civic Engagement Center as part of the project of Association of Young Economists "Accountable Self-Government". The project aims to better familiarize public with activities of the Sakrebulo members and is implemented in 7 cities of Georgia. The organization has developed the procedure of reporting by the Sakrebulo member to electorate and the form of activity report of the Sakrebulo member, which will be approved by the Sakrebulo of a relevant city or municipality.

Tbilisi. The exhibition "Personal Table Feast" will run from June 24 to July 22, which aims to expose gender violence. "Old table feast" unites painful stories suffered by women at old table feats and forgotten in the feast joy. For the full text. Source: ginsc.net

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia released a blog post - "Constitutional court has ruled temporary ban on acquisition of agricultural land by foreign citizens to be unconstitutional". The Constitutional Court has upheld Transparency International Georgia’s constitutional appeal in the case of Mathias Huter vs. Georgian Parliament. "The Constitutional Court ruled the Georgian Parliament’s moratorium (temporary ban) on the acquisition of agricultural land by foreign citizens until 31 December 2014 to be unconstitutional as it contradicted Article 21 of the Georgian Constitution whereby the right of property and inheritance is recognized and inalienable and it is also prohibited to abolish the universal right of holding, acquiring, selling or inheriting property".Transparency International Georgia welcomes the Georgian Constitutional Court’s decision. The moratorium created a different legal regime for foreigners and discriminated against them. This restriction also created problems for foreign investors who have an important role to play in the country’s economic development.The provisions that prohibited the acquisition of agricultural land by foreigners are void from the moment of announcement of the Constitutional Court’s decision. Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Article 42 of the Constitution appeals to the Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Welfare. "In September it is planned to implement the 3-month state pilot program of monitoring of labor conditions, which will be mostly informative and monitoring-focused. ... The organization welcomes this initiative of the Ministry and at the same time asks it to include gender issues as part of this program, and particularly monitoring of gender equality at working places. The organization expresses full readiness to cooperate with the Ministry and assist it in these activities." For the full text. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia examined proportional ballot summaries from 1076 polling stations in 25 polling districts for irregularities. Organization targeted the polling districts in the regions that were reported to have the highest number of irregularities – Kvemo Kartli, Samtskhe-Javakheti, Samegrelo and Kakheti. For the full text Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia released a blog post - "The monitoring of the official website of the Adjara autonomous republic supreme council". The monitoring of the AAR Supreme Council official website conducted by TI Georgia covered the period from May 1, 2014 through June 10, 2014 and resulted in the findings.  For the full text Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The Association of Young Economists of Georgia has released a publication on military conscription, in which the organization presents its views on this subject. "We believe it is important that stage-by-stage annulment of military conscription is launched and that it is replaced by contractual-volunteer military service. Further, it is crucial that non-military, alternative labor service system is changed and becomes more flexible for the citizens." For the full text. Source: the organization's web page in the social network.

Tbilisi. The UN Children Fund implements project "Active Talks" in various countries worldwide. A discussion was organized on June 23 as part of "Active Talks" in Tbilisi, dedicated to protection of rights of children with disabilities.Several speakers have appeared before the audience at the event, focusing on problems prevailing in Georgia and their personal experience. For the full text. Source: liberali.ge

Tbilisi. The Civil Society Institute has completed the cycle of trainings in results-oriented project management. Representatives of six CSOs operating in Tbilisi and regions have participated in workshops. Six workshops were organized as part of the training in project planning, monitoring and evaluation. Participants got familiar with tools required for management of projects. In parallel to workshops, consultations with participating CSOs were held as part of the training cycle.

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia was addressed by a relative of the family of G.B. "who disappeared in Akhalgori According to the applicant on June 4th the twenty years old G. B and D.A. were taken to the de facto police in Akhalgori to be questioned as suspects on an alleged theft case. ...The Ombudsman calls on the authorities of Russian Federation, as well as the de facto government of Ossetia and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia to carry out timely investigation respond effectively and cooperate in order to identify the location of the disappeared". For the full text Source: ombudsman.ge

Adjara. CSO "Young Socialists of Georgia" has organized a training on June 21-22 in the Public Defender's Batumi Branch as part of the project "Become a Peace Builder".Representatives of Batumi-based youth organizations and students have participated in training. The project aims to raise the awareness of youth residing in regions on the peace-building issues, as well as to activate and encourage them to reveal their capabilities. Training mainly focused on the notion of peace, negotiation methods, project drafting and project management related issues.

Tbilisi. Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) conducted post-election observation of the procedures in the 38 District Election Commissions (DECs). In cases of identifying violations, GYLA addressed the DECs and the courts with the relevant complaints. For the full text Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. ISFED Urges the Election Administration to Recount Votes at Problematic Polling Stations. ISFED examined Election Day summary protocols from all polling stations. "Based on reports from ISFED’s election observers and the analysis of information after carefully examining election summary protocols, ISFED has identified several important trends". For the full text Source: isfed.ge

Tbilisi. Representatives of the Election Environment Development Center will observe the repeated polling process of the self-government elections at every election precinct. The organization's observers will attend the precinct opening, polling and closing procedures. For the full text. Source: eedc.org.ge

Kvemo Kartli. SIQA's art direction "SIQART" has organized the "World Music Day" in Rustavi on June 21. The event aimed to discover talents and introduce them to general public. Youngsters from Rustavi, who have demonstrated their art to the audience, have participated in the activity. Source: the organization's page in the social network.