Guria. Members of the Youth Center functioning with the "Union of Young Teachers" have celebrated the International Human Rights Day with a street event. The Center's leaders have marched through the central districts of the city in T-shirts made especially for this day and informed the population about their rights. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Shida Kartli. CSO "Women's Club" was presented on December 10 in the Gori Civic Engagement Center.CSO representatives have presented to the audience the organization's objectives, areas of interest and the organization's management structure. Further, its head has informed the attendees about the immediate plans of the "Women's Club".At this stage, the "Women's Club" will function in the Gori Civic Engagement Center.

Kvemo Kartli. At the initiative of CSOSida, minors at conflict with law and the participants of Sida's initiative "Senior Friend" have attended a concert on December 10 in the Rustavi Municipal Theatre. The event was carried out with support of the KvemoKartli Probation Bureau of the National Agency for Non-Custodial Enforcement and Probation. Source: cida.ge

Civil Society Organizations’ Day at the Parliament of Georgia will be held on 12th of December, 2013. Civil Society Organizations (CSO) and the Parliament are establishing a new standard of cooperation - Civil Society Organizations’ Day at the Parliament of Georgia, which will be held every year in order to deepen dialogue between CSOs and the Parliament. Together with the Parliament and CSOs will discuss important issues and problems facing the country, as well as potential public policy solutions. Civil Society Organizations’ Day at the Parliament of Georgia will be established under a new Memorandum of Cooperation between the Parliament and CSOs. The Memorandum will be signed at a ceremony during the first Civil Society Organizations’ Day. Up to 150 Civil Society Organizations will participate in the event. The event will be also attended by representatives of the diplomatic corps and international organizations. Civil Society Institute would like to thank European Union Delegation to Georgia (EU), East-West Management Institute (EWMI), Brot für die Welt  and Open Society Foundation Georgia (OSGF) for the support. The ceremony will be held on December 12, 2013, from 13:00 to 16:00, at the Parliament of Georgia in Kutaisi.

Kakheti. The Telavi Office of the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association has organized a public meeting in the Civic Engagement Center dedicated to the International Human Rights Day, with participation of the local self-government and CSO representatives and interested persons. According to the Head of the Telavi Office of GYLA, the meeting aimed to raise awareness among the members of civil society on human rights, and the women's rights in particular.Meeting participants have discussed also the property rights of women in Georgia and the importance of solidarity among women.

Tbilisi. The group working on ethnic minority issues has organized a summary meeting on December 6. The meeting was attended by local CSOs including the representatives of the Election Environment Development Center, Election Administration, Public Broadcaster, UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES).Meeting participants have summed up the results of projects implemented during the 2013 presidential election. Head of the working group SopioSichinava has thanked the group members for the joint efforts and activities carried out during the preparatory process of October 27 presidential election. Various changes were planned to ensure equal election environment for the national minority voters at the 2014 self-government elections. Source: the Election Environment Development Center.

Shida Kartli. Volunteers of the Gori Youth Center functioning with the CSO "Gori Club of the Disabled" have visited GYLA on December 10. The lawyer has brief children about the International Human Rights Day. The activity was organized as part of the Advancing National Integration in Georgia project, implemented by the UN Association of Georgia with support of the US Agency for International Development (USAID). "Gori Club of the Disabled" is the project's partner organization in Gori. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Samegrelo. The Zugdidi delegate of the Youth Parliament has met with students on December 10 in the Zugdidi State University. He has informed interested persons about the activities of the Youth Parliament carried out throughout the year.Meeting participants have discussed also the procedure for selecting candidates for the 2014 calling and the stages that the students will have to go through to become members of the 2014 calling of the Youth Parliament of Georgia. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. Georgian Young Lawyers' Association submitted to the Parliament Legal Opinion on the Draft Code of Local Self-Government. "In view of the format of the first reading of the draft, GYLA submitted to the Parliament legal opinion on the draft code of local self-government. Firstly, we would like to highlight that the initiated reform is vital with its essence and the scope. Applicable system of local self-government is not sufficiently developed, it is not oriented adequately on citizens’ involvement in decision making process and needs to be amended. Accordingly, GYLA supports the initiated reform.  In view of urgency of the reform, it should be carried out along with intensive dialogue and  involvement of interested parties. Though the draft offers some positive initiatives, including direct election of mayors and heads of executive bodies of local municipalities (gamgebeli) by the citizens, it contains some gaps which require further work and elimination". For full text  (geo) Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Economic Policy Research Center presented a new report Agriculture – Challenges and Current Policy. The report presents an overview of the Georgian agricultural sector and analyzes the ongoing and recently implemented agricultural programs initiated by the government. Agriculture - Challenges and Current Policy Source:the organization's page in the social network

Tbilisi. Georgian Young Lawyers' Association released a statement on International Human Rights Day. "We would like to mention, that for the past year protection of human rights has attained considerable progress in number of directions.  The state is more successful to fulfill its negative obligations, revealed in refraining from illegal and intentional interference in exercise of human rights. ...Though, along with positive trends there are some challenges", says the statement. For full text  Source:gyla.ge

Samegrelo. International Research Center on Conflict and Negotiation has organized the event "Analyzing and understanding gender stereotypes". In addition, exhibition of photo and art works on the topic was organized. Winners were identified at the end of the event, who have received valuable gifts. Source: page of the Youth Center "Ortus" in the social network.

Tbilisi. The Youth Parliament of Georgia has released the appeal to the Ukrainian people. "Georgia and the Georgian people, like no one else, understand the importance of grave and at the same time decisive processes evolving around you. We bear a common burden, and unfortunately the Russian manacles are still puling us back and hindering our progress and development. Way to Europe is full of challenges, but the Ukrainian people, just like Georgians, were never afraid of difficulties, and we understand how can the encouragement and support of a brother nation empower, thus doubling the aspiration towards freedom," says the appeal. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. Another manual - "Video Advocacy - Guide of an Active Citizen" was published as part of the Civic Education and Teacher Training Program. The manual discusses tools necessary for empowering the civil society and protecting one's own or others' rights by ordinary citizens. Its main objective is to share with the readers the technique for planning, shooting and dissemination of a video as part of an advocacy campaign by means of relevant examples and exercises. Source:civics.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International - Georgia has released another edition of audio podcast of parliamentary news. Topics of the December 9 edition are: International Day against Corruption and the anti-corruption week of "Transparency International - Georgia"; examination of the 2014 budget of Georgia with participation of the civil society representatives; evaluation of one-year partnership between the Parliament and the civil society; draft Self-Government Code - subject of public debates and the readiness of the Parliament to receive the opinions of interested parties. Podcast (geo) Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. On December 10, on the International Human Rights Day, representatives of the Human Rights House Tbilisi will visit families sheltering the former building of Railway Hospital. Lawyers of the HRHT Member Organization Article 42 of the Constitution will issue legal consultation on the homeless people on the ground. Source:humanrights.ge

Tbilisi. CSO "Junior Achievement Georgia" has conducted a training program for the current and beginner journalists and bloggers with funding from the international association Civitas Georgica. The training - "Economy and Business for Journalists" - aimed at informing the journalists and bloggers in economic and legal terms, as well as business activities, and increasing their competence in the process of coverage of economy and business issues. At the end of the training the participants were awarded with certificates and they will draft an article on business issues. Source: civitas.ge

Kakheti. 2-day training was delivered for journalists operating in the Kakheti Region in Kachreti, the "Ambassador" Hotel. The training, organized by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and representatives of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, aimed at informing media representatives about the Montreal Protocol and the Vienna Convention foreseeing measures for protection of the ozone layer as well as stage-by-stage removal from use of the ozone-depleting substances.

Tbilisi. "Young Barristers" has echoed the 8 December 2013 elections in the Georgian Bar Association. According to the organization, "elections were held in a free environment, while the polling procedures were absolutely transparent." For the full text (geo) Source: barristers.ge

Tbilisi. The Tolerance and Diversity Institute has released a statement on the Commission for Studying Religious Issues. "Under the 29 November 2013 Resolution N305 of the Government of Georgia, the Inter-Agency Commission for Studying Individual Issues Related to Religious Unions was set up. ... The charter lists several tasks of the Commission. We believe the formulation of these tasks is not clear and provides grounds for ambiguous interpretation," says the statement. The Tolerance and Diversity Institute calls on the Government of Georgia to clarify and clearly present the Commission's mandate and the tasks of its activities. For the full text (geo) Source: tdigeorgia.wordpress.com

Tbilisi. The lecture of philosopher Zaza Piralishvili was delivered on December 6 in the School of Liberalism on the "Philosophical Processes in Georgia". The School offers a recording for those who were unable to attend. The lecture (geo) Source: the School's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. On December 6, 2013 National Science Library at Tbilisi State University (TSU) hosted the presentation of www.bu.org.ge specially launched for blind and partially sighted people. The presentation pointed out that the website will help the people with eyesight problems to integrate with the society. The project is made possible with all-out efforts of the Blinds Without Borders association and with the financial backing of the Open Society Georgia Foundation. Besarion Sologhashvili, the founder of the Blinds Without Borders association said the goal of the undertaking is to help vision impaired people acquire computer skills. In Georgia, he said, there are up to 7,000 totally blind people, and 2-3 times less people with low vision. The website offers visually impaired people an opportunity to independently subscribe to the Bu 2 and NVDA software free of charge. The website also offers users textual and audio lessons to study the aforementioned audio programs. The manual includes questions and answers and exercises. Users will also have access to the library with 3,600 audio files. Users with low vision can modify settings at their option, e.g. change background color, font size, and font color. Source: media.ge