Tbilisi. A focus-group meeting was held in theInternational Education and Development Academy with the students of higher education institutions. The meeting aimed at examining the services promoting youth employment and determining the current needs of this field. Qualification requirements of a modern labor market were also discussed. In addition, the students got familiar with the internship and employment program of the International Education and Development academy. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Imereti. Members of the civic education club of village Kursebi public school of the Tkibuli Municipality have organized a welfare initiative in their school on November 7. Clothes and sweets collected as part of the welfare initiative were presented to the Terjola day center for children with disabilities. The club members have painted together with the beneficiaries of the day center. Source: the Kutaisi Education, Development and Employment Center.

Samegrelo. Members of the youth center "Ortus" of Association "Atinati" have delivered on November 7 a peer training to the schoolchildren of Odishi Public School #1 in "Effective Communication". Trainers have informed the audience on the topic and schoolchildren have discussed and expressed opinions on the issues of effective communication. Additional issues were also discussed at the training, such as the questioning techniques and types of communication. The meeting was held as part of the Advancing National Integration in Georgia project, implemented by the UN Association of Georgia with financial support of the US Agency for International Development. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. On November 7, Civil Society and Religious Organizations released the joint statement. "The below signatory organizations express our negative attitude once again in terms of the draft initiated in the Parliament qualifying public expression of hatred towards sacred objects, religious organizations, clergymen or worshippers by an individual, aimed at hurting religious sentiments as administrative offence and envisaging subsequent administrative liability. ...We believe that Parliament should refrain from adopting the law since it falls short of Constitutional   and international human rights standards", says the statement. For full text Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. The "Georgian Young Constitutionalists' Association" has released a statement on November 7. The organization "condemns each fact of human rights violations, thus recollecting numerous illegal actions on 7 November 2007. Notably, fundamental human rights secured under the Constitution have been infringed upon. The then authorities have used against peaceful demonstrators disproportionate force, numerous facts of infringement upon human dignity have been reported, and independent TV companies were ravaged and journalistic activities were obstructed. At the same time, the described facts have not been fully investigated until now, which raises our utmost concern", says the statement. For the fuul text (geo)

Tbilisi. CSO "Young Barristers" has echoed the changes within the Chief Prosecutor's Office of Georgia. The organization "hopes that the new Chief Prosecutor appointed by the new Prime Minister of Georgia will continue reforming the system, while on the other hand, will facilitate the restoration of justice in the country by effective decisions." For the full text (geo) Source: the organization's page in the social network.

To promote citizen participation in the budgetary process, the Civil Society Institute has developed a video on Batumi's budgetary process – "Plan and Manage Your City's Budget", which informs citizens about the calendar of budgetary work.

Tbilisi. The third consecutive training-module was organized on November 5-6 as part of the Civil Society Institute Program "Result-Oriented Project Management", which concerned the drafting of project indicators. The participants could get familiar with the new tools and methodology of the result-oriented management. The module aimed at informing the participants about the project indicator table, logical framework and the results chain tools. Two training-modules on systemic changes and participation, as well as project planning were already delivered to five pilot organizations selected as part of the program. The program is implemented by the Civil Society Institute under the guidance of invited international expert. Financial support is provided by Bread for the World, as part of the project "Improving the Environment and Enhancing the Efficiency of CSOs."

Tbilisi. Goergian Young Lawyers' Association responds to the Dismissal of 22 Employees from Tbilisi Local Council. On October 7, 2013  22 former employees from the local council applied to GYLA for legal assistance. "In the application they have noted that in September they were released from the office under the motive of structural reorganization and asked to determine the legality of their dismissal.  GYLA studied the application, submitted documents and requested from the local council additional information. On the basis of the documents we can conclude that they have been dismissed in violation of law". For full text  Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Political scientist ZviadAbashidze has delivered a lecture on November 1 in the School of Liberalism on "Elections and Democracy". The School offers a video recording of the lecture. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. CSO "Identity" has addressed the Chief Prosecutor with a statement on May 17 developments. "In connection with breaking up our peaceful rally on May 17, the employees of investigative authorities and the Prosecutor's Office have managed to hold criminally liable 4 persons only. This fact, to put it mildly, surprises us. There are numerous video recordings depicting offensive actions of private individuals," says the statement. For the full text (geo) Source: identoba.com

Kakheti. Representatives of the Public Healthcare Fund have held a meeting on November 6 in the Telavi Civic Engagement Center, attended by representatives of the Social Service Agency and the non-governmental sector. This 2-day training focuses on the children safety and their protection from violence.

Samtskhe-Javakheti. A gender training was delivered in the Akhaltsikhe Youth Center, attended by the new members of the Center. The event was organized as part of the project – "Advancing National Integration in Georgia". The project is implemented by the UN Association of Georgia, with financial support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Adjara. CSO "Eco-City" has presented a project on November 6. The project "Green Box" aims to collect scrap paper from the state organizations, population and educational institutions. One of the key objectives of the project is to establish the eco-culture among the society. At this stage, there are only 15 green boxes in the city's territory, and the organization has produced two thematic videos and distributed up to 2000 information fliers. The project is implemented with financial support of the Batumi City Hall and the Adjara Department for Environment and Natural Resources.

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia released a blog post - "Who keeps spamming us with SMS advertising?". "A number of companies continue sending unsolicited SMS advertising to mobile phones,  violating the Georgian law on personal data protection. To convince these companies that they should respect not only the law but also peoples’ privacy, we start collecting and publishing the names of companies who fail to comply", says the blog post. For full text Source:transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Media Advocacy Coalition  released a statement on Election the Members of the Board of Trustees of Ajara TV and Radio. "Media Advocacy Coalition objects to  the November 5, 2013 decision of Ajara High Council which completely ignored "the Law on Broadcasting” and violated quota system envisaged by the law for election of members of the Board of  Trustees of Ajara TV and radio. Members of the "Georgian Dream”  disallowed minority members to nominate their candidates for the membership to the Board of Trustees, as provided by the "Law on Broadcasting”. As a result, by the decision of November 5, 2013 the Board of Trustees of Ajara TV was manned by one-party principle", says the statement. Coalition will use  all legal mechanisms for invalidation of illegal decision. For full text Source:gyla.ge

Guria. A "One Potato" event was held in the Laituri Public School at the initiative of members of the civic club "Liberty" of the Laituri Public School and its curator teacher. Each pupil was asked to bring only one potato, as a result of which gathered potatoes have filled three huge sacks. The club members have presented the gathered goods to the single elderly of three different nationalities living in the community.

Tbilisi. The Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) continues monitoring of standards of proactive publication of public information by public institutions, which are not covered by the 26 August Resolution N219 of the Government of Georgia. This time the Institute offers to general public the analysis of compliance of current standards adopted by the Sakrebulos of self-governing units. For the full text (geo) Source: opendatablog.wordpress.com

Imereti. A regional round table was organized on November 4 in Kutaisi for the civic education teachers of the Imereti Region as part of the "Civic Education and Teacher Training Program". The meeting focused on the "Notion of self-government and its development stages" and was led by the member of Advisors' Council of the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia. He emphasized the importance of activities and participation of the local population in solution of their own needs and problems for the development of each city, village and community. He informed the meeting participants about the new draft law on self-government - "The Self-Government Code of Georgia" - and the fundamental changes prescribed in it. Source: page of the Training and Consultations Center in the social network.

Mtskheta-Mtianeti. "Young Barristers" launch the project - "Local Leaders" for the senior schoolchildren of the public school in the Mtskheta Municipality. The project aims to "have a broad dialogue with the senior schoolchildren, justify in their eyes the advantage of legal awareness and civil values, identify specially gifted schoolchildren and present them to the public, and to raise interest among the youth towards co-participation in democratic processes." For the full text (geo) Source: barristers.ge

Adjara. An "Independent Journalists' House" has organized a photo exhibition on November 5 in the Batumi Press Cafe. This time the visitors enjoyed the photos of journalist MananaKveliashvili. An addition, during the exhibition a video portrait about an amateur photographer produced as part of the project, as well as the movie of Director Ki-duk Kim "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring" were shown. The project aims at popularizing and supporting the photo artists working in Batumi. The project is supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports of the Adjara Autonomous Republic.

Tbilisi. CSO "Identity" has released the legal assessment and recommendations on potential amendments to the Criminal Code. The organization "welcomes the initiative on amending Articles 137, 138, 139, 140 and 141 of the Criminal Code of Georgia. The amendments aim to have an adequate response to offences and criminal facts against sexual freedom and inviolability. The organization believes that making sanctions against sexual violence stricter is a positive development. Yet, we consider that despite offered amendments, the above-listed articles of the Criminal Code go considerably beyond the objective of the law", says the released statement. For the full text (geo) Source: identoba.com