Tbilisi. On October 15, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy held a presentation of Election Day Monitoring Mission at the Hotel Courtyard Marriot. During the presentation Executive Director of ISFED provided an overview of Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) traditionally used by ISFED for the Election Day Monitoring.   ISFED will carry out the monitoring of October 27, 2013 Presidential Elections by means of up to 1000 precinct observers, 73 district observers and 73 mobile groups.  For full text Source:isfed.ge

Kvemo Kartli. SIQA has organized a seminar on October 10 for the members of the school-based civic clubs, at which SIQA's Romanian and French volunteers spoke on the "EU and Georgia". The EU history, prospects of Georgian in joining the EU, and the advantages of the EU were discussed at the seminar. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Samtskhe-Javakheti. To inform the population about the school self-governments, members of the Akhalkalaki Youth Center have disseminated information newsletters among the population. The event was organized as part of the "Advancing National Integration in Georgia" project, implemented by the United Nations Association of Georgia (UNAG), with financial support of the Agency for International Development (USAID). Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Imereti. The Coalition for Independent Life has held an information-educational seminar on October 9 in Kutaisi for students on the "Role and initiatives of students for securing equal elections". The film "Polling Day Procedures" produced by the LEPL Center of Electoral Systems Development, Reforms and Training was shown at the meeting, and the model elections were also organized. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. CSO "Identity" has delivered a one-day training for the current and future journalists in LGBT issues. The training aimed to expand the students' professional vision and raise sensitiveness towards the LGBT issues. Organization's representatives have informed training participants about basics of the identity, LGBT sexuality and gender diversity, have familiarized them with principles of correct coverage of LGBT issues and talked about methods of excluding the sensitive language and the hate speech towards the LGBT persons. Source: identoba.ge

Shida Kartli. CHCA Gori office hosted the workshop for the leader teachers of the clubs established in 8 public schools of Gori Municipality. The clubs have been established within the "Youth Participation and Development" project. The two-day long workshop was attended by 10 teachers. The topic of the workshop was the application of information technologies and social media in educational activities and clubs’ work. During the workshop the teachers obtained the skills for managing and updating the blogs and administering the Facebook pages to facilitate the promotion of the clubs’ activities.  The project "Youth Participation and Development" is funded by USAID and implemented with the support of UNICEF. Source:the organization’s page in the social network

Tbilisi. Young Barristers have presented to the public the sociological study: "Rating of Trust towards Presidential Candidates and Presidential Elections". The study covered 1000 respondents and it was carried out in Tbilisi on 5-6 October 2013, in six different heavily populated areas. Results of the study. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. CSO "Civic Engagement Institute" administers the "Presidential Elections Portal", which aims at informing the voters about presidential elections. Public will be able to get familiar with the biographies and agendas of registered presidential nominees. Further, citizens can assess and express opinions on the presidential nominees and their election agendas. "Presidential Elections Portal". Source: Civic Engagement Institute.

Tbilisi. The World Hospice and Palliative Care Day was celebrated on October 12. This day in Georgia was celebrated with the slogan "Let's Break the Myths" and the diverse events, held in Georgia for the fifth time already. As already noted, various cultural events were held with support of the "Open Society - Georgia" Foundation. A video was developed on the Tbilisi-located hospices, which describes the mode and way of their activities. Video on the Tbilisi-located hospices. Source:osgf.ge

Tbilisi. Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association,  Transparency International Georgia and International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) released a statement. "We would like to voice our position on the developments at the session of Interagency Commission for Free and Fair Elections held on October 11, 2013 when the United National Movement made a decision on leaving the commission".  "When only two weeks are left before presidential elections and  the election campaign enters into active phase, it is vital for parties to return to working regime. To this end, the conflict needs to be resolved immediately.  We consider reasonable the UNM to resume its participation in the commission and the head of the commission to secure holding of sessions in "constructive” atmosphere", says the statement. For full text Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Members of the Youth Parliament of Georgia have organized on October 12 a peaceful protest rally in front of the National Olympics Committee – "No to the Sochi Olympics". The Youth Parliament believes the Georgian delegation must not participate in the winter Olympic games...". For full text (geo) Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. On October 12, the Young Constitutionalists' Association has held a briefing on Georgia's participation in the Sochi Winter Olympic Games."The Georgian Young Constitutionalists' Association" distances itself from the petition on boycotting the Olympics and calls on the civil society to approach this issue with more pragmatism. At that, the Association expresses its support to the Georgian sports, each Georgian sportsman and wishes them success at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games", says the organization's page. For full text (geo) Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. Young Barristers have organized a conference: "EU Standards, Free Trade and Competition in Georgia".Participants have discussed the efficiency and gaps of the Law of Georgia on Free Trade and Competition, and received information on the regulatory commissions functioning in Europe, the European standards, etc. For full text (geo) Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Oxfam has published new report Universal Health Coverage: why health insurance schemes are leaving the poor behind. www.oxfam.org.uk/uhc The report celebrates the growing momentum for Universal Health Coverage which has the potential to transform millions of lives. Unfortunately, in the name of UHC, some donors and developing country governments are promoting health insurance schemes that exclude the majority of people and leave the poor behind. We hope you enjoy reading our new report. Please share your views on the report and join the debate by visiting www.globalhealthcheck.org. Source: cenn

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia released a blog post - "Crisis Uninterrupted: the story of the Georgian Public Broadcaster". "Less than three weeks ahead of the presidential elections, the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) is broke and broken. Even diligent observers can no longer make any sense of internal developments and decrypt the political or personal motivations that may lie behind many of the recent developments. Thus, it might be a good time to reflect on the almost 10-year old history of the GPB, the few ups and many downs the broadcaster has experienced since it was transformed from a state-controlled to a public service station in 2004", says the blog post. For full text Source:transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Georgian young lawyers' association released a response to the October 10 Statement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. On October 9-10, 2013, GYLA released statements about cases of Davit Kapanadze and Levan Korkotashvili.  "In response to GYLA’s statement about L. Korkotashvili’s case, the Ministry of Internal Affairs released an official statement on October 10, saying that the information provided by GYLA "is not true”, The statement also noted that "similar statements are aimed at discrediting police and it is owing to release of fabricated information that image of police often suffers.”  "We have no illusions that reforms and changes are easy at the Ministry of Internal Affairs were thousands of people work. We also understand that we will not be able to create a system in which there is a zero chance of violence by the police against citizens. Rather, actions in response to similar facts are important, as well as effectiveness and objectivity of investigation. Due administration of investigation is the most effective mechanism for preventing any future occurrences of undesirable facts. It seems that in the present there is no will of the authorities to use the mechanism. Such responses to similar facts are in fact the reason why the image of the system suffers", says the organization's statement.  For full text Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. On 11 October, in Tbilisi was held the meeting of UN Women, dedicated to women’s political engagement. On 11 October, in Tbilisi, in the hotel "Betsy” was held the meeting of UN Women, dedicated to women’s political engagement. Roanda, Cuba, Sweden, Senegal, Finland- these are five countries, in which the level of women’s political engagement is highest. Georgia is 107th in this list. One part of non-governmental organizations believe that involvement of non-governmental organizations is very important.The meeting has been attended by the representatives of non-governmental organizations, which have discussed different issues and shared their opinions. Source: Portal GINSC

Kvemo Kartli. On October, 11 at NGO "CiDA” office a meeting with Kvemo Kartli NGOs representatives was held. The abovementioned meeting aimed the discussion of the action plan connected with the social-economic conditions of IDPs living in the occupation territories. Besides this during the meeting the civil sector representatives expressed their opinions regarding the document. In the near future "CiDA” plans to organize the abovementioned document presentation in the IDPs districts located in Kvemo Kartli region. Source:the organization's page in the social network

Tbilisi. The round table "Reinforcing Civil Society’s Role in Prevention of Torture, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment” was held on October 11, 2013 in the frames of the project "Improvement of Prisoners’ Conditions –Joint Advocacy” implemented jointly by GYLA and the Public Defender’s Office. The round table aimed to promote reinforcement of civil society’s role in prevention of torture, inhuman and degrading treatment by restoring NGOs’ right to implement monitoring in penitentiary establishments. Head of the Human Rights Committee of the Parliament, other MPs, Deputy Minister of Corrections and Legal Assistance of Georgia, Head of Penitentiary Department and representatives from Public Defender’s Office and NGOs participated in the event.  For full text Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information has hosted the representatives of the Polish Institute of National Remembrance on October 11. The Head of the Archives Research Department and the Director for the Office of Storage and Dissemination of Archive Documents have visited IDFI together with the Archive Director of the Ministry of Interior of Georgia. Future cooperation and joint projects were planned at the meeting. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. Lawyers of Article 42 of Constitution have organized a briefing about the pending case in the European Court of Human Rights. The lawyers have talked about the case of citizens AmiranNatsvlishvili and RusudanTogonidze, which will be heard on October 15 in the European Court of Human Rights. Lawyers of Article 42 of Constitution will defend their interests. Source: article42.ge

Adjara. CSO "For the Rights of Persons with Disabilities" has held a meeting on October10 in the Civic Engagement Center, at which the participation of persons with disabilities in the upcoming elections was discussed. As reported, in the future persons with disabilities may be able to vote online. According to CSO representatives, the electronic method of participation in elections is simple and will boost the electoral activity. They claim that due to non-adopted environment at the election precincts, persons with disabilities often prefer not going to the election precincts. Local CSO representatives support this initiative and believe that the government must take certain steps to eliminate this problem.