Tbilisi. Human Rights Center published an article about Treatment of C-Hepatitis to Launch at Penitentiary Establishments.  For full text Source:humanrights.ge

Imereti. Members of Research-Intellectual Club "Dialogue of Generations” have participated in Youth in Action programme "BORDERLAND 02763" which was held in Germany 03.07-14.07.2013 . The project in funded by the European Commission in the framework of Youth in Action Programme. Participant involved in the project were from : Germany, Poland, Georgia , Czech Republic , Turkey , France, Armenia, Azerbaijan. Source:the organization's page in the social network

Imereti. Transparency International Georgia and the Parliament of Georgia signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Kutaisi. Within the frames of the Memorandum, Parliament and TI Georgia will closely cooperate to enhance transparency in the activities of the legislature. This will in part be achieved with the help of the new parliamentary monitoring website ChemiParlamenti.ge.  Source:transparency.ge

Tbilisi. International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) started monitoring of Georgian print media in the pre-election period for 2013 presidential elections. Between July 15 and November 15 the organization will monitor seven Georgian editions. The monitoring is implemented within the project "Professional Media for Elections” and is supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the European Union (EU). The main aim of the project is contributing to professional, objective and balanced media environment during the Parliamentary and Presidential elections through the media monitoring campaign. Source:isfed.ge

Shida Kartli. "Donate Books" - In June 2013,  Open Society Georgia Foundation staff members started collecting books for the children of Khurvaleti, Shavshvebi and Tsitelubani schools of the Gori municipality.  Soon after the launch, different NGOs, publishing houses and citizens joined the campaign.  OSGF employees handed over books to children on 23 July."We have collected around 850 books with 400 different titles and distributed them among 3 village schools in the Gori Municipality according to the age and number of children. We have also collected some money and bought different items needed by schools: a binding machine, boards, lamination machine etc", said Nino Kiknavelidze, one of the organizers of the campaign. For full text Source:osgf.ge

Tbilisi. Georgian Young Lawyers' Association applies to the Chief Prosecutor of Georgia about the case of Giorgi Gvichiani. "In this light, we ask you to take adequate further actions within the frames of your competence for a timely and effective investigation of allegations to determine whether crime has been committed by hiding findings of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. If the investigation finds that crime has been committed, G. Gvichiani sentenced to life imprisonment will have an opportunity to have his case reexamined in light of the new evidence". For full text Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. On 26th of July, 2013, in Tbilisi, in hotel "Holiday Inn” will be held the final conference dedicated to the active issues of EU integration in the south Caucasian countries. Conference is held within the framework of the project: V4 Countries for C3 Countries EU Integration, organizer of the conference: Caucasian Institute for Economic and Social Research.  Final outcomes of the research done under the mentioned project will be presented on the event accompanied by the discussions on active problems of EU integration issues in the south Caucasian countries. Special attention will be drawn to the experience that is already accumulated in Visegrad Countries regarding the EU integration processes. Project "V4 Countries forn C3 countries EU Integration” have being implemented by the Caucasian Institute for Economic and Social Research with the Financial Support of the International Visegrad Fund. The aims of the project are to share the experience in EU integration issues between Visegrad countries and the south Caucasian countries in the following fields: Sustainable Development, Developing of free trade, social policies and social dialogue.

Tbilisi. Georgian Young Lawyers' Association Submitted to the Parliament its Opinion on Pending Amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences. "GYLA urges the parliament of Georgia to remove the following from Article 171 of the Code: "being in a condition that offends human dignity and public moral” and not to amend Article 173 or to increase the amount of fine envisaged for disobeying orders of law enforcement authorities", says the organization's web-page. For full text Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Human Rights Center released a statement about Constitutional Amendments Initiated in June of 2013. "Human Rights Center positively evaluates restriction of prime-minister’s extreme power and to deprive legislative function from him that is special prerogative for the legislative body of our country", says a statement. For full text Source:humanrights.ge

Tbilisi. On July 23rd Women’s Initiatives Supporting Group held the presentation of the research concerning LBT women’s issues on the agenda of international organizations, organizations working on LGBT issues, research institutes and funds. Event was hosted by the South Caucasus Regional Office of the Heinrich Boell Foundation. The aim of the research was to identify potential strategic partners. It has been revealed that for the majority of the interviewed women’s rights, gender, sexual and reproductive health and rights organisations, foundations, and research institutes LBT issues are of the lower priority. At this point, most of the organisations do not have services that take into account the specifics of LBT women. Research institutes are not interested in working on LBT issues and have not done any researches in this direction. However most of the organisations participating in the survey, have expressed their readiness for the future cooperation.Research has been done in the frames of the project: Improving the situation of L(G)BT people’s rights in South Caucasus (Financial Supporter COC Netherlands). Source:tge organization's page in the social network

Tbilisi. Transparency International - Georgia released Preliminary advice on dealing with illegal surveillance material by Thomas Hammarberg, EU Special Adviser on Legal and Constitutional Reform and Human Rights in Georgia. For full text  Source:transparency.ge

Adjara. On July 24, at the office of Association "Deserving Old Age” under the Project " Social Centre for the Elderly" (donor - EU) held the regular meeting for discussion the discrimination cases against the Elderly. "Unfortunately the facts of violence and fraud against elderly people from their family members are frequent. Elderly people who suffer from violence and who are the victims of discrimination from their family members refrain from speaking on this topic, because they feel shame and humiliation, and most importantly because of the fear that if their condition will be told it worsen even more their already intolerable situation. The violation of stereotypes of domestic violence is that both, the victim and the community members say what they feel and suffer, do not hide the fact of violence and do not speak only what is socially acceptable and anchored in stereotypes", says the organization's page in the social network. Source:the organization's page in the social network

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia released a statement - "Pre-election amendments to the Ajara budget". TI Georgia urges the Supreme Council of Ajara to refrain from making changes to the budget during the pre-election period. It has come to our attention that the Supreme Council of Autonomous Republic of Ajara plans to introduce amendments to the 2013 Ajara budget, including increases to funding for healthcare projects and local government. In case the Supreme Council chooses to go ahead with the proposed budget changes, TI Georgia will take the case to court and demand the spending be stopped", says the statement. For full text Source:transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information has released information obtained  from  the Municipal Boards of Chkhorotsku, Tsageri and Kutaisi City Hall. Information posted on the web page includes Bonuses, State Procurements, Reports on Release of Public Information, Purchases and Maintenance Expenses of Vehicles. Information from Municipal Board of  Chkhorotsku Information from Municipal Board of Tsageri Information from Kutaisi City Hall Source:opendata.ge

Reporters Without Borders welcomes the United Nations Security Council interest in considering to take further steps to enhance the implementation of resolution 1738 and improve the protection of journalists on the ground. For full text Source:media.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International - Georgia released a blog post - "Temporary suspension of mortgage foreclosure: Citizens' problems will remain unsolved, while the country's economy may suffer". "We call on Parliament not to adopt the draft law, and to treat with caution any future initiative that may potentially undermine the stability of the country's financial system. We do acknowledge the need to reform this sector, however, and welcome relevant initiatives put forth by the authorities in this respect. Yet, these changes must be staggered and relatively painless for the country's financial system. Furthermore, it is vital that financial institutions are actively involved in the reform of this sector. Moreover, it should be questioned whether this initiative was driven by elections and if administrative resources are used for election purposes. Such unreasonable initiatives, which are in fact solely focused on gaining the voters' will rather than on solving the problem, point to an abuse of administrative resources during the pre-election period", says the blog post. For full text Source:transparency.ge

U.S.  Agency for International Development (USAID) published Sustainability Index of CSO's in Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia Region. Published on July 10, 2012, the sixteenth edition covers activities of 2012. THe first the Sustainability Index was published by the US Agency for International Development in 1997, which covered 18 countries in Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia. Now the index area is expanded and includes 29 countries. 2012 CSO Sustainability Index for Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia Georgia - 2012 CSO Sustainability Index Source:usaid.gov

Tbilisi. Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association released a statement in Response to Press Conference Held at the Office of the Prosecutor on July 22. "On July 22, 2012, during a press-conference held at the office of the prosecutor it was reported that the investigating authorities found no evidence that Mamuka Ivaniadze was subjected to pressure during questioning. ...Regrettably, officers of the prosecutor’s office acted well beyond their limits of power prescribed by law and utilized seemingly unlawful methods of investigation. We understand that certain individuals whose actions have been rather questionable in the past still continue to work at the office of the prosecutor but this may not serve as justification", says the statement. For full text Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. The  Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum Georgian National Platform releases a petition. Platform member organizations appeal to the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, European Commission Vice President Catherine Ashton and Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule.  "With this letter, we would like to request that you step up efforts in Georgia and in the region to oppose the Russian Federation’s policy of establishing new insurmountable "borders” and erecting various forms of barricades, barbed wire fences, reinforced concrete structures, walls, and trenches on the territory of Georgia", says the petition. For full text Source:osgf.ge

Guria. Civil Society Institute held a workshop on financial sustainability issues. The meeting was attended by 18 representatives of non-governmental organizations operating in the region of Guria. The training cycle has been prepared in consultation with the foreign experts and its aim is to encourage non-governmental organizations to seek funds. Workshops consisted of three sessions: philanthropy and volunteerism, grants and state funding, and social entrepreneurship. Meetings have been held in Gori, Akhaltsikhe, Telavi and Kutaisi. Civil Society Institute will complete the meeting cycle with NGO representatives in Batumi.

Tbilisi. Court Statistics of 2007-2013 in Georgia is available at the Court Statistics Electronic Module created by IDFI. The given statistics module is the way of visualization of the main statistical data of general courts of Georgia (2008-2011 years.) proactively published on the official web-site of the Supreme Court of Georgia and the compilation of statistical data issued by the court "Justice in Georgia" (2009 and 2010 years). The visualization is prepared using the software developed by the (IDFI), which represents the data in pie-charts and bar-charts. Statistics Source:idfi.ge

Tbilisi. The Human Rights Center publishes an article - "Children without Care Stay Without Shelter after They Reach Full Age". "Adults stay in the street after orphanages; there are no other shelter and employment programs for them. Several nongovernmental organizations work on their resocialization but the state budget still cannot assist adults outside orphanages", says the organization's web-page. For full text Source:humanrights.ge