World Day to Combat Desertification is today, June 17! Did you know that desertification wipes out approximately 123,000 km2 land area every year? Interested in stopping desertification? Check out UNCDD’s page and learn more. Web page Source:U.S Embassy's page in the social network

Tbilisi. Power of Word- that’s the name of the collection of textbooks aimed to help journalists be in compliance with the norms of ethics when covering ethnical diversity.The presentation of the collection was held on June 17, introduced by Agit Mirzoev, Director of the Analytical Center for Interethnic Cooperation and Consultations(ACICC), and representative of the Public Defender’s Apparatus Nino Eremashvili.According to them, the name "Power of Word” emphasizes the importance a word has within diverse society, and how carefully must that subject be handled by journalists. For full text Source:media.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia released a new report - "Georgia's public procurement system". TI Georgia also launched tendermonitor.ge, a new website which allows the public to search, explore and monitor public procurement, which is based on electronic data from the electronic procurement platform of the Georgian Competition and State Procurement Agency (CSPA). For full text Source:transparency.ge 

Shida Kartli. Members of the Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics have visited Gori in order to meet youth interested in journalism. The Head of the Charter Council Giorgi Mgeladze and Executive Director Tamar Rukhadze provided in-depth information to the young students regarding the Charter. For full text  Source:media.ge

Adjara. on June 13, the international your forum was held. During the Forum The young people from Caucasus region discussed the achievements of their countries, shared an experience in youth organization management. 

Tbilisi. NGOs Apply to the Parliament of Georgia with a Request to Allow Candidates for HCoJ Membership to Testify before the Parliament. "In view of public interest, we deem it important for the Chairman of the Parliament to allow candidates to present a summary of their views during the plenary session, where MPs will have an opportunity to ask questions. Regrettably, this was not the case during stage 1 of the competition", says the statement. For full text  Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Georgian Democratic Initiative(GDI) and Media Development Fund(MDF) held a press conference. "Xenophobic Statements and Assessments have grown to dangerous scale within the political discourse of Georgia, as well as media, and the results of numerous researches carried out with reference to the matter attest to that fact". For full text  Source:media.ge

Tbilisi. International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, Transparency International – Georgia and Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association urge the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia (MES) to ensure holding of competitions for recruitment of heads of Education Resource Centers in a fair, equal and transparent environment. For full text Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. on June 14, civil society representatives will hold a manifestation to protest against acts of interference with religious practice by the local Muslim population in the village of Samtatskaro, Dedoplistskaro District over the last three weeks, and to show their support for tolerance and rights of religious minority. "We believe that by taking effective actions the state should visibly demonstrate its respect to the rights of religious minority and undertake appropriate measures for due protection of freedom of religion of the Muslim community in the village of Samtatskaro. Efforts of political and civil actors in response to these issues are essential in the process of building a society that is based on freedom, equality and tolerance", says the statement. For full text  Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. On June 5, 2013, the Prevention and Monitoring Department of the Public Defender’s office in cooperation with Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association carried out monitoring of the penitentiary establishment N9 where former law enforcement officers and ex-officials are held. "We welcome the fact that virtually all prisoners have testified to normal treatment in prison; they have also stated that administration and employees of the penitentiary facility are trying their best to fulfill their legitimate demands. The monitoring has revealed that defendants/convicts do not have access to TV", says GYLA's web page. For full text  Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International - Georgia released the statement about changes to the Law on Higher Education. "In accordance with recent proposed changes to the Law on Higher Education, it will be the Prime Minister (rather than academic councils) who will appoint interim rectors to state universities. The draft has already passed the 1st hearing at plenary yesterday. TI Georgia urges the Parliament to discontinue the expedited discussion of the draft law and involve all relevant stakeholders along the way. We will observe the draft law closer in the coming days and publish a more comprehensive assessment", says the statement. Source: the organization's page in the social network

Tbilisi. GYLA released Summary Analysis of Court Proceedings brought against Rally Participants arrested on May 1 on charges of Administrative Offence. "We remain hopeful that the government will apply the lessons learned during the May 1, 2013 incident in the future, and will provide an opportunity for everyone to fully realize their rights to assembly and manifestation as guaranteed by the constitution", says the statement. For full text Source:gyla.ge

Imereti. The winners of the In My Eye contest announced by Georgian domestic NGO Media Portal were awarded on June 12 at Kutaisi bureau of the Georgian Public Defender’s Office. Media Portal announced the contest a month ago. Up to 20 journalists were taking part in the contest titled Kutaisi Parliamentary Capital. The authors of best photo and video stories and a public favorite were awarded with flip cameras. The goal of the contest is to establish and develop citizen journalism for the enhancement of democracy. For full text  Source:media.ge

Tbilisi. The Delegation of European Union to Georgia held informal introductory meeting with representatives of non-governmental organizations, media  and bloggers. The meeting was attended by Thomas Hammarberg. The participants presented their opinions and problems. For full text (geo) Source:ginsc.net

Tbilisi. The public lecture about civic journalism and media issues was held on June 11. The lecture was led by BBC-'s foreign news producer Natia Abramia. Media has lost the role of information filter role and citizens can determine themselves via social media what is important for them and what is not.  Unlike the previous century the influential media organizations are not the ones making decisions on what is interesting for public – these were the topics discussed by Natia Abramia. For full text  Source:media.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia and Article 42 of the Constitution released the statement - "Parliament should have arranged a public hearing for candidates of the High Council of Justice and the Disciplinary Panel". "The agenda for today’s plenary session does not include speeches delivered by the High Council of Justice candidates. We believe that had the candidates been given the opportunity to address the public and MPs at plenary, it would have both contributed to the openness of the process and facilitated MPs in their decision-making", says the statement. For full text  Source:transparency.ge

Shida Kartli. On June 17, the Center for Civic Engagement will host a workshop on financial sustainability of NGOs. The workshop will be organized by the Civil Society Institute and it is aimed at providing information about funding opportunities. 

Tbilisi. The participants of the high-level conference "Investing in Georgia’s Future - A National Agenda for Early Child Survival and Development” organized by UNICEF, the Parliament and the Government of Georgia have committed to prioritize Early Child Survival and Development within Georgia’s Development Strategy. The Prime-Minister of Georgia, Speaker of the Parliament, Ambassadors, and Ministers, representatives of the executive and legislative authorities, international organizations and civil society gather to discuss the challenges children in their early years face in Georgia. For full text  Source:unicef.ge

Tbilisi. The Youth Association "Droni" organizes a charity event "Give children toys" in Skra's settlement for refugees.  Association receives donations till June 13 at the organization's office.  For additional information contact: Arnold Korneli and Nutsa Vashakidze +995 571 60 99 55, მობ: +995 598 25 28 88. e-mail: cornelia@droni.org, nutsa.vashakidze@gmail.com.  For full text Source: The Organization's page in the social network 

Tbilisi. EC acquired responsibility to return the money back to losing candidates after the Constitutional Court of Georgia upheld the constitutional lawsuit of Human Rights Center and annulled the provision of the Election Code which obliged the candidate nominated by the initiative group to transfer 5 000 lari to the CEC account as a deposit. Four majoritarian candidates, who lost interim elections, received 5 000 lari back, which they had transferred to the CEC account before elections. For full text  Source:humanrights.ge

The International Forum for Democratic Studies under the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) of USA   has published a new report. The Forum  asked  the member organizations of "Democracy Research Institutes network" to answer the question - what is democracy organizations - Democracy think tank-specific role in developing democracies.  Ghia Nodia, the Chairman of the Caucasian Institute analyzed the situation.  Full report (Eng) Report on Georgia (Eng) Source: The Organization's page in the social network 

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia, the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, the Institute for the Development and Freedom of Information, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, Georgian Lawyers for an Independent Profession, and the Human Rights Center respond to the first session of the 10th Conference of Judges held on June 9. For full text Source:transparency.ge