Tbilisi. Institute for Development of Freedom of Information publishes the article “The Overview of the Censorship of the Georgian Press and Print Media”. “In contemporary Georgia, in fact, the censorship on print media does not exist. Nowadays, there is a growing tendency of coordinated disinformation campaigns and hate speech in print media. There are a number of publications that use the above-mentioned methods on purpose. Through spreading the fake news and the usage of hate speech, they enhance the polarization in the society. Also, there is a problem of pressure on different media sources, their bribing for distorting information, using them for political objectives and the decrease of the level of their freedom. According to the research carried out by the international organization Reporters without Borders in 2020, considering the global index, Georgian press holds 60th place. The conclusion emphasizes the case of Adjara TV, which experiences the pressure from the representatives of particular party, as well as the case of Afgan Mukhtarli”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. EU Ambassador Carl Hartzell awarded the winners in six categories covering print, broadcast, online, and photo journalism. Ambassador Marek Szczygieł, Head of the European Union Monitoring Mission awarded the winner of the Special Prize for conflict-sensitive journalism contributing to confidence building and peace. Meet the winners: Tamar Babuadze, Anastasia Slovinskaia, Zurab Modebadze, Khatia Ghoghoberidze, Tinatin Nachkebia, Giorgi Shengelia, Zviad Mchedlishvili. Read more… Source: eu4georgia.eu

Shida Kartli. Up To 10 Journalists Visited the women green entrepreneurs of Gori Municipality within the framework of the EU-supported media tour "Discover Social and Green Entrepreneurs in Gori". The Aim of the media tour was to introduce local green and social business initiatives to the general public and to highlight the results of EU and CENN activities in the municipality. Read more here… Source: environment.cenn.org

Tbilisi. TI Georgia has studied the expenses of 9 administrations of State Representatives in 2021, which amounted to GEL 5,567,583 in total. “It should be noted that the institution of State Representative does not fulfill any critical functions for the functioning of the state, while the existing practice shows that the influence of State Representatives on municipalities is high – they often interfere in the activities of mayors and city councils elected directly and considerably limit their independence. In a situation where the level of decentralization is low, the institution of State Representative is an important lever for the central authorities for exercising formal or informal control over municipalities”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Guria. On May 2, UN Women and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Norway to Georgia Helen Sand Andresen visited the Women's Self-Help Group in the Chkhakaura village of Chokhatauri Municipality as part of the Women's Economic Empowerment Project. “The guests heard from rural women about the benefits of being involved in the project and the needs at the local level, which they are working together to address. At the end of the meeting, they viewed traditional handicrafts and tasted local dishes”. Taso Foundation is implementing the project in Shida Kartli, Samegrelo, Guria, Imereti and Racha-Lechkhumi regions with the support of the United Nations Women (UN Women) and the Government of Norway. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Kakheti. According to the information of Georgian Young Lawyers Association person fired due to reorganization has won a dispute with the Telavi Municipality City Hall. GYLA represented and protected the person's interests. “The court of all three instances found that the dismissal did not comply with the requirements of the law; therefore, Telavi Municipality City Hall was instructed to reinstate the dismissed employee to the equivalent position and reimbursement of the outstanding salary from January 30, 2018, until the day of reinstatement in service”. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Meet Ozzy, a cute hamster who cares for the environment, and the face of a new campaign to help children save energy. The awareness-raising campaign, organised by EU4Energy in collaboration with EU NEIGHBOURS east, will run between 28 April and 8 May 2022, and revolves around Ozzy the Hamster, one of the main characters of a new comic book on energy efficiency entitled ‘Lightbulb’. The comic focuses on increasing younger generations’ understanding of energy efficiency and simple energy-saving measures – like switching off unused devices or turning down the heating – as well as of the negative impact of wasting energy on nature and the environment. ‘Lightbulb’ tells the story of four friends and their pets who discover an old cabin in the woods, where animals help Professor Slate find alternative methods of generating energy to avoid inflicting damage to the environment. Professor Slate shows the children the horrible things that could happen to the planet and its population if humans do not start using energy efficiently. United in the idea of saving the planet by cutting down on energy waste, the children – together with Ozzy the hamster – manage to transform the life of one town. To reinforce the energy saving tips highlighted in the comic book, EU NEIGHBOURS east is launching a social media campaign featuring Ozzy the Hamster, targeting children via different social media platforms and through school activities. The comic book was developed in the framework of the EU4Energy Programme Phase II – Promoting the Clean Energy Transition in the Eastern Partnership Countries, which is funded by the European Union and aims to contribute to the development of sound legislative and regulatory frameworks for energy, to support the region’s transition to clean energy and the liberalisation of its energy markets. Read more… Source: euneighbourseast.eu

Tbilisi. Institute for Development of Freedom of Information publishes the blogpost: Celebrating May 9 in Russia. “The Kremlin continues to build a national narrative about the great victory of 77 years and the defeat of Nazism. IDFI's blog will analyze how attitudes towards May 9 have changed over the years, what forms the main parade dedicated to this day took in the modern Russian Federation, and which symbols or narratives dominated this day”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Over 30 Civil Society Organizations address to the Prime Minister of Georgia to provide argumentation for refusing publicizing answers to EU questionnaire. “Given the high public interest in Georgia’s accession to the European Union, we urge you to make public the answers to the EU questionnaire or to present an argument on the basis of which you make information confidential under Georgian law. In case the information provided to the EU truly contains professional, personal, commercial, or state secrets, the relevant parts should be encrypted and the rest should be made public, as required by the standards of Freedom of Information of Georgia and the EU. According to the latest survey, 88% of the Georgian population supports the country’s accession to the European Union. With this in mind, the government should ensure the transparency, openness, and involvement of stakeholders in the process”.  Read more… Source: osgf.ge

Samtskhe-Javakheti. UNICEF, in partnership with Media Development Foundation (MDF) and with the support of USAID Georgia is launching a series of media literacy trainings for children, young people and teachers. “The slogan of the campaign is “Do not get infected with misinformation!” and aims to provide young people with information and skills to enable them to identify, verify and disseminate their knowledge about misinformation about COVID-19. The first meeting was held in Akhaltsikhe”. Find out more… Source: www.unicef.org

Kakheti and Samegrelo. According to the McLain Association, Asupported by the European Union and implemented by UNICEF and MAC Georgia, in close cooperation with the State Care Agency and the Ministry of IDPs, children with disabilities who previously resided in the Kojori institution and who were transitioned into family-type environments, will gain access to improved quality care services. As the organization mentions, within the framework of the joint EU-UNICEF Programme “Strengthening Systems and Services for Child Protection in Georgia”, UNICEF and MAC Georgia provide comprehensive multidisciplinary professional support to the specialized family-type services in Telavi and Chkhorotsku. These homes now host 13 children who were transferred from the institution. Read more… Source: The organizations page on the social network

Tbilisi. A meeting on the rights situation of women and girls representing non-dominant ethnic groups in Georgia was held in cooperation with the Public Defender’s Office and the United National Population Fund (UNFPA) on April 28, 2022. Two special reports were presented at the event. “One report concerns sexual and reproductive health and rights of women and girls of ethnic minorities; the second report reviews the harmful practice of early/child marriage in Kvemo Kartli and key findings of the study of the relevant attitudes. The study showed that a number of social-cultural factors, primarily gender roles and sexuality-related stigma, often lead to the violation of sexual and reproductive rights of women and girls of non-dominant ethnic minorities. Another problem is lack of information, which is further exacerbated by the language barrier”. Read more… Source: www.ombudsman.ge 

Adjara-Imereti. According to the information of the UNDP Georgia, Batumi and Kutaisi are on a journey to design their municipal transformation portfolios. “Batumi is designing a strategic #PortfolioOfOptions to become a facilitator in co-developing a #startup and #innovation ecosystem. Kutaisi aspires to become an #EcoCity: sustainable, resource-efficient, embedded in its natural environment and ensuring a healthy and comfortable existence for its citizens. This exciting and challenging endeavour is supported by the “Mayors for Economic Growth” (M4EG) programme, implemented by the EU and UNDP in the Eastern Partnership countries to assist local municipalities to discover new opportunities for sustainable growth and economic prosperity”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network Photo: Irakli Dzneladze, Vladimir Valishvili/UNDP

Tbilisi. On April 28, IDFI held an international conference - Digital Transformation of Georgia: Proactive Steps Toward EU Accession. „The conference discussed good practice, main trends, as well as challenges and opportunities for Georgia in the field of modernization and transformation of the public sector using new Technologies“. Learn more… Source: idfi.ge

Samtskhe-Javakheti. Civil Society Organizations of the Samtskhe-Javakheti Region appeal to the Government of Georgia and the International Organisations Operating in Georgia. “We, representatives of the civil society organisations (CSOs) of the Samtskhe-Javakheti region, condemn the Russian aggression in Ukraine. We support Ukraine and the Ukrainian people in their struggle.    The Russian aggression endangers international peace, freedom, and values of democratic development. At the same time, it poses a threat to our region. In particular, this war has exposed the risks facing the Samtskhe-Javakheti region due to its economic, financial and informational dependence on Russia: Many people from this region have been living and working in Russia and financially supporting their families for years. Some of them used to go there for seasonal work. Moreover, Russia’s propaganda media outlets remain a central source of information for the region. We have pointed to these risks before. Nowadays, because of the sanctions imposed by the international community on Russia, the remittance flows from there are likely to sink and our population will most probably return to the region. Overall, the unemployment rate in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region will rise and the social background will deteriorate.  Based on the above-discussed, we, representatives of Samtskhe-Javakheti CSOs, call on the Government of Georgia and International Organisations operating in Georgia to take these risks into account, turn them into perspectives, and use this window of opportunity for the benefit of the local community”. Read more… Source: The page of the Union of Democrat Meskhs on the social network

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia publishes the blogpost: Grape Harvest and Elections - Overview of the State Subsidy Program for Grape Harvest. According to the organization, in 2021, the government subsidized the grape harvest with GEL 138 million in total. “The process of subsidizing the grape harvest reveal a number of corruption-related problems, including giving a preference to companies that have donated to the ruling party and those with links to high-ranking officials. The main amount of the subsidy was transferred to the state-owned Crop Management Company LLC, which mostly announces simplified procurements that are mainly obtained by companies loyal to the Georgian Dream. From the 83 companies that were registered for subsidies at the Wine Agency, 31 belong to current or former members of the Georgian Dream or have links with them and their families, these 31 companies were given an amount of GEL 30 343 512, which equals 22% of the total subsidy”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Civil Society Organizations respond to the ongoing events associated with the deteriorating health of the imprisoned third president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili. “We believe that an urgent decision must be made to ensure proper treatment for him, including the provision of medical care abroad. We would like to remind the public that according to the conclusion of the alternative medical council created under the auspices of the Public Defender of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili’s health condition has deteriorated. He suffers from serious physical and psychological health problems linked to anorexia and post-traumatic stress disorder. Accordingly, the prisoner should be immediately provided with proper medical care. Any further decisions should exclude considerations of political expediency. Instead, the relevant institutions should be guided only by the standard of protection of the right to life, health, and personal safety. In view of the above, we demand that the third president of Georgia be immediately provided with the medical services necessary to ensure his fundamental rights to life and health, which the state is legally obliged to protect under constitutional and international law”. Read more… Source: osgf.ge

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Tbilisi. On April 20, at a meeting of the Supervisory Board of the non-governmental organization “Russia – Country of Opportunity”, Russian President Vladimir Putin supported the modification of historical education in schools to combat "false narratives" about the situation in Ukraine. "Falsifying history, distorting facts and using it without context is one of the most important strategies in modern Russian hybrid warfare. Through the methods and narratives reviewed in the analysis, Russia has for years been preparing an ideological basis and an appropriate historical narrative to legitimize the aggressive invasion in Ukraine". Learn more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia shares the article that showcases specific facts about the business interests of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the ruling party and the informal ruler of Georgia, and his family members - in Russia. “Bidzina Ivanishvili misled the public when he said he would sell his businesses in Russia because: He continued to own at least 10 Russian companies through offshore entities in 2012-2019, which further branched out into an even wider network of subsidiaries; Ivanishvili owns at least 1 company in Russia (Aqua-Space Ltd) through one of his offshore companies; Despite formally leaving politics, Bidzina Ivanishvili retains influence over Georgia's ruling party and a number of key institutions, which are still headed by people who had worked for his companies or directly for his family”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Shida Kartli. On April 20, 2022, the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), in the framework of the project "Solidarity Branding - Promoting Entrepreneurs Living in the Shida Kartli Region, Next to the Occupied Territories" together with the Georgian Farmers Association (GFA) in Gori and Kareli districts held a second meeting and got acquainted with their entrepreneurial activities. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Mtskheta-Mtianeti. Easter Exhibition/Sale was held in Saguramo Day Care Center “IALONI.” “All Day Care Centers, administered by Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC) were involved in Easter preparations. Teachers, along with service users, made various Easter symbols and painted the eggs”. Find out more… Source: edec.ge