Tbilisi. On December 10, the Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information has presented the information on the secret expenses and the funding scheme related to the construction of the Kutaisi Parliament. It turned out that approximately 347 million GEL were wire-transferred for the construction of Parliament and the Government House in Kutaisi, while the owners of the companies carrying out the construction works of the Parliament are the state officials. For the full text. Source: osgf.ge

Adjara. The Youth Center of the Khelvachauri Municipality has organized a seminar for the youth on December10, in relation to the International Human Rights Day. Representatives of the Batumi Branch of the Civil Society Institute were invited as well. The Declaration of Human Rights and the fundamental human rights and freedoms were discussed at the meeting. Second half of the meeting was dedicated to the topic of volunteerism and the role of volunteers in protection of human rights. All participants were awarded with certificates.

Imereti. The training-seminar on "Human Rights" was delivered for the members of the Kutaisi Youth Center on December 10 in celebration of the International Human Rights Day. The Trustee of the Public Defender of Georgia in Western Georgia, Madonna Basiladze, led the training-course. Training participants discussed topics such as human rights in various countries worldwide, human rights evolution/generations, legal protection of human rights, securing the protection of human rights, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, etc. For the full text. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. The Georgian Small and Medium Enterprise Association has released the statement, which is quoted below unchanged. "The information disseminated by the Revenue Service last week about the activation of control purchases has triggered mixed reactions. We would like to inform the entrepreneurs that the Georgian Small and Medium Enterprise Association continues working with the Ministry of Finance to soften the fines and sanctions. The state is ready for this to a certain extent in order to simplify the operations of the business, but at the same time the fines must be adequate of respective violations.In respect of any questions the Association is ready to consult each entrepreneur and provide information on legislative requirements. Based on the rule of law principle, the Association also calls on the entrepreneurs to observe the requirements of the law and always use cash registers, thus avoiding the risk of being fined." Source: Small and Medium Enterprise Association

ShidaKartli. On December 10, the International Human Rights Day, the youngsters of the Gori Youth Center printed messages with the text - "Don't be enslaved by anyone, be free". The text was printed in the Georgian, Azerbaijani and Armenian languages and was disseminated in villages adjacent to the Gori District.The Azerbaijani population resides in village Tedotsminda. Majority of them does not speak Georgian and therefore the youngsters printed the text in Azerbaijani. Further, members of the Center have visited a district in Gori settled with ethnic Armenians, where the messages in Armenian were distributed. Up to 30 youngsters have participated in the event.A short film was also produced in relation to the celebrated date.

Samtskhe-Javakheti. As part of the Civic Education and Teacher Training Program, the civic club of village Arali of the Adigeni Municipality has held a charity event on December 10, the International Human Rights Day.With support from the civic club and the Adigeni Municipality Gamgeoba, a portable computer was handed over to one of the children with special needs, while the organization Akhaltsikhe Youth Center has awarded a girl with an illustrated book for her to train the memory.

Imereti.At the initiative of the civic club of Public School #1 of village Persati and with the support of Kutaisi Education, Development and Employment Center, a study tour was arranged to the Chief Prosecutor's Office of Georgia in Tbilisi. Successful members of the Persati and Kutaisi civic clubs and teachers met with the Chief Prosecutor of Georgia ArchilKbilashvili.Meeting participants talked about the structure and functions of the Prosecutor's Office, democratic values, presumption of innocence. The club members informed the Chief Prosecutor about the significance and role of the Civic Education and Teacher Training Program. For the full text. Source: civics.ge

ShidaKartli. The civic clubs of the Surami Public Schools I and III held the joint cleaning event – "Let's Clean the Streets from Election Posters".After receiving the written permission from the KhashuriGamgebeli to hold the cleaning event, teh club members have cooperated among each other and jointly planned to clean the Surami streets from the election posters. The schoolchildren have gathered in the Surami center at 2 pm and carried out the initiative on their own.The cleaning event lasted for 3 hours - a huge section of D. Aghmashenebeli Street and the territory adjacent to the Surami Central Park was cleaned. In view of successful partnership as part of this event, the club members have become friends and hope that similar joint activities will continue and become systematic.

Tbilisi. Transparency International – Georgia has released a new report on December 10. According to the organization's web page, it concerns the largest construction scandal, covering the activities of the construction company "Center Point Group". In accordance with the organization's page in the social network, the report was presented in two cities simultaneously – Tbilisi and Batumi. This issue has triggered huge interest and the events were attended by affected clients, their attorneys and representatives of company "Dexus".Transparency International – Georgia believes that the new government must demonstrate interest in the "Center Point Group" case and launch an in-depth investigation of details. The Report – Center Point Group – Georgia's Biggest Construction Scandal. Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Georgian Young Lawyers' Association has presented on December 9 the report "Freedom of Information in Georgia – 2011".The report was drafted by GYLA's monitoring group, which carried out the study in 40 administrative agencies of Georgia. The study analyses the practices of the Parliament's administration, the ministries, the Government Chancellery, President's administration, judicial system, the CEC, National Bank, independent commissions, administrations of city halls and the Sakrebulos of self-governing cities. For the full text. The report – "Freedom of Information in Georgia – 2011". Source:gyla.ge

Samegrelo. Zugdidi-based NGO "Gaenati" has organized the event on December 9 in front of the cinema "Atrium", dedicated to the International Day of Human Rights. According to the organization's head Eka Machavariani, every year "Gaenati" joins the international campaign that condemns violence against girls and women and carried out various events. "The youth club functioning with the organization has set up the candle decoration in the evening and organized a concert in the street. We thought to attract public attention against violence by holding the theatricalized event", – Eka Machavariani said.

Samtskhe-Javakheti. A meeting was held on December 7 in the Akhaltsikhe Civic Engagement Center to support the international 16-day campaign against gender violence. Organizations working on violence and the Akhaltsikhe residents, mainly women, have attended the meeting. The experts spoke about the statistics on violence and the film on domestic violence provided by NGO "House" and the advertising videos of hot line for abuse victims were shown. The international 16-day campaign against gender violence dates back to 1991. It was founded at the initiative of the "Women's Global Leadership Center". November 25 is selected as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and December 10 - as the International Human Rights Day. Thus, the combination of these two dates symbolically underlines the link between gender violence and human rights violations. Worldwide campaign includes various activities against gender violence.

Tbilisi. The survey module was added to the CSO portal (www.csogeorgia.org). The novelty enables the users to express their attitude towards the portal. The administration of the portal is eager to receive your opinions and proposals.Further, the English page of the portal was loaded and is functioning in the social network. Users can find it at: http://www.facebook.com/csogeorgia.org.english. We would like to remind you that portal is bilingual (Georgian, English) and so far only the Georgian page was available in the social network.

Samtskhe-Javakheti. The Open Environmental Civic Initiative (OECI) started researching the condition of resort forests in the Samtskhe-Javakheti Region. To this end, field trips and workshops were organized in November in Borjomi and Bakuriani, where the members of the initiative agreed on the necessity of organizing the scientific expedition. On November 25, the expert group of CENN has visited Bakuriani. The expedition covered the blocks of the Bakuriani forestry. According to the preliminary assessments, the current situation in the resort forests is alarming.The expedition's report will be finalized in the coming days and will be presented to the general public along with the respective structures of the authorities. In addition, recommendations will be developed for changing the situation. According to the coordinator of OECI in the Samtskhe-Javakheti Region KhatunaKhmaladze, the coordination and effective dialogue between the interested parties will have a decisive importance in this process."When a forest is granted a concrete function and a respective category, using the forests should also strengthen this function. Unfortunately, once the best resort forests were chopped down in just a few years. The authorities and society must decide together if we still need Bakuriani, Abastumani, Shovi or other famous resorts and make the relevant steps", - KhatunaKhmaladze says. Source: cenn

Adjara. The Georgian Muslims Union addressed the President of Georgia, Prime Minister and the population of Georgia with a statement.The statement says that "a part of the local Christian population in village Tsintskaro illegally and aggressively demands to quit the Muslim Friday worship and to say no to the Mosque". The statement also says that the Muslims Union hopes that the Government of Georgia, Parliament of Georgia and the law-enforcement authorities will take respective measures, and that NGOs, human rights organizations and international and diplomatic corps will be actively involved in the discussion on the issue."We hereby request all citizens of Georgia to express solidarity towards the Muslims, so that the peace among the religions is not endangered, and the freedom of religion and safety of each Muslim citizen is reliably secured", - says the statement. For the full text. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Samtskhe-Javakheti.The International Day of Persons with Disabilities was celebrated on December 3 in the Akhalkalaki Public School N4 at the initiative of the civic club, at which the integration of persons with disabilities in the society and their rights were discussed.The civic club members talked about the needs for free movement of such persons, and raised the issue of arranging user-friendly lifts, transport, etc. for them in the city.

Tbilisi. The sale and exhibition of items made by the beneficiaries of the Social Therapy House was held on December6. Among the exhibited items were candles of various forms, wood items, felt works, writing pads, and various decorative objects. The visitors could also participate in a game and win the gift cards, juice, chocolate, etc. All tickets were winning. The Social Therapy House serves the adolescents with disabilities, who throughout the day (except weekends) are involved in various activities, labor therapy, etc. There are total of eight workshops in the organization, where the beneficiaries produce various items and goods that are exhibited every year at the New Year and Easter festivities. "We would like to tell the public that these people can do a lot of things, they cannot be isolated, and that we lose a lot by limiting our communication with them. In addition, these exhibitions are great for the beneficiaries, as they have contact with people and see that their work is appreciated, people like them and buy various items", - says the Office Manager of the Social Therapy House Keti Gigineishvili.

Tbilisi. The Georgian Media Legal Protection Center held a press-conference on December6 regarding the media-related issues. The Center has sent to the Chief Prosecutor ArchilKbilashvili the data on 38 cases involving illegal actions against the media representatives."Significant violations were identified in recent years against the media representatives in Georgia; often journalists were deprived of the possibility to work in a free environment, and their equipment and personal inviolability were not protected", - the statement says. For the full text. Source:gyla.ge 

Tbilisi. On December6, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy held the summary presentation as part of the project "Participation of the Civil Society in the Local Decision-Making Process". Within the project framework, to raise public awareness, the organization has delivered trainings to the local community organizations, media representatives and other citizens on the topics such as active citizenship/leadership, advocacy and monitoring of activities of the local self-government authorities. Initiative groups were set up from the trained citizens, which have monitored the local self-government  authorities. Further, the advocacy campaign was carried out, as a results of which several issues were resolved and taken into consideration.The project "Participation of the Civil Society in the Local Decision-Making Process" aimed at developing the skills of local community organizations, media and citizens in respect of monitoring the local self-government authorities and enhancing the transparency and responsibility of the self-government authorities. The project was implemented in 6 municipalities of the KvemoKartli, Samtskhe-Javakheti and ShidaKartli. Source: ISFED

Tbilisi. The Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information will hold a public discussion on December11 on the effectiveness of using the social network Facebook in the political discussion and planning in Georgia. The participants will discuss how properly is this network used for communicating between the citizens and various institutions or political entities, publicizing the problems of the society and resolving the challenges.At the start of the meeting the Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information will present the key monitoring results of web pages of 19 public institutions, 10 political entities and 6 media outlets.Please confirm your participation in advance by e-mail. For the full text. Source: idfi.ge

Guria. The Lanchkhuti Information Center became a full member of the European Network of Training Organizations (ENTO) under the auspices of the Council of Europe. The Lanchkhuti Information Center addressed the relevant structure with the affiliation request some time ago.The General Assembly of ENTO held on 16 November 2012 in Paris has admitted the organization as a permanent member. "We are pleased that your organization has joined ENTO, which unites the training organizations of other European states. We believe that your affiliation will contribute to our joint future activities", – says the letter sent by the President of ENTO Boris Bakota to the Lanchkhuti Information Center.

Adjara. On December 5, NGO "Borjghali" and the union promoting the development and cooperation "Progress" have organized in the "Intourist Palace" Hotel the volunteers' forum dedicated to the International Volunteer Day. According to the organizers of the forum, volunteerism is a novelty for the Georgian reality and therefore it requires popularization. There are up to 200 volunteers currently in the Adjara Region, who have undertaken the training courses in the "Volunteers' School" founded by NGO "Borjghali". The "students" of this School act as volunteers in various local organizations, where they have the opportunity to expose knowledge gained in the "Volunteers' School". Apart from the volunteers, the forum was attended by the students and representatives of local state, NGO and media organizations.