Imereti. The youth association "Droni" (the times) invites youngsters from Georgia to participate in the master class related to the museum sector. As part of the master class, a 10-day workshop will be held in Kutaisi on the arts. The organizers will cover the transportation, food, and accommodation expenses, and it is mandatory to speak Russian. Deadline for submitting the applications is December 5th. For the full text. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Samegrelo. In relation to the World Aids Day, the CSO "Mercury" has organized a meeting on December 1 in the Zugdidi Civic Engagement Center. Meeting participants have discussed the causes of HIV infection, preventive measures, and the need of adequate public attitude towards the infected. According to the Head of association "Mercury" Nana Todua, notwithstanding the fact that the myth that AIDS means death is destroyed, the stereotypes and stigmas are still persisting among the society. The spread and prevention of HIV/AIDS were also discussed at the meeting.

Samtskhe-Javakheti. On November28, the Akhaltsikhe Youth Center has presented the works of participants of contest announced in the social media several months ago and summarized the results. The blogs and topics were presented in the session hall of the Akhaltsikhe Municipality Sakrebulo. Following the discussion of topics, the competent jury has revealed the winners, who were awarded with valuable gifts. The Akhaltsikhe Youth Center has awarded the authors of topics on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd places with the memory sticks, while the Chair of the Akhaltsikhe Municipality Sakrebulo has awarded the first place winner with the book "Encyclopedia of Science". In addition, all participants were awarded with certificates, while the paintings of schoolchildren will be exhibited in the Akhaltsikhe Youth Center.

Adjara. On November 30, under the organization of youth NGO Art Way, the Batumi art troupe has read in the Batumi-based shelter for the elderly "Savane" Rezo Gabriadze's play - "Paradise bird, i.e. the diamond of Marshal de Fantier". Reading of the play aimed at introducing theatricalized elements in the monotonous lives of "Savane's" residents and making them merrier by the play of a comic genre. This activity was carried out as part of the project "Re-Animation" and was dedicated to the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, December 3. The project "Re-Animation" is implemented with financial support of the "East-West Management Institute".

Samtskhe-Javakheti. The organization Akhaltsikhe Youth Center has announced a small grants competition for the civic clubs. Deadline for submitting the applications is 8 January 2013. Topics of the small grants competition are: inclusion of the business sector in solution of problems of concern to the youth; cooperation of the youth with media; solution of the school's or community's problems in partnership with the local authorities; empowering of the schoolchildren's self-governments and/or school-based civic clubs; protection of human rights; promoting rule of law, etc. School representatives can receive consultations in the Youth Center on the drafting of the small grants applications.

 Tbilisi.On November 30 the Civil Society Institute has presented the poverty reduction models in rural areas. The models are developed as part of the Oxfam project, which was implemented over 5 years in the two regions of Georgia - Samegrelo and Adjara. Key objective of the project was to promote the elimination of poverty, for which the production capital was provided to the families living in extreme poverty and which were selected in advance, theoretic and practical trainings were delivered in potato-growing, market-gardening, cattle-breeding and apiculture. In parallel, individual consultations and advice were available. The documentary made on this topic was shown at the meeting. Special interest was triggered by the initiative of the Civil Society Institute - the effective communication model between the farmer and a specialist - as part of which the eco-clubs were set up in the Adjara Region. Eco-club members were the senior schoolchildren, who were visiting the program beneficiaries, collected the information, and then sent the pictures of damaged plants or the information through Skype to the specialist to receive respective consultations. In the opinion of project leaders, this initiative has not only simplified the communication between farmers and the expert, but has also raised the youngsters' interest in agriculture and involved them in this sector. The meeting was attended by the CSOs working in the field, representatives of the donor organizations, program beneficiaries and the representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia, who have expressed the desire to cooperate with CSOs that have gained certain experience in this area.

Tbilisi. "Transparency International – Georgia" continues releasing weekly audio podcasts that review the developments in the country's chief legislative body. The second podcast from the Parliament discusses topics such as amnesty, new faction, sexually explicit products, conflict at the committee sitting and the air quality in the Parliament building. Podcast: Parliamentary news, November 30. Source: transparency.ge

Adjara. On November 29, the UN Population Fund has organized the youth national forum in the Batumi Civic Engagement Center. It aimed to have the youngsters discuss their rights and existing challenges, as well as to develop number of recommendations to solve the identified problems. According to the organizers of the forum, these recommendations will be sent to and discussed at the international youth congress. The parallel youth national forums were held in other cities of Georgia as well, and the participants were periodically contacting each other through the so-called Skype calls.

Tbilisi. The Georgian Association of Social Workers plans to deliver educational seminars for the Association members. In relation to the World Aids Day on December 1, the Association invites you to the seminar on "Social work with HIV-positive persons and their family members". The seminar will be led by the practitioner social worker and the Association's consultant with experience in the development of policies and services in the field. For the full text. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Adjara. The Citizens' Advisory Council functioning with the Sakrebulo of the self-governing city Batumi, the Batumi Branch of the Civil Society Institute and the City Hall of the self-governing city Batumi have organized a public meeting on November 29 in the Batumi Civic Engagement Center. The participants have discussed Batumi's transport infrastructure and the problems that the city is facing in this respect. At the meeting the not-for-profit (non-commercial) legal entity "Transport Infrastructure Management Agency" presented the annual report and the future plans. The meeting was attended by the representatives of CSOs, Sakrebulo of the self-governing city Batumi, and the Ministry of Finance and Economy and the Tourism Department of the Adjara Autonomous Republic, as well as the local cargo transportation companies.

Tbilisi. On November27, the CSO "New Generation – New Initiative" has awarded the winners of the essay contest announced as part of the project "Georgia in Europe". The Head of the EC Delegation to Georgia, the Ambassador FilipDimitrov has attended the award ceremony.250 youngsters of 17-21 years of age Georgia-wide have participated in the essay competition announced as part of the project "Georgia in Europe", only 3 of which have been named winners. During the first phase of the project, meetings on the EU-related topics were held with the resident populations in 10 regions of Georgia - Kvemo and ShidaKartli, Kakheti, Imereti, Guria, Adjara, Samegrelo and Samtskhe-Javakheti. Experts working on the EU, European Neighborhood Policy and the EU Integration of Georgia have participated in the information campaigns. Information materials were disseminated. For the full text. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Kakheti. "New Generation – New Initiative" has organized on November 28 the opening of the European Corner in the Telavi University. The experts working on the EU, EU Neighborhood Policy and Georgia's EU Integration and the university students have attended the opening ceremony.In 2012 it is planned to open similar corners in another 4 university cities of Georgia (Batumi, Poti, Kutaisi and Akhaltsikhe). The project is implemented in partnership with the organization "European Partnership for Democracy" (EPD) and financial support of the Netherlands. For the full text. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. As part of the media monitoring over the coverage of parliamentary elections, the Human Rights Center has released two reports of the last period, covering the results of media monitoring from 22 October - 4 November and November 5-18.Within the project framework, the monitors of the Human Rights Center have observed the secret political, social and political advertisings aired through the following television channels: "Imedi", "Rustavi 2", "Kavkasia", "Maestro" and "9th Channel". Media Monitoring Report (22 October - 4 November) Media Monitoring Report (5-18 November) Source: humanrights.ge

Adjara. The seminar was held on November25 in the association of elderly women to commemorate the International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women. Topic of the seminar was "Let's unite against violence towards women".The medical staff of outpatient department of the municipality's 12 communities was invited to the seminar. Lawyer Marine Zhghenti has delivered the seminar and informed the participants on the notion of domestic violence and how does the state protect the victims of domestic violence. Information materials were distributed, which will be disseminated in all communities of the municipality. For the full text. Source: awa.org.ge

Tbilisi.The Founder of the Open Society Foundations George Soros will pay a private visit to Tbilisi. In response to the public interest, the "Open Society – Georgia” Foundation has released a statement. "We would like to state that this visit is unofficial, aimed at meeting with the Foundation’s management, summarizing of the organization’s work in the recent years and discussing the future strategy. It is not excluded that in order to get familiar with the new political reality, Mr. George Soros meets the political leaders as well”, – says the statement released by the "Open Society – Georgia” Foundation. For the full text Source: osgf.ge

Shida Kartli. The Memorandum of Mutual Cooperation was executed on November 27 between the attorney bureau "OK&CG” and the not-for-profit (non-commercial) legal entity Youth Cultural-Educational Center of the Gori Municipality. By executing this Memorandum, the attorney bureau and the Gori Youth Cultural-Educational Center plan to promote through mutual cooperation the development of the civil society within the Gori Municipality by delivering public lectures, discussions or various activities. Along with executing the Memorandum, the attorneys delivered the public lecture on human rights and obligations. The public lecture was delivered in the Gori Youth Center and was attended by a rather broad audience interested in the human rights and obligations: the civic club members of the Gori Public Schools #5 and #7 and the Karaleti Public School. As part of the public lecture, the presentation was made on the notion of human rights and obligations and their interrelation, as well as on the mechanisms of protection of these rights as Georgia-wide, as well as at an international level. Based on the activities demonstrated in the course of the lecture, several schoolchildren were selected who were granted the status of a friend of the attorney bureau.

Tbilisi. On November 28, the office of Women's Information Center has hosted the training titled "Empowered Women for Public Life". The training aimed at enhancing the skills of leader women in communication and delivery of public speeches, and raising their awareness on national and international mechanisms of elimination of violence against women. Leader women from various regions of Georgia, ethnic minority representatives from the Pankisi Gorge, regional journalists and the representatives of the youth community groups have participated in the training. The trainings are organized as part of the project "Empowered Women for Public Life", which is funded by the Democracy Development Small Grants Program of the US Embassy in Georgia, within the framework of the 16-day campaign against gender violence.

Tbilisi. ISFED released a statement on the developments in the Martvili Gamgeoba, in which it expressed utmost concern about the actions carried out in the building of Martvili Municipality Gamgeoba. According to ISFED, a large-scale rally was held in the Martvili Municipality on November 26 that demanded the resignation of the Municipality Gamgebeli and the Chair of Sakrebulo. The rally was attended by the supporters of the "Georgian Dream" coalition and the leaders of the local office of this political union. "The rally took an unlawful form when the citizens occupied the Gamgeoba building, thus paralyzing the functioning of Gamgeoba and damaging the part of inventory. The participants left the building after the police were involved. Currently the supporters of the "Georgian Dream" coalition block the entrance of the Gamgeoba building", – the statement says. The statement notes that the illegal actions against the local self-government authorities must be investigated without delay and the participant offenders must be punished in line with requirements of the Georgian legislation. For the full text. Source: the organization's official page in the social network.

Shida Kartli. On November 25, as part of the "Civic Education and Teacher Training Program" and in connection with the International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women, the schoolchildren have invited to the civic club of Khashuri Public School #9 the guest – the Head of the Shida Kartli gender Equality Resource Center Nino Sukhiashvili. She talked about violence against women and legislation for its prevention, statistics on domestic violence and the UN documents. The study on the victims of domestic violence in Georgia has established that the victims of domestic violence in most cases are women and children, while males are the violators. However, Ms. Sukhiashvili said that elder parents or males can also become the object of domestic violence. According to her, apart from various international organizations that protect the women's rights, the Public Defender is also authorized to examine these issues and protect the rights of women. The guest has awarded the civic club with a gift - the Declaration on the Rights of Women.

Tbilisi. As part of the events dedicated to the World Aids Day, the marathon "We Choose Healthy Lifestyle" will be held on December 1 in Tbilisi. The schoolchildren of IX-XII grades and of 14-18 years of age, college students and the prominent public faces will participate in the marathon. The marathon will take off at the Merab Berdzenishvili International Cultural Center and will end in the Vake Park territory. Registration of the marathon participants will start at 11 am on December 1, in the yard of the international cultural center "Muse", and the five marathon winners will be awarded with valuable gifts. This event is organized as part of the USAID-funded HIV Prevention in Georgia project. For full text. Source: geoyouth.ge

Samegrelo. The "International Center on Conflict and Negotiations" held a meeting on the problems and needs of local media outlets on November 27 in the office of the Civic Engagement Center. The journalists working in Samegrelo have attended the meeting. According to the organization's representative Tinatin Asatiani, they were interested in the problems of the town located near the conflict. The project "Power's in us - development for peace-building, gender and diversity management" will be implemented in Samegrelo, Shida Kartli and Samtskhe-Javakheti. The organization will work with the civil sector and media representatives on the issues related to peace, gender and tolerance. Tinatin Asatiani says that the active members of the society must contribute to the process of problem solution, and media and the peace journalism must be enhanced, as one of the significant segments for Georgia in the process of conflict regulation.

Tbilisi. The discussion was held on November 26 in the Consultations and Training Center on the key problems of the civil society and ways of their solution. Discussed at the meeting were topics such as actions that NGOs should undertake to raise public trust towards them, what are the risks and opportunities today faced by NGOs, what are the examples of NGO participation in the policy-formation process and what should be remedied in this respect? Speakers at the discussion were: Head of the "Georgian Young Lawyers' Association" Tamar Chugoshvili; Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Georgia Davit Zurabishvili and the film critic Gogi Gvakharia. Transcript of the discussion will be posted on the organization's web page. For the full text. Source:ctc.org.ge