Kakheti. On March 29, representatives of the Human Rights Center met the public servants of the Telavi municipality. Aleko Tskitishvili, executive director of Human Rights Center, presented the findings of the HRC’s report „Legal Analysis of the Process of Property Restitution and Citizenship Restoration to Ethnic Ossetians Affected from the Conflict,” which was published with the financial support of the British Embassy in Tbilisi. Read more… ource: www.humanrights.ge

Tbilisi. European Union hosted a conference on women's political participation with women politicians, activists, experts, the Chair of the Gender Equality Council of Parliament, the Human Rights Advisor to the Prime Minister and representatives of various countries. “We all have more to do to progress women's rights and better women's political participation. Thanks to all who joined us online, who shared their thoughts. Let's keep this momentum going forward”. Read more… Source: EU’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Today marks 83 years since the birth of Zviad Gamsakhurdia and 31 years since the referendum on the restoration of state independence. The March 31 referendum was not held in Tskhinvali, Kornisi (Znauri) and Java districts, but the total number of voters in Georgia included the number of voters from this region. In Tskhinvali district, a referendum was held on the territory of seven rural councils, where the total number of voters was 11,376. 10,180 voters (99.68%) answered positively to the referendum question. IDFI offers documents preserved in Russia, at the Yeltsin Center on this and other interesting issues about Zviad Gamsakhurdia's presidency. Read more… Source: jobs.ge

Samegrelo. According to the information of the City Hall of the Chkhorotsku Municipality procured the service of transportation of pupils of public schools of Chkhorotsku from Salome 92 LLC, a company founded two months before the procurement, in January 2022. The value of the contract awarded to this company is GEL 207,197. The owners of equal stakes of 50% in Salome 92 LLC are Salome and Jambul Papava, who have links with the ruling party. Jambul Papava is a coordinator of the Georgian Dream party. According to the organization, The companies owned by Salome Papava, an employee of the City Hall of Chkhorotsku, and his father, Jambul Papava, have obtained public procurements worth GEL 1,080,842 from the Chkhorotsku Municipality since 2012. “TI Georgia believes that the involvement of Salome 92 LLC and general partnership Jambul Papava in the public procurements of the Chkhorotsku Municipality raises doubts about the lawfulness of the process. Therefore, we call on the Anti-Corruption Agency of the State Security Service to study each of the procurements and to establish whether or not they contain possible signs of corruption.” Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Since Tea Tsulukiani was appointed to this position, 70 workers have been laid off from the culture for various reasons related to reorganization and structural changes. In the end, this tendency turned into massive persecution of the workforce. Social Justice Center, ISFED, and GYLA have already been defending the interests of 22 former culture sphere representatives, we will be supporting Gaga Chkheidze too. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

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Imereti. Some 40 problems/needs were identified by Committees of Concerned Citizens in four municipalities of the Imereti Region (Tkibuli, Kutaisi, Khoni and Tskaltubo) and advocated to local authorities. As in previous years, the emphasis was placed on infrastructure improvements: rehabilitation of internal village roads and water supply systems, liquidation of chaotic garbage dumps, upgrade of municipal transport system, installation of outdoor lighting, etc. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. GYLA applied to the Constitutional Court on behalf of Giorgi Gogoshidze and Indiko Abashidze. The impugned norms set the retirement age for academic staff who reached the age of 65 in state-based higher education institutions. According to the GYLA’s position, the disputed norms are the prevailing norms over the Judgment of the Constitutional Court N2/2/863, which is why they should be declared unconstitutional regarding the right to equality before the law without substantive consideration. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. According to the European Union for years the pro-Kremlin disinformation surrounded aggression with lies. See the timeline of Russian aggression against Ukraine by EU vs Disinformation… See the timeline infographic here… Source: www.eeas.europa.eu

Tbilisi. Center for Social Sciences publishes the recording of the CSS online panel discussion on “Russia-Ukraine War: implications for Georgia and the EaP countries”. Learn more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. International Society for Fair Elections (ISFED) publishes the blogpost: TOP 10 Accusations Against Lugar Lab. “For years, the laboratory has been accused of making biological weapons, spreading viruses and performing health-damaging trials. Alongside with false accusations, Lugar laboratory was linked to intelligence services of the USA. Once again, those narratives have become actual when Russia invaded Ukraine. This time, Ukraine has become the main target of propaganda and is accused of working on a dangerous infection pathogens in laboratories. Although, propagandists have not forgotten about Georgia and Lugar laboratory, which was defined as the danger by Russia”. Read more… Source: isfed.ge

Tbilisi. On March 27 the closing ceremony of the School on Party Politics was held. The spring session of the School on Party Politics is the first, theoretical part of the project “Strengthening sustainable political culture among Georgian political parties”. Read more… Source: gip.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia published the survey report: Simplified Public Procurement during COVID-19: The analysis of basic data and risks of corruption. “From June 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021, Georgia’s government agencies signed up to 21,000 large simplified public procurement contracts with a total value of up to GEL 1.7 billion. Simplified procurements on Covid-19-related needs amounted to about GEL 715 million. Out of the GEL 1.7 billion, GEL 1.2 billion was spent on the grounds of holding an event of state and public importance and urgent necessity. Out of the simplified public procurements of GEL 1.7 billion, donors of the Georgian Dream and the presidential candidate supported by the party, Salome Zurabishvili, obtained contracts worth GEL 156 million. This amount was distributed among 210 companies and 11 natural persons that donated more than GEL 14 million – directly or through their affiliates – to the Georgian Dream in the years 2013-2021, including up to GEL 5 million after the start of the pandemic”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Partnership for Human Rights publishes Sophie Menabdishvili’s blogpost: Gaps in the production of statistics on sexual violence against women with disabilities. Read more… Source: phr.ge

Tbilisi. This report of the Coalition for Equality is a critique of social protection programs and social protection policies administered by central and local governments concerning various vulnerable groups. The Social Justice Center, together with partner organizations, identified the main challenges that exist in the field of social protection of persons with disabilities and prepared relevant recommendations for government agencies. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia assessed parliamentary oversight of the Government's performance related to the management of the pandemic during the period between 21 March 2020 and 31 December 2021, and the results of the decision to delegate power restricting fundamental human rights from the legislature to the Government. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Parliament of Georgia failed to carry out effective control of the Government’s performance. The report identified all the shortcomings of the parliamentary oversight over the executive in Georgia.  Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Rondeli Foundation publishes the document: Georgia-Japan Perspectives for Economic Cooperation. Read more… Source: gfsis.org.ge

Tbilisi. Civil Society Institute (CSI) published the book on Communication Strategy for Participatory Budgeting.  Communication Strategy for Participatory Budgeting…

Tbilisi. In the framework of the training program “Georgia's future civil service leaders,” the Rondeli Foundation organized another interesting lecture. The meeting was conducted by Amb. Alex Petriashvili, a research fellow at the Rondeli Foundation. The discussion covered topics related to the role of NATO in containing large-scale aggression by Russia in Ukraine. The training program is supported by the Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. According to Georgian Young Lawyers Association (Gyla) the following document legally assesses this legislative initiative of the Members of Parliament, in particular, discusses the essence/purpose of the dispute over the competence between the bodies and the mandate of the Constitutional Courts in this part. The assessment is based on the legislation of Georgia, as well as the experience of other countries (including the case law) and various doctrinal sources. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Samegrelo. With the support of the UN Women and FAO Georgia, at the Zugdidi Botanical Garden, an event was held dedicated to the economic empowerment of women living in the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region. The main goal of the event was to strengthen the economic empowerment of rural women farmers, promote the products of dairymaid farmers, and introduce their products to the local market and the existing business for further partnership. The event was held within the framework of the project “Fostering economic empowerment of women farmers by supporting homemade dairy production in Georgia through the Farmer Field Schools (FFS) approach”. The project is implemented with the financial support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. Read more… Source: the organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia publishes the report: Anatomy of Georgian Neo-Nazism. “This report by Transparency International Georgia aims to identify the Neo-Nazi groups and associated persons that have recently expressed aggression and exerted violent behavior towards liberal groups. It is difficult to identify them and come up with an exhaustive list since most of these persons belong to informal and unstructured groups. While it is true that it’s not possible to identify the direct funding source of the Neo-Nazi organizations, individual leaders have a direct connection to the Russian government and local political organizations”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge