Tbilisi. The meeting was held on October 8 in the Ministry of Corrections and Legal Assistance of Georgia concerning the establishment of a public group for prison monitoring. At the initiative of the Minister Giorgi Tughushi, up to 50 NGOs, religious groups and media outlets were asked to nominate one representative to the membership of the monitoring group. Members of the monitoring group will enjoy the right to visit any institution in the penitentiary system of Georgia with an unlimited schedule and frequency until 31 January 2013. The monitoring group will be set up in approximately one week. NGO "Identoba" (identity) working on the rights of LGBT and gender issues will be also involved in the public group for prison monitoring. The organization's representative will monitor the rights of LGBT persons in the prisons and will react adequately to the reported violations. For full text Source: identoba.ge

Imereti. Charity humanitarian center "Abkhazeti" has released the information bulletin. The information bulletin #7 was released as part of the project - "Ensuring services for capacity building and social integration in the Samegrelo Region". Information bulletin (Geo) Source: chca.org.ge

Tbilisi. The civil society organization "Article 42 of Constitution" responds to the statement of the Chairman of the Supreme Court of Georgia, which he had made when meeting with the diplomatic corps. For full text Source: article42.ge

Adjara. On October 5, the South Caucasus Regional Bureau of the Heinrich Boll Stiftung has held a meeting in the Batumi Civic Engagement Center on the competition announced within the framework of the regional scholarship program. The scholarship program aims to support academic research in the South Caucasus countries. Young researchers born in 1977-1990, who have full higher education and live in the South Caucasus states on a permanent basis, are eligible to file the applications. Excellent command of the English and/or Russian language is mandatory. Priority will be given to applications that offer thematic novelties and innovative methods of sociological and qualitative research. Duration of the scholarship will be twelve months (01.01.13 –31.12.13). Volume of the scholarship is 250.00 EUR on a monthly basis. In addition, the program includes also the relevant seminars organized by the Foundation, summer school and support with the publications.

Adjara. On October 6, the Institute for Democracy and Economic Development of Georgia has presented in the Batumi Office of the Public Defender the results of the project – "Society's Role in Elections". The project aimed at promoting the increased voter activities in the 2012 parliamentary elections. To this end, within the project framework the Institute has held meetings and seminars region-wide with the population on the election procedures. Up to 500 voters have participated in the meetings and seminars, and up to 25,000 persons were informed through a special newsletter. This project was implemented with the financial support of the "Electoral System Development, Reform and Training Center".

Tbilisi. The civil society organization "New Generation – New Initiative" calls on the political parties and their activists to refrain from exercising physical and moral pressure on the election administration, so that it is able to exercise the powers granted to it by law. For full text (Geo) Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Imereti. The United Nations Association of Georgia implements the project "Advancing National Integration in Georgia" with the support of the US Agency for International Development. One of the key components of the project is to stimulate civil activities at local and national level through initiating public discussions and promoting citizen participation in public affairs. The Advancing National Integration project organizes for the youth various trainings and target seminars. The youth component of the project aims to promote democratic and liberal values and establish the youth civil network countrywide by raising civil awareness among the youth in the regions of Georgia. As part of the project, the Kutaisi Youth Center announces the selection of youngsters of 15-21 years of age. Within the project framework the youngsters will be able to plan and implement various volunteer projects. In addition, the project foresees to connect youngsters living in various regions and make them friends through the exchange, inter-regional joint projects. The program's page

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers' Association and the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy respond to the statement of the Central Election Commission. The statement of the CSOs concerns the change of representatives by electoral entities after the polling day. The statement Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. The Consultations and Training Center implements the project, which focuses on the economic integration of the internally displaced persons and population damaged as a result of the 2008 war. 210 entrepreneurs were assisted within the project framework. 210 entrepreneurs have employed over 250 persons, who are mainly family members or relatives-neighbors. Currently the project is in the completion phase. On 9 November 2012 the organization plans to hold a conference, at which it intends to inform the wider spectrum of interested persons about project results, its experience, and to discuss the existing challenges and further steps. The project is funded by the USAID Georgia Office. For full text Source: ctc.org.ge

Tbilisi. "Go Group" will present the chronology of pre-election events. Citizen reporters of the organization, who worked all over Georgia, have already finished filming, and editing of the film will start soon. The documentary will include not only elections and political trends, but it will attempt to depict a certain portrait of the Georgian society. For full text Source: gogroupmedia.net

Tbilisi. Interested persons have an opportunity to get familiar in the Regional Development and Local Self-Government Resource Center of the Caucasian Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development with the new book "Local Authorities in the Central and Eastern Europe: Comparison of Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Russia". Authors of the book focus on the fact that in the post-Communist states decentralization has become one of the key issues during the planning and implementation of political reforms. In addition, the book looks into the examples of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Russia. The Resource Center was set up and functions as part of the Social Transition Program of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Matra). For full text Source: participate.ge

Shida Kartli. Charity humanitarian center "Abkhazeti" continues holding information meetings in the Rustavi collective centers and the IDP settlements of Tsilkani, Prezeti, Metekhi and Teliani. Information meetings were held as part of project – "Income Generation and Business Support Initiative" – and aimed to inform the population about the project in general and the events planned within its framework. For full text Source: chca.org.ge

Tbilisi. In cooperation with the Georgian Association of Social Workers, "Peace Corps" and the civil society organization "Helping Hand", a one-day training is planned at the end of October in "Volunteerism and its development prospects in Georgia". The training aims at informing the participants about the international and local experience of volunteerism and the prospects associated with such activities in Georgia. Volunteers from the Association and NGO "Helping Hand" will also participate in the training. The American volunteers of "Peace Corps" present in Georgia will lead the training. For full text (Geo) Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. The open door day will be held on October 10 from 12:00 pm to 18:00 pm as part of the paid internship program of the East-West Management Institute (EWMI G-PAC). At the meeting the postgraduates and graduates will receive information on the paid internship program, which offers to the master's degree students studying public policy, public administration, political science and similar fields a monthly compensation of up to 250 Dollars, so that they work with analytical non-governmental organizations or the state institutions. The staff of EWMI G-PAC will hold the presentation at 4:30 pm in the English language, and the interested persons can talk to them about the program throughout the entire day. The event will be attended by the current and former interns, who will share their experience with the attendees. For full text Source: ewmi-gpac.org

Tbilisi. The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics condemns the decision of the newspaper "Asaval-Dasavali" to publicize the personal data of concrete individuals. The newspaper has published the personal data of the employees of the Gldani Prison #8. The statement (Geo) Source: qartia.org.ge

Tbilisi.The volunteer project "Your Right to Know" is being implemented in partnership with IDFI. Within the project framework, a one-day seminar will be held on October 21 concerning the theoretical and practical issues related to the freedom of information. Reading materials about the public information issues will be handed out to the seminar participants. At the end of the seminar the participants will elaborate and send out their own public information requests, analyze the received responses and prepare small analytical newspapers. The project aims to raise the students' awareness on good governance, public accountability and transparency, as well as to develop their practical skills in realization of the right to receive information. "Your Right to Know" is the volunteer project funded by the Joint Civic Education, which is the joint program of the "Iris Group - Managing Diversity", MitOste.V. and CRISP and is implemented in coordination with the Theodor HeussKolleg. As part of the seminar, the three authors of distinguished articles will be awarded with the bonus prizes, while their works will be published on the web page/blog ofIDFI. Youngsters of 16-22 years of age are eligible for participation in the project. For full text Source: idfi.ge

Imereti.At the initiative of the Kutaisi Education, Development and Employment Center, the trainings were held in the Kutaisi Office of the Public Defender for the network of organizations in "Networking and Strategic Planning". Training participants received information on networking and its practical application. The training was carried out as part of the project "Equal Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities", which is supported by the "Open Society – Georgia" Foundation. For full text (Geo) Source: kedec.ge

Tbilisi. Georgian Young Lawyers' Association, "International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy" and "Transparency International - Georgia" release statement concerning the developments taking place during the summarization of election results. The statement Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. The Women's Information Center plans to develop the cycle of radio and television programs on the gender topic. The organization seeks ideas about the program's title. General objective of the program is to popularize the gender issues and the women's topic. Each program will be dedicated to a different topic. Please suggest the program's titles to the organization's representatives through the social network Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. As part of the campaign "Let's Live Without Pain", since 1 September 2012 the Ministry of Healthcare obligates medical institutions to apply modern standards of pain management. In case of non-fulfillment of the protocol, a doctor may be fined in the amount of 200 GEL. The campaign "Let's Live Without Pain" was launched in Georgia since 2011 and it aims on one hand to support the introduction of pain management standards in the country, and on the other hand to inform the patients on the pain management services. Under international regulations, non-killing of pain equals to torture. For full text. Source: osgf.ge

Kvemo Kartli. At the initiative of the civil society organization "SIQA - Georgian Association of Education Initiatives", the "ENO-Club" is being launched. It will function for 7 months starting from October. Youngsters of 14-17 years of age will be the members of the "ENO-Club". At weekly meetings of the Club the students will work on environmental issues through the application of informal education method, fulfill specific tasks assigned within the program (in the Georgian and English languages), carry out various studies and activities. The Club aims to raise awareness of the youth on environmental issues. Persons interested in becoming the Club members can fill in the application forms until October 10. For full text (Geo) Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Samtskhe-Javakheti. On October1, to celebrate the International Day of Older Persons, at the initiative of the civic clubs of the Surami Public Schools #2 and #3, charity events were carried out to help the single older persons. The civic club members assisted the single, socially unprotected older person: gathered in grapes and fixed a fence; in addition, they have visited the single older person in village Tsotskhnareti and congratulated the International Day of Older Persons by presenting the food products and sweets. For full text Source: civics.ge