Samtskhe-Javakheti. A training-meeting was held as part of the small grants project in the Aspindza Public School with the representatives of civic clubs and initiative groups from public schools of villages Toloshi and Oshori of the same municipality. Training-meeting aimed at examining the topics of the new grant competition and teaching through training the skills that will help the youngsters in working on the grant project. The project is implemented by the Akhaltsikhe Youth Center.

Tbilisi. On September 5 the National-Democratic Institute (NDI) has released the results of public opinion polls. According to the poll, jobs, accessible healthcare and territorial integrity are among the three top priorities for the population. In addition, majority of population (77%) intends to participate in the parliamentary elections. The poll was conducted during the period of 31 July - 12 August 2012, and face-to-face interviews with 2,038 respondents were taken Georgia-wide. The poll depicts the population's attitude towards democracy, reforms, foreign and domestic policies, and media. NDI will release the ratings of the parties on September 7. NDI's polls are funded by the Swedish International Cooperation Development Agency (SIDA) and they are carried out by the Caucasus Research Resource Center (CRRC).

Tbilisi. Four civil society organizations have presented the coalition project on September 5 in the "Tbilisi Marriott" Hotel. The project is implemented as part of the East-West Management Institute program and it includes the Economic Policy Research Center, ISET research institute, Liberal Academy and "Transparency International - Georgia". The project aims to raise the Georgian public's awareness on the agendas of political parties during the pre-election period. These agendas are mostly examined from the economic and social perspective. Web page will function within the project framework, which will inform the voters about the position of political parties towards various issues. In addition, expert evaluations by NGOs will be available and the debates on respective issues among the political parties will be organized. The project took off today and tomorrow at 12 pm the economic program of the National Democratic Party will be presented in "Tbilisi Marriott". The Coalition "Georgian Dream", "New Rights" and "Christian-Democratic Movement" will participate in the next debates. The dates of presentation of economic agendas of the Labor Party and the United National Movement are not yet known.

Kvemo Kartli.The Georgian Association of Education Initiatives has organized the seminar on August 29 in the Rustavi Civic Engagement Center on "Why Should I Become a Volunteer". The notion of a volunteer, importance of volunteerism in public life, prospects of volunteerism for the Georgian youth in Georgia and abroad - these were the main topics of the seminar. Up to 50 youngsters from Rustavi and Tbilisi have attended the meeting. The participants have received practical information on the participation in the European volunteer service program. Source: organization's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. The works of Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijani children on adapting to climate change, reducing the risk of natural calamities and protecting the biodiversity were exhibited from August 29 to September 2 in Tbilisi in the arts gallery "Baia". The exhibition of children's paintings aimed to educate and raise public awareness on these issues. The event was held as part of the environmental education week organized under the aegis of the Ministry of Environment. The exhibition was organized by the EU-funded environmental program, which is implemented by the international organization Mercy Corps and the Caucasus Environmental NGO Network. Source: CENN

Tbilisi. To identify the election needs of persons with disabilities, the coalition "For Independent Life" is carrying out the study Georgia-wide. This activity will facilitate the creation of accessible and equal electoral environment for the persons with disabilities. For full text (Geo) Source: disability.ge

Imereti. The winners of the final of national contest "Aliante 2012" were revealed on August31. Following the intellectual and physical games, the teams from Tbilisi, Batumi and Sachkhere became the finalists of "Aliante 2012". In partnership with the Czech partner organization "Euro Atlantic Association" (JAGELLO), the winners will visit the Czech Republic in mid-September. They were awarded with the tickets, travel insurance, certificates and other prizes. The Deputy Defense Minister and the representatives of NATO Liaison Office and insurance company "Irao" have attended the closing ceremony. The national contest "Aliante" is the analog of the international contest "Aliante", which is implemented by "New Generation - New Initiative" since 2008. The project aims to raise the youngsters' awareness on the issues of security, North-Atlantic Alliance and international relations. The project includes the physical and intellectual games among multi-national groups. 25 teams have participated in the final of the national contest "Aliante 2012". For full text (Geo)

Tbilisi. The representatives of the civil society organizations - "International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy", Georgian Young Lawyers' Association and "Transparency International - Georgia" have held a press conference on September 4. They have informed the public about pre-election violations reported on the election portal. The representatives of three CSOs spoke about the regions of Georgia with the biggest violation record and the types of violations prevailing. For full text Source: gyla.ge

Guria. Philologist ZaalChkheidze has visited the small family type house functioning with the Ozurgeti Union of Young Teachers. The workshop took place on 23-25 August. For three days the youngsters heards the seminars in literature and history. Apart from the resident children of the house, up to ten students of the Leaders' School have attended the meetings. During the meetings the speaker of the seminar told the audience about the essence of human liberty and its importance, as well as the less renowned facts that have created the history. In addition, he spoke about the role of mythology. Second part of the seminar was devoted to literature. They have discussed the main ideas of "Knight in the Panther's Skin", drew parallels with prominent works and characterized the heroes; have talked about the parts of this work of literature, which are not so evident and must be read beyond the lines. Throughout the seminar children had the opportunity to learn about unknown facts of lives of prominent writers and poets. On the third day the trainer has examined together with the children two paintings of William Turner. He spoke about different visions in painting, which are related to literature. Seminar participants noted that the information received during these three days was extremely interesting and that they would like to have similar events in the future as well.

Tbilisi. On September 3 the Netherlands Institute for Multi-Party Democracy (NIMD) has presented the web page (www.partiebi.ge). On the web page the public can get familiar with the election entities' visions through a special questionnaire, compare them with each other and pose questions. Currently the agendas of the Coalition Georgian Dream, United National Movement, Christian-Democratic Movement, New Rights and the Labor Party are available on the web page. The web page was created with the financial support of the Dutch Embassy in Georgia. For full text Source: nimd.ge

Shida Kartli. With the support of the "Iris Group – Managing Diversity" and the Gori Civic Engagement Center, the project "Join Civic Education" is being implemented in Gori. Within the project framework the seminars and workshops are delivered to Gori-based youngsters of 15-17 years of age in topics such as human rights, leadership and team work, etc. The participants will be selected based on applications and interviews. Seminars will be held in Gori on 22-23 and 29-30 September. For full text

Tbilisi. On September 3 the National-Democratic Institute (NDI) has released the preliminary evaluation of its long-term observer mission. The report covers the period of 3-27 August. The mission members have visited 24 districts and held over 120 meetings with the officials of the government and election administration, and representatives of political parties, civil society and media. NDI will observe the developments during the polling day with approximately 20 short-term observer team. Interim report of NDI's long-term election observer mission (3-27 August 2012) (Eng) Source: civil.ge

Tbilisi. Civil Society Institute has published the results of contest for regional journalists. The contest, topic of which was "Civil Activity!", aimed at promoting broader and more in-depth coverage of civil activities, CSO activities and the citizens' initiatives. The contest was held in 3 nominations: best newspaper article; best television story; best radio story. The jury of the contest (consisting of Zviad Koridze, Davit Paichadze and Soso Simonishvili) has identified the winner journalists. According to the jury's decision, winners were not announced in the best article and best radio story nominations. 2 winners were identified in the best television story nomination: Mariam Ashughashvili (Kakheti) and Nino Chibchiuri (Shida Kartli), who will be awarded with 500-500 GEL; The bonus price (300 GEL) in the best article nomination will be awarded to Temur Marshanishvili (Guria Moambe, Ozurgeti); The special prize of the Civil Society Institute and 500 GEL will be awarded to Goga Aptsiauri (Radio Liberty, Gori).

Adjara. The Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy and Friedrich Naumann Stiftung will launch the Democracy School in Batumi in October 2012. The Democracy School is a five-month education program, under which the participants will undergo intensive skills training and a professional course in democratic governance, leadership and social entrepreneurship. Trainings will be delivered by practitioners and experts from Georgia and abroad. Participants will also gain access to the electronic learning environment and the small grants competition. Interested citizens and representatives of CSOs, local self-governments, political and media organizations may participate in the program. Deadline for submitting applications for participation in the Batumi Democracy School is September 15. For more information Source: nimd.ge

Kakheti. "New Generation - New Initiative" has organized the three-day training in Kachreti for the graduates of the School of Political Leaders in areas such as political culture, theory of elections, party systems, etc. The project "School of Young Political Leaders" aimed to promote the involvement of young leaders in the political process in various regions of Georgia: Samegrelo, Imereti, Kakheti, Shida Kartli and Kvemo Kartli. The project was implemented with the support of the US International Republican Institute (IRI) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID). For full text. Source: organization's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. The "International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy" released the fifth interim report on the monitoring of pre-election environment. The report covers the period from 1 August 2012 to 26 August 2012 inclusive. Throughout this period ISFED monitored the pre-election period in several areas, namely it monitored: the activities of 73 electoral administrations functioning in Georgia; the public meetings and other political activities held by the political parties/election entities; the facts of abuse of administrative resources; the cases of intimidation/threat on political grounds, prevention of political activities and bribing of voters. The organization continues the monitoring over pre-election environment and will release the next report in the second half of September. Fifth interim report on monitoring of pre-election environment (Geo) Source: isfed.ge

Adjara. On August 31, the "Civil Advisers' Committee" has presented the modification project of the Committee to CSOs and media representatives. This project was developed by the "Civil Society Institute". The "Civil Advisers' Committee is the consultative body existing with the Sakrebulo of self-governing city of Batumi, which aims at enhancing the citizen participation mechanisms in the activities of the Sakrebulo, and submitting the comments and recommendations. Pursuant to the modification project of the "Civil Advisers' Committee", public conventions must be established in all territorial units of self-governing city Batumi, which on its hand will provide a more solid mechanism of citizen participation. Under the new project, each representative of public conventions and two representatives from CSOs, business sector and media outlets operating in Batumi will be the Committee members. They will be elected by the relevant organization. The presentation ended with the discussion as on the effectiveness of the Committee's activities, as well as on the modification of its name.

Samtskhe-Javakheti. From September 14, the "Agro Development Group" starts the development-strengthening of farmers' service centers and veterinary drugstores in Samtskhe-Javakheti (the Municipalities of Akhaltsikhe, Adigeni, Aspindza, Ninotsminda and Akhalkalaki). The organization aims to introduce modern technologies in this region and carry out the educational-qualification activities with the farmers and veterinarians. In addition, it is planned to administer the data base (statistics on animals and farmers, registration of diseases) in the listed municipalities. For full text Source: agro.ge

Adjara. The charity week "We Get Older Too" of the Association "Deserving Old Age" is over. The week was held as part of the project "Social Center for Elderly People" and it aimed at promoting the development of charity and volunteerism culture among the public. Within the scope of the week, the Kobuleti Culture Center has organized the concert of ensemble "Kobuleti". In parallel, the exhibition-sale of the jewelry and souvenirs made by the elderly was held, donations were collected and the information materials were disseminated. Donations were collected by the young volunteers group. The collected money was used for purchasing food products for the vulnerable elderly, which were handed to 100 beneficiaries of the Association on the Day of Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Video For full text Source: www.awa.org.ge

Samtskhe-Javakheti. At the end of September Georgia will host the international conference dedicated to environmental education - "Environmental Education for Sustainable Development: Tbilisi + 35". This conference is preceded by the environmental week, which includes environmental educational events organized at national level by various interested parties. Within the framework of the week, on August 30 the Samtskhe-Javakheti regional environmental union "EcoDakhi" and the Akhaltsikhe Civic Engagement Center have initiated the discussion on the importance of development of eco-tourism in Georgia. The students and representatives of NGOs and the state organizations have attended the event. The discussion participants got familiar with information on eco-tourist activities and services, significance of renewed infrastructure and eco-tourism, values and the economic and social benefits. The participants have watched the film "Protected Territories of Georgia" and they have received the booklets and guiding maps.

Kakheti. The Gurjaani-based initiative group "Kindness is Our Duty" has launched the campaign for assisting the children living in the poor families. On September 1 the organization has assisted 3 families living in extreme poverty in village Akhasheni. Giorgi Mamulashvili, the group leader: "Our objective is to reveal extremely poor families in all villages of the municipality where our group has access to, to inform the public about them and contribute to assisting them". Persons interested in assisting the families can contact the members of the initiative group.

Imereti. The International Overdose Awareness Day was celebrated on August 31. Center "Rubicon" promoting the realization of health rights has delivered practical seminar for the group of citizens in "What is overdosing and how to assist the overdosed before the doctor's treatment". At the meeting the head of "Rubicon" Rati Asatiani spoke also about cases and registration of mortalities caused by overdosing. According to the center "Rubicon" promoting the realization of health rights, similar meetings will be held in the future also.