Kakheti. The civil society organization "Media Center Kakheti" has organized the demonstration of the movie "Some Like It Hot" in Gurjaani on July 28, in the territory adjacent to the Glory Memorial. The students, American Peace Corps volunteers of the Media Center and the interested citizens have watched the movie. According to Maka Khaziuri, the youth project coordinator of the Media Center, similar events promote the youth activities and their increased involvement in the cultural-educational events: "the organization carries out several events as part of the youth project, and we pay huge attention to the cultural-educational activities. Showing the movie was the initiative of organization's young volunteers". The jazz evening followed the movie show. The events are implemented within the framework of the youth project funded by the Community Development Center.

Imereti. On July 27, the first meeting of the network of organizations working on the persons with disabilities and operating in western Georgia was held. The network was set up at the initiative of the Kutaisi Education, Development and Employment Center (KEDEC) and the Kutaisi Branch of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association. The meeting was held within the framework of "Equal Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities” project, which aims to protect the interests and rights of the persons with disabilities. The project is implemented in Kutaisi, Senaki, Zugdidi, Samtredia and Batumi and its target group includes children with disabilities from 6 to 18 years of age and their family members. The project is financially supported by the "Open Society – Georgia” Foundation. For detailed information visit the link – http://kedec.ge/84--.html

Tbilisi. The first phase of trainings for regional civil society organizations (CSOs) was completed. It was held on July 16–21 in Bakuriani, as part of the "Open Society – Georgia” Foundation initiative, and aimed at strengthening and capacity building of CSOs. In particular, the trainings focused on effective communication, fund raising, creation of networks and sharing of practical experience in the management of volunteers. In line with the Foundation’s initiative, the second phase of trainings is planned in September, which will focus on the advocacy issues. At the summary meeting participant organizations will develop the action plans for resolving the problems of concern in the region/community. After the trainings CSOs will have an opportunity to participate in a small grants competition and apply the gained theoretic knowledge and skills in practice. Several selected participants will go on a study tour to the Czech Republic. CSOs from Imereti, Adjara, Samegrelo, Guria, Kakheti, Shida and Kvemo Kartli and Samtskhe-Javakheti participated in the first phase of the trainings. For full text – http://www.osgf.ge/index.php?lang_id=GEO&sec_id=15&info_id=2931 Source:osgf.ge

Imereti. A public discussion on the prospects of tourism development was held on July 27 in the Kutaisi Civic Engagement Center. The meeting aimed at informing the citizens about major trends of tourism development and resolving the problematic issues in this respect. Staff members of the Office of Economic Policy and Strategic Development of the Kutaisi City Hall, civil society organizations, tourist agencies and media representatives have participated in the interactive discussion.

Tbilisi. On July 26 the coalition Media Advocacy has addressed the Ministry of Justice and the Chief Prosecutor’s Office concerning the arrest of antennas belonging to TV company Maestro. For full text – http://www.media.ge/stories/koalitsiamediaadvokatir0 Source:media.ge

Tbilisi. The Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy will open up the democracy schools in Telavi, Gori, Kutaisi and Batumi. A democracy school is a five-month education program. The learning course includes teaching the modern skills and key aspects of democratic society and governance, as well as leadership. The democracy schools will open up from October 2012 and last for 5 months. Interested citizens, IDPs, and representatives of CSOs, local self-government, media organizations and political parties can participate in the democracy school. For full text - http://nimd.ge/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=81&Itemid=75&lang=en

Adjara. On July 26 the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association presented in the Batumi Press-Cafe the project "Promoting Accountability and Transparency in Georgia” and the "Monitoring Report of State Procurements of Outdoor Lighting under the 2010 Budget of the Self-Governing City Batumi” prepared as part of the same project. The monitoring report of state procurements of outdoor lighting under the 2010 budget of the self-governing city Batumi is related to the process of state procurements and major trends identified throughout the process. According to the monitoring report, the work of the tender commission has violated the requirements of the law, such as the rule of publication of announcement, difference between the annual procurement plans determined in advance and the prices indicated in the tender announcement. Representatives of the civil society, CSOs and media were invited to the meeting.

Kvemo Kartli. On July 23 the society "Biliki” held the event in the culture and recreation park called the "Colorful Summer”. Beneficiaries of the organization’s day centers, members of the civic and journalist clubs and other interested persons have participated in the event. Photo exhibition was organized as part of the event "Colorful Summer”, which covered the events, trainings and interesting activities held within the framework of the summer camp "Talking about Myself”. Pictures were taken by the Georgian, Azerbaijani, Armenian and Chechen participant children themselves. In the culture and recreational park the volunteers did face art for all interested persons, while the trainer of the journalist studio held the workshop in photography for the interested audience. The camp was organized on July 4-10 in borough Ureki, hosted by the civil society organization "Biliki”.

Adjara. On July 25 a humoristic evening was held for the elderly living in the Elderly Social Center. The meeting was organized by the representatives of the Kobuleti Culture Center, and the guests impersonated the heroes of Nodar Dumbadze. In addition, beneficiaries heard various humoristic sketches and pleasant melodies. At the end of the meeting the chairwoman of the association "Dignified Old Age” Nana Kalandadze has thanked the organizers. For full text: http://www.awa.org.ge/index.php?do=news&id=263 Source: www.awa.org.ge

Tbilisi. The Georgian Media Legal Defense Center reacts to recent incidents of prevention of journalist activities and demands adequate reaction so that the facts of prevention are avoided in the future. Statement – http://gyla.ge/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1407%3A2012-07-26-09-20-34&catid=1%3Alatest-news&Itemid=177&lang=ka Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. The civil society organization "Georgian Harm Reduction Network" plans to hold number of events in Tbilisi, Gori, Zugdidi and Batumi on July 28 in celebration of the World Hepatitis Day. At 12:00 p.m. on July 28, all four cities will simultaneously host press conferences and the round tables, at which the obstacles to the treatment will be discussed and the treatment plan and the waiting list will be presented. Patient groups, field professionals, and the state and public sector representatives will participate in the event. At the end of the day, at 5 p.m. the rally will be held in the adjacent territory to the parliament called: symbolic run with barriers. The activities are organized with the support of the "Open Society - Georgia" Foundation, "Doctors of the World - France", and the EU. Link to the detailed information on events planned in Tbilisi and regions - http://www.osgf.ge/index.php?lang_id=GEO&sec_id=28&info_id=2930 Source:www.osgf.ge

Imereti. Independence of the judicial system, increasing the transparency, impartiality of judges and the problems in the criminal cases - the information meeting was held on July 25 concerning these issues in the Kutaisi Branch of the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association (GYLA). Recommendations submitted by GYLA delivered ways of solution of the listed issues. The report drafted by the civil society organizations and the results of 6-month monitoring over the criminal cases in the Tbilisi City Court were presented at the meeting. Civil society organizations and the media representatives have participated in the meeting. GYLA prepares similar reports and releases it to public on an annual basis. According to the Chairwoman of GYLA Tamar Chugoshvili, similar meetings aim to solve problems within the judicial system. GYLA's reports include statistical data that reflect the current state of the judicial system.

Adjara. On July 25, the Batumi Civic Engagement Center has organized the public discussion on the topic: "Declaration of fundamental rules of behavior during the election campaign of the parties". The discussion participants had the opportunity to discuss in details the rules of behavior and the declaration principles, as well as to express their opinions and remarks.

Tbilisi. The blog www.opendatablog.wordpress.com is developed by the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) and aims at analyzing the public information. The blog will host the articles on the aspects of publicity and transparency of information as well. The blog is developed within the framework of the "Public Information Data Base" project.

Guria. The Guria regional parliament of the students functions on the base of the "Young Teachers' Union" since 2007 (the parliament consists of chairpersons of the student self-governments of the partner schools of the organization), members of which implement various types of initiatives. One of the main areas is the examination of problems within the community and conducting the advocacy process. At the end of this year, at the initiative of the regional parliament the advocacy campaign was launched concerning the public transport schedule and the education process in the public schools, within the scope of which 71 teachers and 228 students from 12 schools of the Guria Region were interviewed based on the preliminarily developed questionnaire. The study has revealed that the existing transport schedule is inconvenient and creates number of problems for the school beneficiaries. In the short period it is planned to meet with the representatives of local authorities concerning the identified problems.

Samtskhe-Javakheti.On July 24, the coalition "For Freedom of Choice" held the meeting in the Akhaltsikhe Civic Engagement Center with the representatives of local civil society and media organizations and political parties. At the meeting the coalition representatives have informed the audience about the objectives and action plans of "This Affects You Too" campaign, as well as the problems of electoral environment and necessary measures for its improvement. Leaders of the coalition "For Freedom of Choice" have attended the meeting. They have discussed the issues of reflecting the so-called "must carry" and "must offer" principles in the legislation, the positive and negative aspects of amendments to the law, as well as the "Code of Behavior" of political parties during the election period. "It is important to have close contacts between the Tbilisi-based and local organizations and to exchange opinions and work on these problems so that the public life is invigorated not only in Tbilisi but the regions as well", said Irakli Melashvili. Similar meetings have already been held in various regions of Georgia. The coalition "For Freedom of Choice" plans to have an observer mission and deliver trainings in Samtskhe-Javakheti in the future.

Guria. With the support of the Lanchkhuti Information Center and the Ozurgeti Young Scientists' Club, the local monitoring group has monitored in the Bokhvauri Community the programs and projects implemented in the villages of this Community by the municipality in 2011. Based on the monitoring, a relevant report will be drafted, which will be submitted to the population of the concerned village. Based on the monitoring results, the television story will be prepared also that will be shown to the Guria population by the local TV-company "Guria". The monitoring was carried out within the framework of the "Public Monitoring for Change" project funded by the Eurasia Partnership Foundation.

Tbilisi. The "International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy" protests against pressure on the organization's long-term observers and demands for the Inter-Agency Commission to examine this fact. The organization has posted the statement on its web site. For full text Source: isfed.ge

Guria. With the support of the Lanchkhuti Information Center, the local monitoring group has conducted in the Dvabzu Community the survey of satisfaction of the population with the results of programs and projects implemented by the municipality in the villages of this Community in 2011. The study was carried out within the framework of the "Public Monitoring for Change" project funded by the Eurasia Partnership Foundation.

Samtskhe-Javakheti. Mass deforestation and destruction of the forest, radiation, earthquakes, volcanoes, avalanches - these topics were discussed by the Akhaltsikhe public school students at the scientific conference, which was held on July 21 in the Akhaltsikhe Civic Engagement Center with the support of the civil society organization the "American Corner". The topic of the conference - "Ecological Problems" - was pre-determined. The students have submitted the idea on holding the conference to the organization in the form of the project several weeks prior to the event, and following the work meetings the best speeches were selected. The first, second, and third place winners revealed by the jury and the "audience celebrity" revealed by voting were awarded with the certificates and special prizes of the "American Corner" - the English books. "Such activities assist the young in leading the active life outside the school as well and deepening their knowledge on the environment", - said Mariam Kapanadze, one of the organizers of the conference.

Guria. The civic club of village Atsana of the Lanchkhuti Municipality, in partnership with the local self-government, has taken the effort in ecological education of the local population, and in particular the youth. Village Atsana is located in the landslide danger zone, and therefore protecting the forest is of crucial importance for the village. In order to protect the forest from deforestation, the civic club has decided to raise the awareness of fellow villagers and educate them on ecological issues. To this end, the club has installed the banner on July 16 in the village center. "Protect my roots for me to stop the landslide!" - with this banner text the young urge the population not to resort to deforestation and thus protect the village from landslides. Based on the appeal of the civic club, the local self-government was involved in the banner installation process and assisted the club with necessary materials for the banner. The student members of the civic club have installed and painted the banner themselves. A tangible result achieved on their own initiative and the successful partnership with the local self-government has given them the stimulus to repeat similar activities in the future and be engaged in the civil process.

Adjara. On July 21, the Batumi Civic Engagement Center and the Autism Society of Georgia have jointly organized a public meeting on the topic: "Autists: Strategies and Approaches”. Representatives of the civil society organizations and media were invited to the meeting. The pilot study has revealed the statistics of autism spectrum disorders in Georgia: one out of every 110 children is affected with autism. Approximately 500 children having an autism problem are identified in Georgia annually. The Autism Society of Georgia will try to facilitate the unification of parents of persons affected with autism spectrum disorders and the professionals, search for existing resources as domestically as well as in the region and worldwide, establishment of contacts with other experienced civil society organizations and the formation of services for persons affected with autism spectrum disorders.