Tbilisi. UN Georgia Resident Coordinator Sabine Machl, UNDP Georgia Head Nick Beresford and OHCHR Senior Advisor Vladimir Shkolnikov attended the annual event organized by Georgia’s State Inspector’s Service. “State Inspector Londa Toloraia informed representatives of the embassies and international organizations about the work done in 2021. She also referred to the emerging challenges brought on by the Government’s decision to abolish the State Inspector’s Service”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) responses results of the Corruption Perception Index 2021. “Transparency International published Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2021 results on January 25th. According to the report Georgia was ranked 45th among 180 countries with the score of 55. Georgia has worsened its results in the index compared to the previous years. In order to respond the existing challenges, it is important for Georgia to renew the functioning of the Anti-Corruption Council, to adhere to the recommendations of international Anti-Corruption institutions, to pay more attention to the fight against corruption, to take into consideration the challenges identified in these areas, develop effective policy documents in a timely manner and undertake ambitious commitments within these strategic documents to make relevant changes”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Shida-Kartli. With the assistance of the GYLA’s Gori branch lawyers’ dismissed person won the dispute. “An employee had been working for the Akhaltsikhe Service of the Civil Registry Agency since 2006. Due to the reorganization in 2020, he/she was dismissed so that neither the staff list nor the written justification for dismissal had been handed over, which was provided by the Labor Code. The plaintiff sought annulment of the dismissal order, reinstatement in service, and the outstanding salary reimbursement for forced absence (payroll reinstatement).  The court of all three instances found that the dismissal did not comply with the requirements of the law; therefore, the claim was fully satisfied - the dismissal order was annulled, the employee was reinstated, and the outstanding salary was reimbursed for forced absence. Accordingly, the judgment has already been enforced, and the employee has been reinstated in the service”. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. On the night of January 30, 2022, 9 people were injured in an explosion in the Mindeli mine. One of them died after being taken to hospital. The Public Defender expresses her deep sorrow over the incident, offers her condolences to the family of the deceased and wishes the injured a speedy recovery.  “The Public Defender calls on the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Labour Inspectorate to respond to the incident in a timely and effective manner, including by identifying the causes of the tragedy, in order to avoid similar cases in the future. The Public Defender also calls on the Labour Inspectorate to identify all the violations and risks within the framework of the current inspection and to use all legal levers to remedy them”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. In the framework of the project "Strengthening Georgia's Capacities for the Prevention of Violent Extremism and Radicalisation", GCSD organized training on – “Violent Extremism and Radicalisation: Challenges and Ways to Deal With Them”. „The participants learned more about the challenges of security, cybersecurity, defense, terrorism and radicalisation on the example of both Georgia and other experienced countries in this field“. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Kakheti. On January 28, the Telavi Education Development and Employment Center (TEDEC) together with the Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC) held a round table discussion about the development of employment support services in Telavi. The meeting was held within the framework of the EU-funded project “Learn for Employment”. Read more… Source: edec.ge

Tbilisi. The WHO and the European Union handed over 180 oxygen concentrators, 2 000 pulse oximeters and other medical equipment to the Ministry of IDPs from Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia.  “The equipment will be used to outfit rural medical facilities to help citizens all over the country have better access to healthcare”. Read more…  Source: eeas.europa.eu

Imereti. Local Democracy Agency Georgia, within the framework of the project "Civil Society Initiative", provided consultations to representatives of civil society and community organizations in Baghdati municipalitiy. The meetings is being organized by LDA Georgia within the framework of the project "Civil Society Initiative", with the support of the European Union and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. According to the information of Georgia Young Lawyers’ Association, the patient, whose interests were represented by the GYLA Gori office in court, won a lawsuit against the Giorgi Abramashvili Military Hospital. The court ordered the medical facility to reimburse the costs of medical care and moral damages in favor of the patient. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia established sexual harassment in the workplace and addressed the harasser as well as the employer, Evolution Georgia Ltd, with a recommendation. The relevant application was referred to the Public Defender's Office by the Labour Inspection Service. “Ombudsman examined the case materials, including the applicant's interview transcript, correspondence between the parties, as well as information received from the third party, and concluded that the applicant was subjected to undesirable verbal behavior of a sexual nature by her colleague, which degraded and humiliated her”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Georgia Fair Labor Platform member organizations mourn the death of the miner and call on the state to immediately investigate the causes of the incident and raise the issue of liability of the relevant senior officials of the company. Read more…  Source: The page in the social network

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center, GYLA, and ISFED will protect the interests of persons dismissed as a result of staff cleansing by Tsulukiani in the cultural field. “Following the appointment of Tea Tsulukiani as the Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth, a reshuffle and large-scale changes began in the institutions subordinated to the Ministry of Culture, which finally took the form of staff persecution. At this stage, a total of 70 employees have been fired from the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation and the Georgian National Museum, and dozens of outstanding employees continue to work in various positions in the same system under the fear of dismissal. We call minister Tsulukiani to stop the persecution of highly professional personnel of the field of culture due to their professional and different opinions and take into account the demands of organized resistance of the dismissed employees, to allow people with relevant competence and experience to continue their work to protect the cultural heritage monuments, museum exhibits and national treasures of Georgia”. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. Human Rights Center publishes the report: The state of Human Rights in Georgia, 2021. “This Report reviews the state of human rights in Georgia in 2021. Traditionally, it covers all significant legal and political developments, which influenced the state of human rights in the country. The report relies on the data collected and evaluations made by Human Rights Center, other Georgian civil society organizations, the Public Defender of Georgia and international organizations. The goal of the report is to assess the activities of various state bodies in terms of human rights protection, also the level of response of different state organs towards human rights violations, the efficiency of the judiciary and the legal and systemic changes which should aim to implement international human rights standards on the national level”. Read more… Source: hrc.ge

Abkhazia-Tskhinvali. Rondeli Foundation publishes the article: Fight Against COVID-19: Russia’s Assistance to Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali Region. “In Abkhazia, the first case of COVID-19 infection was reported on April 7, 2020. The next day, Abkhazia closed its “border” with Russia, however, the epidemiological situation soon worsened. On May 6, about a month later, the first case of COVID-19 infection was reported in the Tskhinvali region, although most educational institutions in the region had been closed since March 20, and the “borders” with Georgia and Russia were also closed on April 5. Due to the aggravated epidemiological situation and scarce medical resources, the de facto governments of Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region appealed to the Russian Ministry of Defense for help”. Read more… Source: kremlin-roadmap.gfsis.org

Tbilisi. On January 28 Giorgi Burjanadze, Deputy Public Defender of Georgia, met with Kirsti Narinen, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Finland to Georgia, and Marja Liivala, Director General of the Department for Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland. “The Deputy Public Defender reviewed the human rights situation in the country and spoke about the challenges relating to the protection of the rights of minorities and elimination of discrimination, shortcomings in the judiciary and other important issues”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Adjara. On January 28, with the support of the Ministry of Health of Adjara, a workshop was held in Batumi, the main topics of which were routine immunization and high levels of lead in the blood of children. „The Multi-Indicator Cluster Survey of 2018 revealed high levels of lead in the blood of children in Georgia. The results of the study were followed by the development of a state program for the prevention of lead poisoning. During the workshop, the effectiveness of the program was evaluated and the next steps were planned for 2022. It is essential that the government takes significant steps to prevent lead poisoning“. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

On January 27, 2022, Nino Lomjaria, Public Defender of Georgia, met with Marija Pejčinović Burić, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, in Strasbourg. „The Public Defender reviewed the human rights situation of Georgia. emphasized the challenges facing independent democratic institutions, including the abolition of the State Inspector’s Office in the hastened and non-transparent manner, as well as attacks on the Public Defender of Georgia. The meeting also focused on the offences committed against journalists and their improper investigation“. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. According to the information of the IDFI on December 13-17, 2021, the Ninth Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention against Corruption was held in Egypt. “The Georgian delegation did not attend the conference and no statement was made on behalf of Georgia. Georgia's inactivity on the most global anticorruption platform is another proof that anticorruption activities are no longer a priority in the country”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. International Society for Fair Election (ISFED) prepared the survey: TikTok - Emerging Propaganda Ecosystem. “TikTok channels used for political campaigning appeared in Georgia in 2020, although they became noticeably active in 2021. As a result, attempts to influence voters’ opinions in the pre-election period went beyond the scale of what was seen on Facebook. Due to the activity of politically motivated actors, ISFED examined the pre-election trends and information manipulations on the platform”. Read more… Source: isfed.ge

On January 26, 2022, Nino Lomjaria, Public Defender of Georgia, met with Régis Brillat, Executive Secretary of the Committee against Torture (CPT), in Strasbourg. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. On January 25th, in the framework of the training program “Georgia's future civil service leaders,” the Rondeli Foundation organized a lecture. The lecture was conducted by Shota Utiashvili, a Research fellow at GFSIS. The discussion was held on Regional security challenges. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network