The web portal CsoGeorgia.org releases a weekly newsletter of grants competition, contests, vacancies, fellowships, and tenders for civil society organizations, and for any interested person. Newsletter...

Tbilisi. According to information released by the Social Justice Center, the authority granted to the Government to impose restrictions for coronavirus prevention is extended until 2023. “Resolving such fundamental issues related to human rights is the constitutional authority of the Parliament of Georgia. While the “Law on Public Health” envisages transfer of this authority entirely to the Government, which is equivalent to refusal of the Parliament to perform its legislative function and legalization of a de facto state of emergency in the country”. The organization considers that the Parliament should not limit itself to the automatic extension of the deadline for delegation of authority to the Government and should thoroughly arrange the scope of authority of the Government in the pandemic management process. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge Photo: parliament.ge

Tbilisi. The Media Development Foundation (MDF) has published its annual report – “Hate speech - 2020”. “The purpose of the study is to identify various forms of hate speech in the media and public discourse and to reveal their sources”. Read more… Source: mdfgeorgia.ge

Tbilisi. UN Women together with the Business and Technology University and in partnership with IT companies, launches a new programme – 500 Women in Tech with the support of the Norwegian Government. “The project was launched on December 21 and it aims to enhance women’s participation in technologies throughout Georgia. The programme is designed for the beginners as well as for women and girls who already have some experience in this field”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia publishes a special report on the legal status of the children of the St. Nino orphanage in Javakheti Ninotsminda. "The results of the study showed that despite the steps taken after the events of spring 2021, the boarding school still faces a number of challenges, both in terms of producing documentation for the institution and caregivers, as well as assessing and meeting the individual needs of minors, including bio-psycho-social needs. The issue of communication and exchange of information between agencies and institutions working with children is problematic and ineffective, which has a negative impact on the process of meeting the needs of minors and is against their interests," the study said. Read more…  Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. The European Union has signed agreements for closer cooperation in research and innovation with 🇬🇪 Georgia. “For the period 2021-2027, Georgia has been granted association status to #HorizonEurope, Europe's research & innovation programme. Researchers, innovators and research entities established in the Georgia can now participate, under the same conditions as entities from the EU Member States. Learn more… Source: eeas.europa.eu

Tbilisi. The Social Justice Center publishes an evaluation: Security sector, law enforcement system and repressive criminal policy-2021. “Institutional reforms of the law enforcement system, the prosecutor’s office and the police have been substantially suspended this year. Closed style of these agencies and lack of cooperation with civil society organizations continue to be a challenge. The major problem remains instrumentalization of the prosecutor’s office and the police for political purposes as well as use of these bodies to suppress public or political protests”, - is stated in the document. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. According to information released by Transparency International Georgia, the commitment to adopt the Law on Freedom of Information still remains unfulfilled. “The Government of Georgia should have submitted the bill on Freedom of Information to the Parliament in 2015, however, this obligation, committed within the framework of the Association Agreement signed with the European Union, is still unfulfilled. It is necessary to urge both the Ministry of Justice and the Government to resume/start the process of initiation of the bill with the involvement of all stakeholders in order to fulfill commitments as soon as possible”, - is noted in statement released by the organization. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The Social Justice Center publishes a blog post by Tigran Tarzyan reviewing problems of children left without pre-school education in the Javakheti region. “There neither was and nor is a kindergarten in the village where I live, even though currently there reside about 15 children of kindergarten age there. Everyday village life is hard. It is exhausting work, long working day, a lot of things to do both indoor and outdoor. Morning starts early by performing household and domestic chores. Each member of a family has a particular duty. Everyone works from morning till late at night. Even children are not exception. In the village, they are also involved in the work process and, consequently, they miss the opportunity of age-appropriate upbringing and education. The fact that education is not available from an early age aggravates the situation related to integration of children belonging to ethnic minorities. They do not learn the language and that further worsens the situation”. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. The Social Justice Center presents an evaluation made by the organization in regard to the state of religious freedom and non-dominant ethnic groups in the country in 2021. “We witnessed social conflicts with religious and ethnic connotations in our country this year as well, which fact again failed to draw attention of the Government to positive transformations and substantial reforms in the policy of equality and integration. Moreover, pre-election processes in regions densely populated by ethnic minorities and efforts of the Government to use them as a political tool once again demonstrated political arrangements for retention of a weak policy of integration of these regions, their exclusion from democracy and peripheralization”. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. On December 17, In the scope of the "National Security and Public Policy" program, a new module - "Turkey and the Region" has started. Lectures are conducted by Zura Batiashvili, Rondeli Foundation's Research Fellow. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. The Social Justice Center presents an evaluation: What the rights-related situation was in conflict regions in 2021. “In 2021, the situation in conflict regions has not improved. Critical rights-related challenges keep complicating the daily lives of people living here. Discriminatory practices against ethnic Georgians continue to take place in Gali and Akhalgori. In 2021, teaching in the Georgian language was completely prohibited at schools of Gali. This decision virtually completed the process of Russification at schools Gali, which started years ago. There is the same situation in the Akhalgori education sector. It is still impossible to improve the regime of traffic with conflict regions, which fact resulted in a number of tragic consequences in 2021”. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Samtskhe-Javakheti. The Social Justice Center presents the third episode of stories about women from villages of the Javakheti region. “Previously, girls used to get married right after they became 18 years, while nowadays many prefer to study. I would like all of them to study...” Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. GCSD organised the second meeting of the Platform for Private-Public Dialogue on Terrorism and Violent Extremism. “The platform for private-public dialogue on terrorism and violent extremism was established under the program - "Enhancing the Capacity of Georgia in Preventing Violent Extremism and Radicalisation". The aim of the Dialogue Platform is to share the knowledge and practices accumulated in the prevention of violent extremism and the fight against terrorism in the public and civil sectors, support coordination between the public and non-governmental sectors and thus to promote effective policies”. Read more… Source: www.gcsd.org.ge

Tbilisi. The EU has launched the Eastern Partnership Trade Helpdesk, a new tool that will help SMEs in Georgia identify new opportunities, potential partners and check necessary requirements and procedures. Find out more here... Source: eeas.europa.eu

Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) considers that developments occurred in regard to approval of budgets for Batumi and Zugdidi for the year of 2022 raise doubts about legality of decisions made in conjunction with these processes in material terms. “Such a practice contradicts both democratic principles and the essence of local self-governance, reinforced by the Constitution, thus endangering perspective of democratic governance to be performed by population at the local level”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. During the Human Rights Week, representatives of the Eastern and Western Georgia Regional Divisions of the Public Defender's Office held information meetings with target groups of the municipal centers and introduced them to the general principles of human rights and the mandate of the Public Defender. “The participants showed particular interest in the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on human rights and the practice of the Public Defender in terms of elimination of the challenges and problems identified”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. On December 16, 2021, the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) with the financial support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) held the 3rd International Conference: "Openness of the State Archives and Memory Studies". “The conference focused on transformations and challenges in the field of archives and archival openness. Issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact were discussed, as well as the relevant legislation and prospects for popularizing archival research”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. The European Network of National Human Rights Institutions and its partners have issued a joint statement in support of the Public Defender of Georgia. “Due to its recent work, the Georgian Public Defender (Georgian NHRI) has faced continued verbal threats and attacks by prominent politicians. We call on the Georgian Government and Parliament to uphold the clearly defined international principles, and protect the Georgian NHRI from intimidation, threats, or any actions that may limit its independence and effectiveness.  Indeed, they have a duty to ensure that institutions that monitor the state are protected from undue interference, and are not hindered in their work to promote and protect human rights, equality, good governance, and the rule of law”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. On December 16, 2021, the Public Defender of Georgia published a special report – “Human Rights Education at the Higher Education Level in Georgia”. “The report reflects the results of the monitoring of the quality of human rights education in undergraduate law programmes and provides relevant recommendations to address shortcomings. The study showed that in most of the undergraduate programmes, basic human rights and freedoms are taught in only one compulsory subject. In addition, as a rule, the content of the subject is limited to the study of the rights reflected in the second chapter of the Constitution of Georgia, and in this process students are almost not required to analyze the rulings of the Constitutional Court”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. The Social Justice Center presents a summary evaluation of labor policy in Georgia. “2021 developments have once again highlighted the systemic, severe experience of breach of human rights and visible or invisible practices of exploitation of employees in the workplace, which facts are connected with inconsistencies and fundamental shortcomings in labor policy. Above developments were not only individual labor disputes but also general social protests against the existing economic and social system, which has so far failed to ensure minimum wellbeing and social security of those employed”. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge