Tbilisi. The Public Defender is responding to the various opinions expressed around the multifunctional council created by the Ministry of Justice and believes that the Ministry of Justice/Special Penitentiary Service should ensure the full protection of Mikheil Saakashvili's health and make the work of the multifunctional council more systematic and effective. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Racha. The Vaccines for Life campaign is reaching out to the region of Racha. Up to 400 people attended information meetings in the Ambrolauri and Oni municipalities. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. On November 15, 2021, the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) conducted training on effective oversight, data extraction methods and the data visualization for participants of the Certification Program in Fighting Corruption. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Public Defender of Georgia releases a statement on insulting Campaign against employee of Penitentiary Institution. “The Public Defender considers that such a massive and gross interference in an area protected by the official's right to privacy before the end of the investigation is unacceptable, especially given that the information spread in the media space has not been verified. At the same time, the Public Defender reiterates the need to protect the psycho-emotional state of the juvenile living in the family of the addressee of the campaign and, considering his/her best interests, calls on the public to refrain from spreading abusive inscriptions and posters against the employee of the Penitentiary Service in public space, which may incite, inter alia, child abuse, bullying and other actions”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. On November 15-16, STAR Initiative is hosting the two-day workshop with participation of KAS Berlin, project partners and representatives of the regional hubs. Today, the audience is discussing the project activities, its sustainability strategy, and the major tools to measure and monitor the STAR impact on our community. The project 'Civil Society STAR Initiative' is implemented by the Consortium led by KAS and composted of the following CSOs - CSRDG, CSI, CTC, EDEC, IEP. STAR Initiative is supported by the EU and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. Read more... Source: The organization's page on the social network

Tbilisi. Supported by the EU and the Green Lane NGO and in the scope of Global Entrepreneurship Week, on November 24, CENN hosts a regional meeting - Importance of Measuring Social Impact and Its Methodology.  Registration… Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Samegrelo. UNICEF Georgia continues information meetings about COVID-19 vaccination. This time meeting conducted with the teachers from Tsalenjikha municipalities. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Civil society organizations operating in Georgia address the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture requesting to apply the authority stipulated by its mandate so as to pay an ad hoc visit to the penitentiary system of Georgia and conduct monitoring of the situation related to fundamental rights of President Saakashvili. “We are deeply concerned about the fact that such treatment of prisoner Saakashvili, while the full attention of society is focused on his health and rights related situation, raises serious questions also in regard to treatment of other prisoners and their rights related situation. We consider that evaluation of the current situation in the penitentiary system of Georgia, including treatment of the imprisoned third President of Georgia, by an international authoritative monitoring body is important in terms of improvement of protection of human rights in Georgia”. Read more… Source: tdi.ge

Tbilisi. Media Advocacy Coalition calls on the Ministry of Justice to stop discrimination against journalists. “On November 11, 2021, media representatives critical of the Government were not invited to the briefing planned by the Minister of Justice of Georgia and only a part of the media was able to attend it. We consider that such a discriminatory approach breaches the right of media representatives to perform their professional duties, to receive and disseminate information on important issues. Besides, it limits the opportunity of society to monitor ongoing processes based on various sources”, - is noted in the statement. Read more... Source: The website of the organization on a social network

Tbilisi. IDFI reacts on video footage of violent admission of Mikheil Saakashvili into the 18th penitentiary facility. “Dissemination of abovementioned recordings does not serve the purpose identified by the State. Moreover, it leaves the impression that the real purpose of public availability of video recordings was to demonstrate the use of force against the prisoner and violate the dignity of the third President of Georgia with such means. The government shall respect national and international legislation, rule of law and statehood of Georgia and halt any action that undermines the dignity of the third President of Georgia”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. On November 11, 2021, the Ministry of Justice/Special Penitentiary Service violated the prisoner’s right to honor, dignity and privacy by releasing the footage showing the placement of Mikheil Saakashvili in Medical Establishment No. 18 against his will. The Public Defender demands that the Minister of Justice and the Special Penitentiary Service respect the rights of prisoners and stop violating Mikheil Saakashvili's personal data, honor and dignity. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

On November 11, 2021, the International Day of Social Entrepreneurship, there was held a multi-actor meeting in an online format on “Enabling environment for social entrepreneurship in Georgia - current situation and perspectives”... The meeting was organized by the Civil Society Institute (CSI) in collaboration with partner organizations and Mariam Lashkhi, Deputy Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Parliament of Georgia. The main purpose of the event was to establish a platform for cooperation among actors in the field in order to facilitate a supportive enabling environment for social entrepreneurship. About 50 representatives of the public, civil, and private sectors were invited to the meeting to discuss these issues. Read more…  The project - “Advancing Social Entrepreneurship for Sustainable and Inclusive Society” is implemented by the Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG) with the support of the European Union and “Bread for the World”. Partners of the project are Social Enterprise Alliance Georgia (SEA), Civil Society Institute (CSI), Georgian Civil Development Association (GCDA), Democratic Development Union of Georgia (DDUG), European Venture Philanthropy Association (EVPA), and LEPL Youth Agency.

Tbilisi. According to information released by an organization “Sapari”, the UN Women Committee has published a decision on the case of Khanum Jeiranova. Jeiranova had been accused of extramarital affairs. On September 16, 2014, she was attacked by three relatives of her husband, who dragged her across the village and beat her severely. The woman was also forced by family members to commit suicide with rat poison. The mother of Jeiranova found her dead in a shed the next day: the body was hanging on a rope. Mullahs, who served the body of the woman, noted that her clothes were saturated with blood, while according to the testimony of a witness, she had been “beaten to death”. “The UN Women’s Rights Committee concluded that Georgia failed to ensure investigation and prosecution related to gender based violence as well as to violence in the name of dignity committed against a women, who was brutally beaten by family members in front of her young children, which fact resulted in her death. In the viewpoints about the violation published today, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) expressed its concerns over the fact that the authorities of Georgia failed to ensure detention of family members of Khanum Jeiranova, the victim, and bringing them to justice for beating her to unconsciousness, as well as in regard to the decision of returning her back to relatives, after which fact she was found dead”. The committee instructed the state to launch an independent investigation and punish perpetrators. Read more… Source: sapari.ge

Tbilisi. Signatory organizations respond to facts of detention of participants of rallies held in Tbilisi on November 10 this year and consider that the practice of mass arrests applied by law enforcement agencies violates the right to peaceful assembly and expression. Besides, it is also problematic to hold detained people in police vehicles for a long period of time, delay their transfer to detention centers, and restrict detainees to have an access to a lawyer in this process. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. On November 10, the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) and the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), with the support of the European Union, presented a study on “Best European practice of public administration and Georgia”. “The study covers policy planning and coordination, accountability, public service delivery and public finance management related directions. The purpose of the study was to examine models of successful European countries in these fields and develop recommendations based on the analysis of their public administration systems in order to facilitate effective implementation of Public Administration Reform in Georgia. Read more... Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center presents an article that aims to overview the process of formalization of the informal economy and restrictions related to it, as well as approaches of the informal economy and challenges faced by developing countries having high indicators of the informal economy. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

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. MAC Georgia is pleased to announce that the third round of our Mestumre program has now officially begun. “An elderly companion volunteer program, Mestumre seeks to connect older individuals living in nursing homes with volunteers. These volunteers commit to visiting their companions (online or in-person) once a week for a period of six months”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. The Coalition for an Independent and Transparent Judiciary releases a statement considering that public response of several judges to the statement made by the Administrative Committee of the Conference of Judges and their dissociation from it might be an important step in restoring public confidence in the judiciary. “On November 4, the Administrative Committee of the Conference of Judges of Georgia released a special statement. In the statement, instead of addressing questions existing within society, the Administrative Committee accused civil society organizations and international actors of meddling into activities of the judiciary system emphasizing the importance of judicial independence. The problematic nature of the statement was also demonstrated by the fact that in the following days several judges publicly distanced themselves from it”. The Coalition member organizations: call on sitting and former judges to speak openly and publicly about challenges existing in the judiciary system; express their full readiness to protect the interests of judges, both nationally and internationally, in case they are subjected to direct or indirect sanctions for expressing dissenting and critical opinions. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia is responding to the statement made by Gigi Ugulava during a rally on November 9, 2021, which poses a threat to the child's psycho-emotional state and violates the best interest of the child- to be protected from any form of violence. The Public Defender emphasizes that it is inadmissible to use children, their personal lives and family status as tools of political debate. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Tolerance and Diversity Institute releases a statement on the persecution of the third president. “Against this backdrop, the incarceration of the third President Mikheil Saakashvili adds to already heightened tensions, making the situation even more explosive. It is obvious to us that Mikheil Saakashvili has been subjected to politically motivated persecution, retaliation, degrading, and inhumane treatment. It stems from the open statements and decisions made by leaders of the ruling party. The Ombudsperson of Georgia also speaks about it in a critical context. Deliberate aggravation of the situation by the government and its refusal to transfer Saakashvili to a city hospital, the initiative of the Justice Ministry to conduct a trial of the third president of Georgia in the jail, appalling psychological pressure and alleged violence committed against Saakashvili, all this builds formidable barriers to any attempt to achieve a quiet political environment, destroys any opportunity to establish a dialogue between the government and the opposition and nudges the society towards civil confrontation. Such conditions pose a danger to the freedom, life, and health of every citizen in the country. It is absolutely necessary today to protect the life and health of Mikheil Saakashvili, to stop politically motivated persecution against him, and to save the country from ultimately slipping into authoritarianism and burying democracy once and for all”. Read more… Source: tdi.ge

Tbilisi. Part of civil society organizations in Georgia calls on the authorities to relocate the third President to an alternative medical facility. “We consider that full responsibility for current developments lies with the Government. Decisions taken by them in regard to the treatment of Mikheil Saakashvili are neither aimed at defusing the severe political crisis in the country nor conditioned by the health interests of the prisoner. Taking into account the current political situation, the country may be plunged into civil unrest as a result of unjustified steps taken by the Government. We call on the Government to take particular steps that are necessary to de-escalate the situation. Meanwhile, immediately relocate the third president of Georgia to an alternative medical facility, where his dignity, life, health, and safety will be ensured”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge