Tbilisi. According to the information of the Transparency International Georgia the ruling Georgian Dream party, bypassing the Charles Michel Document, adopted a regulation that simplified the possibility of electing the CEC Chairperson and members by a simple parliamentary majority - 76 votes. “It looks like the process will end next week and three candidates backed by the ruling party will be selected by a simple parliamentary majority. This is not in line with the spirit of the so-called Charles Michel Document and shows that the ruling party does not aim to select persons for these important positions based on political consensus. Therefore, the lack of trust from the wide range of political parties and the public in the CEC will remain a problem”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. UNICEF Georgia is calling all interested civil society organizations, international and national non-governmental organizations having a focus on children and adolescents, to register and build their profiles at www.unpartnerportal.org. A newly launched “United Nations Partner Portal’, is a platform collectively used by UNICEF, UNHCR and WFP globally to manage partnerships. All civil society organizations, international and national non-governmental organizations that wish to be considered for partnership opportunities with UNICEF need to register and create a profile in the UN Partner Portal. Read more… Source: www.unicef.org

Tbilisi. Are you a foreigner and need legal assistance in expulsion and non-refoulement procedures? Download brochure and get to know the available legal services… Source: The organization’s page in the social network

Tbilisi. People in Need is starting an online educational course: "Digital transformation Media School" on Moodle educational platform. “The program will enhance the adoption of digital technologies for fighting against disinformation and advance their media literacy skills. The training program offers participants training videos and interesting reading materials”. Find out more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Samtxkhe-Javakheti. A two day seminar was conducted for Georgian media representatives in Borjomi. “The seminar was attended by 20 journalists. Participants reviewed the gender statistics and indicators produced and disseminated by Geostat. They also discussed how to use such tools in practice. At the same time, Geostat representatives listened to the journalists’ feedback, which can be used to improve accessability of gender statistics in the future”. Read more… Source: georgia.unwomen.org

Tbilisi. Charity Humanitarian Center “Abkhazeti” (CHCA), with the financial support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), launches a project in support of the IDP community at 100 collective centers for IDPs in Samegrelo, Imereti and Shida Kartli.                     Source: The website of the organization on a social network

Tbilisi. According to information released by the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), the Parliament of Georgia has approved the Open Parliament Georgia Action Plan for 2021-2022. The organization notes that the vast majority of commitments stipulated by the Action Plan are the result of a civil society initiative. "The Open Parliament Action Plan consists of 19 commitments, implementation of which is planned within 2021-2022 years. The action plan aims to facilitate implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals by the Parliament of Georgia, improve access to information and activities related to oversight of the Parliament of Georgia, enhance citizen involvement in the activities of the Parliament of Georgia, and promote parliamentary openness and transparency”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. On July 25, Georgian Cheese Fest took place in Mtatsmina Park, Tbilisi.  „The festival featured Georgia cheese, honey, tea verities from all over Georgia including USAID/Zrda target municipalities. The Cheese festival was organized through USAID/Zrda support by Georgian Cheese Makers Union and its founder Ana Mikadze“.                                                   Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Advocacy Network for Migration Issues (ANMI) to Be Established. “Vladimer Mkervalishvili, Executive Director of Rights Georgia, Project Coordinators Ani Mukhigulashvili and Ana Gudadze and the representatives of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) held an online meeting with the aim of establishment an advocacy network for migration issues. During the meeting, representatives of various non-governmental organizations discussed the goals of the network, future plans and network membership issues”. Read more... Source: rights.ge

Adaja. UNICEF continues informational sessions on COVID-19 vaccination. This time prominent health experts held a meeting for the teachers of mountainous Adjara (Khulo, Keda and Shuakhevi in particular) about the COVID-19, the importance of vaccination and the immunization trends in Georgia.                          Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Monitoring of social media, carried out by International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, reveals that there are pages on Facebook, which operate in support of the Government of Georgia and the ruling party and undertake the Government function of public relations anonymously. “On such pages, along with information about projects implemented, ongoing or planned by the Government, activities and statements of the ruling party and its representatives, as well as positive opinions expressed by other people about them are also published. At the same time, some of them run a political campaign against other parties. Such Facebook pages accommodate advertisements as well, while the origin of funds spent for that purpose is non-transparent”. Read more… Source: isfed.ge

Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) analyzed simplified COVID-19 related procurement carried out through May 31, 2021. “Doubtful circumstances, revealed in simplified procurement carried out by several state clinics involved in the management of the coronavirus, raise questions about the use of personal or business connections in the contracting process. Despite the fact that state clinics operate mostly on their own revenue, it is important to make sure they adhere to principles of conscientiousness and competition in state procurement. Besides, it should be noted that state clinics involved in the management of the coronavirus are financed from the budget”. Read more... Source:idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Below is the link to the sixth #TRCTalks with Georgian subtitles. The topic of discussion was - "Exploitation of societal divisions by extremist groups Part 1: Middle East, sectarianism and extremism - case studies of Iraq and Syria". Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Raising awareness about participation of women in the decision-making process at the local level and their problems was the main motivator to set up an organization - Women for Regional Development. This was the topic that a film, presented at the movie theatre Amirani, was created o The film was made with the support of the Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG), within the framework of the Civil Society Sustainability Initiative project, supported by the European Union and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS).

Tbilisi. The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics condemns the statement made by the Mayor of Tbilisi on July 20, according to which the Mayor compared activities of the media to actions of violent groups. “The Charter urges representatives of the authorities to refrain from encouraging attacks on members of the media with their aggressive attitudes, as well as to stop talking about norms restricting freedom of thought, speech and expression, support freedom of media and switch to a mode of business relations”. Read more… Source: www.qartia.ge

Tbilisi. “Media Advocacy Coalition” expresses its concern in regard to a statement of the Prime Minister discrediting “Mtavari Channel”, “TV Pirveli” and “Formula”, as well as threatening Nika Gvaramia. “At the July 17 public event with the participation of Garibashvili, there were invited only some representatives of the media. According to the explanation of the press service of the Prime Minister, “the Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili considers that “Mtavari Channel”, “TV Pirveli” and “Formula” have crossed all red lines, they represent a specific political party, are funded and directly controlled by Mikheil Saakashvili and his radical forces, as well as involved in a political campaign against the Prime Minister”. Respectively, this is the reason, for which mentioned TV companies were not invited to the event. It also became known that members of the violent group threaten Nika Gvaramia with deprivation of his life for blocking the Alt-Info Facebook channel. “We call on the Prime Minister of Georgia to stop discrediting the media within the framework of high public responsibility. We call on the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia to launch an investigation into the statement containing intimidation against Nika Gvaramia”. Read more… Source: isfed.ge

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center presents a study related to the history of the Namakhvani HPP project. “This document contains a summary of information regarding all defective and unlawful decisions identified during the process of planning and construction of Namakhvani HPP. On the one hand, the study contains an assessment of the issue of closure of the company selection process and endorsement of the Namakhvani agreement in terms of both legality and fairness, while on the other hand, the document provides a legal assessment of environmental and construction permits and a critical analysis of significant institutional gaps that led to unlawfulness of the project”. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. Since 2002, Georgia has been marking the day of commemoration of the victims of repressions on 22 July. For this day, the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), in collaboration with the society for supporting families and keeping the memory of Soviet repression victims in Georgia „Memorial“, held the Exhibition „Repressed Women in the Soviet Union“ at the Dedaena Park. The history of this day dates back to 1937 when, on this day, a great Georgian poet, Paolo Iashvili committed suicide demonstratively at the building of the Writers’ Union. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Part of civil society organizations and political parties of Georgia address a letter to Kakha Kuchava, the Chairman of the Parliament. “We, the organizations working on human rights and activists have been fighting for gender equality for many years. The violence, committed by Shalva Papuashvili and Irakli Zarkua against women politicians on July 18, 2021, renders the success achieved in the fight for equality meaningless. The silence and inaction of the Chairman of the Parliament in regard to this issue is unacceptable, furthermore, it encourages violence. We urge you to use all available mechanisms in order to respond adequately and make sure that the abusive Members of Parliament - Shalva Papuashvili and Irakli Zarkua are held accountable for insulting and violent actions taken by them against female Members of Parliament”, - is noted in the joint statement. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) publishes a blog post of Mariam Latsabidze, an analyst of the organization: What should (not) be expected from the October 2 elections? “An electoral reform of 2021 is promising, however, it does not address existing challenges adequately because changes do not adjust rules of the game substantially”, - is stated in the blog post. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. On July 22, on the occasion of the day of remembrance of those repressed, the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) offers you Soviet repressions related stories that are collected and retold by Georgian students and have happened directly to their families. “This way stories best demonstrate how Soviet terror and repressions are ingrained in the memory of Georgian youth, who have not witnessed themselves either the Soviet terror or the Soviet Union as such. The three stories, presented below, have been collected by students as a result of interviews with family members, relatives and acquaintances, however, all three are written from the own perspective of students”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. USAID/Georgia Mission Director Peter Wiebler met with journalists and media sector advocates from Radio Liberty, Transparency International Georgia, the Media Development Foundation, the Open Society Georgia Foundation, and IREX. “At the meeting, they discussed the current challenges facing Georgia’s media sector, how programs and advocacy initiatives can help address them, and opportunities for sustained future USAID assistance”.                                                      Source: The organization’s page on the social network