Tbilisi. The European Union (EU), together with UNDP, kicked off the new Mayors for Economic Growth Facility #M4EG in Georgia. „The #M4EG Facility will focus on cities and municipal centres in the Eastern Partnership countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine), assisting them to emerge from the pandemic crisis and discover new opportunities for sustainable growth and economic prosperity“. Read more… Source: eeas.europa.eu

Tbilisi. Rights Georgia presented draft legislative changes related to freedom of expression to lawyers. “Developed proposals on legislative changes are related to revision of the term of an interested person in the Law of Georgia on Broadcasting, as well as expansion of the criminal composition of unlawful interference in professional activities of journalists and additional guarantees for protection of confidentiality of a journalistic source”. Read more... Source: rights.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...

On July 20-22, as part of the Civil Society STAR Initiative project, a coordination meeting of hubs was held in Likani. The meeting was attended by representatives of hubs and consortium member organizations. The inception phase of the project was discussed and the representatives of the consortium member organizations talked about their activities within the project. Participants also discussed the activities of the hubs and the vision of the progress of the project. Two new hubs were presented at the meeting: Independent Journalist’s House in Adjara and the Society Biliki in Shida Kartli.

Tbilisi. UN Women and the ISET Policy Institute release the research on the labor rights of employed mothers. “Only 3 per cent of the employed women in Georgia are legally entitled to enjoy fully compensated maternity leave. Exceptions occur when employers pay additional compensation voluntarily. The state compensation for maternity leave is GEL 167 per month, which is less than the minimum subsistence level. The results of the research show that Georgian labour legislation sets different standards for different groups of employees. Paid maternity leave is also unequally available to women and men, which is why most women give up their professional activities. Women are typically also responsible for family affairs, so during their childbearing years, they are seen as unproductive, less valued employees. In the long run, these circumstances negatively affect women’s participation in the labour force”. Read more… Source: georgia.unwomen.org

Tbilisi. According to information verified by Myth Detector, a Facebook account “Unity for Georgia” spreads disinformation about Charles Michel. In particular, this account published a photo of a man dressed in a skirt, who, according to the description, is Charles Michel, President of the European Council, and arrived in Georgia wearing a skirt in order to support the Pride March. “The assertion that the published photo was taken in Georgia and the person on it is Charles Michel is false. As a matter of fact, the photo was taken at the Pitti Uomo fashion show on July 1, 2021 in Florence and portrays one of the participants of the event”, - is stated on the website of Myth Detector. Read more… Source: mythdetector.ge

Imereti. The Georgia Red Cross Sachkhere Branch volunteers and Employees are actively involved in vaccination processes and procedures, namely carrying out information campaigns, managing registration, and vaccination queue.                         Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Reading this informational blog post will let you find out how the EU facilitates Georgia in development of digital direction. “Transition to digital services has further increased a digital barrier and made it clear that despite development of digital infrastructure and skills, there are still a lot of underprivileged people within public who are unable to engage in digital economy and society. Therefore, both the EU and the Eastern Partnership countries need to pay more attention to support and empowerment of these people”. Read more… Source: eufordigital.eu

Tbilisi. On July 19th the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) together with the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) presented the final reports of the alternative monitoring of the 2019 – 2020 PAR action plan implementation. results of the alternative monitoring reports on the implementation of Public Administration Reform (PAR) Action Plan for 2019 – 2020. “During the presentation participants discussed the following directions of the PAR Action Plan for 2019 – 2020: Policy Planning and Coordination, Accountability, Public Service Delivery, and Public Finance Management. The monitoring process revealed a number of shortcomings and challenges that characterize the policy-making process in Georgia, including the absence of mechanisms for reduction or elimination of identified risk in the action plan, lack of cooperation and coordination between agencies, weakness of oversight, and etc”. Read more... Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. FactCheck (FactCheck.ge), a fact-checking website of Georgia’s Reforms Associates, publishes a blog post: What did Charles Michel actually say when he mentioned one generation? “A lot of social media sites have spread news as if Michel stated in his speech: “One generation is the distance that separates your society from the doors of the European Union”. According to the translation released by the platform, the President of the Council of Europe in reality said: “I believe our Eastern Partnership is the locomotive for transformation, prosperity and growth. It is equally a powerful symbol of openness, mutual confidence and of our cooperation. It has been one generation of independence for you. And in this one generation, the distance between your societies and the EU has shrunk in unprecedented ways. The EU is your most committed partner for greater democracy, for greater stability, for greater prosperity, and above all, for the benefits of the people of your countries”. Read more… Source: factcheck.ge

Tbilisi. Nino Kviria, the head of the primary structural unit of the Healthcare and Social Support Service of the Rustavi Municipality, says that in order to be fired, she was deliberately persecuted and the grounds for her dismissal were artificially created. On July 16, he was fired by order of the mayor. ISFED is defending Nino Kviria’s interests and plans to use legal protection mechanisms to determine her dismissal on political grounds. Read more… Source: isfed.ge

Today, July 19, 2021, in the Batumi International Conference, Civil Society organizations and Media representatives address Charles Michel, President of the European Council. Read more... Source: civilin.org

Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) has published a study about the results of monitoring the accuracy of December 10 reports of public institutions. So-called December 10 reports imply the publication of an annual report on the state of access to information by public institutions. According to the organization, “the monitoring has revealed that there are frequent cases when public institutions reflect in the data of their reports incompatible with requirements of legislation and/or reality. For example, despite the fact that public information requests of IDFI were left unanswered within the reporting period, indicators, provided in December 10 reports that show how completely public information requests were addressed, as well as current statuses, granted to letters that are overdue for months, point out that public institutions perform unconscientious and manipulative data processing. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. On July 19, 2021, the Public Defender of Georgia met with the Ambassador of the United States of America to Georgia Kelly Degnan. “Today's visit by the Ambassador was a confirmation and expression of the United States' respect for the Public Defender’s Office. Today we focused on the appointment of Supreme Court judges and the problems we see in this process. I also spoke about the events of July 5-6, stressed the responsibility of the State and law enforcement agencies and noted that, unfortunately, despite a number of evidences and indicators, no one has been prosecuted for these violent actions yet,” - said the Public Defender. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. According to information released by International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), Facebook has officially confirmed to the organization that the Facebook page of Alt-Info has been deleted based on the ISFED report. ISFED contacted Facebook and informed it about hate speech statements and calls for mobilization of violent groups made by Alt-Info on its platform. “According to the decision of the relevant department of Facebook, Alt-Info violated Facebook Terms and Policies”. Read more... Source: The website of the organization on a social network

Tbilisi. International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) offers a free service of legal assistance for the 2021 local self-government elections.                                    Source: The website of the organization on a social network

Tbilisi. The Georgian Center for Strategy and Development has obtained rights to official translation of the Chatham House publication “Myths and misconceptions in the debate on Russia”. “The process started in May of 2021 and at this stage the translation of the publication is nearing completion. GCSD will make the Georgian version of the publication available for a wide range of stakeholders, including academia and the media”.                                                             Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. The Education Development and Employment Center (EDEC) condemns the recent violent attacks on the civil activists, the members of the society and the journalists, as they contradict the organization's values such as: justice, the right to make free choice and equal opportunity. “EDEC strongly disapproves the violent calls and acts and calls on the relevant authorities to uphold justice and the constitutional rights of every citizen”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center publishes a blog post of Guram Imnadze: Drugs, police and death. “Nowadays we rarely see mechanisms of obvious violence against drug users, such as street drug testing or drug “planting”, however, it does not mean that drug policy is no longer applied to use people merely as means in the run-up to elections, for police purposes, or to justify personal unlawful actions”. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. IDFI hosted a delegation from Central Asian countries, particularly, from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. "The purpose of the study visit was to familiarize the interested parties with Georgia's experience in openness and transparency, especially concerning open budgeting and transparent management of public finances". Learn more… Source: idfi.ge

Mtskheta-Mtianeti. On July 13, Open Society Georgia Foundation started tranings for municipalities to present architectural projects in line with National Accessibility Standards being approved the by the state several months ago.  “The firts traning gathered respective employees of Tbilisi City Hall and Mtskheta-Tianeti municipalities. The new technical regulation is an integral part of the "Building Safety Rules" approved by the Government, setting out that no building or infrastructure, except for individual private housing, can be constructed without taking into account the needs of people with all categories of physical disabilities. The technical regulation came into force on March 1 and apply to construction permits issued after this period”.                                                   Source: The organization’s page on the social network