Open Government GeorgiaThis document represents an Open Parliament Georgia Action Plan which aims to ensure openness of the Parliament and transparency of parliamentary information, and to facilitate citizen engagement in parliamentary work and legislative processes in line with the principles of the Open Government Partnership (OGP)1 and the Declaration on Parliamentary Openness.

The Open Parliament Georgia Action Plan sets forth 18 commitments developed with the joint effort of the Inter-Factional Group, established by the Decree #19/3 of the Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia, dated 12 February 2015, and the Open Parliament Georgia Working Group participant international and non-governmental organizations. The commitments are based on the four core principles of the Open Government Partn

2015

On 12th of December, 2013 Civil Society Organizations and the Parliament of Georgia signed the Memorandum of Cooperation. The memorandum was signed by the Chairman of the Parliament and more than 145 Civil Society Organizations. The memorandum is an open document and any CSOs can join it freely, if they agree on the content. By this memorandum the Parliament of Georgia and the Civil Society Organizations are establishing new standards of cooperation.

As mentioned above, the memorandum is an open document and any CSOs can join it, if they agree on the content. CSOs can join it via e-mail (eka@civilin.org) or by coming in the office of Civil Society Institute and signing the document (address: 2, 26 May Square, Civil Society Institute, Tbilisi, Georgia).

2013

Working on the initial draft of the State Concept on CSO Development is completed. The Concept is a key program document on the CSO development policy, which aims to foster civil initiatives, set up environment required for the development of CSOs and ensure their real participation in the decision-making process. By the Memorandum of Cooperation executed between the Parliament of Georgia and CSOs on 12 December 2013, the Parliament of Georgia undertook an obligation to draft and adopt the State Concept on CSO Development together with all interested parties. CSOs have set up a working group for drafting the Concept, which included representatives of active CSOs (including regional organizations of Georgia) and parliamentary majority and minority. Conducting a participative process was one of the key tasks of the working group. To this end, the Civil Society Institute has organized public discussions of the document with CSOs operating in 8 cities of Georgia (Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Zugdidi, Ozurgeti, Batumi, Akhaltsikhe, Gori and Telavi). Based on the feedback received from regions and recommendations of international experts, the draft Concept was revised and improved. Further, the Concept was actively examined within the "CSO Development Effectiveness" sub-group of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum. To harmonize the opinions of all interested parties, the draft CSO Concept on CSO Development is already available on the CSO web portal and all interested parties are able to get familiar with the initial version of the Concept. Please send your opinions, comments and recommendations to the following e-mail: eka@civilin.org

2013