100 years ago, the world’s first Muslim woman Deputy was elected in Georgia. Georgian press of 1918 proudly wrote that among voters of the Eroba of Tbilisi Mazra there would be Fari-Khanum Sofieva, a Muslim woman, representing the Karajala district. After the proclamation of the Democratic Republic of Georgia, elections of Erobas were conducted in the main Mazras of the country. Among them was Tbilisi Mazra, where Sofieva won in Karajala district and became the fifth voter from this Mazra. According to various sources,  Fari-Khanum Sofieva, in addition to her political activities, was also involved in charitable activities and even had a lot of economic initiatives.

Georgia was one of the first countries in Europe to grant women with both passive and active suffrage in the beginning of the 20th century under the Constitutional record (1918–1921). At the elections of the 1919 Constituent Assembly, there were registered about twenty women as candidates in electoral lists submitted by political parties, while 5 women deputies became members of the Constituent Assembly, a legislative body of the first Democratic Republic. They were as follows: Elisabed Nakashidze-Bolkvadze, Ana Sologashvili, Eleonora Terparsegova, Kristine Sharashidze, Minadora Orjonikidze-Toroshelidze. Photo: on.ge

Public Movement “Multinational Georgia” is one of the first non-governmental organizations that unites representatives of 19 ethnic minority communities and 56 non-governmental organizations. The organization actively works in the education, elections, and advocacy fields. Watch the video and learn more about the activities of the organization... More (GEO)

Fatima Margoshvili came up with an idea to establish a library and a literary club during an inter-community training organized by the Europe Foundation. The training touched upon activism, the role, and the participation of young people in the development of society and community. After gaining knowledge and experience, she analyzed severe problems existing within the community and decided to set up a reading room. “There did not exist a public library, equipped with modern literature, in the Pankisi Gorge, neither was there a bookstore, while young people were interested in fiction or scientific literature very much”. Fatima volunteered, assumed the responsibility, wrote the project, consulted with representatives of the Europe Foundation, enquired young people about the type of literature they would be interested in, and purchased about 200 books with the support of the Foundation. Implementation of the project coincided with the pandemic period, however, this did not become a reason for hindrance. “The reading room operates in the village of Duisi in the Pankisi Gorge. This is the only place in the valley where young people can find literature they are interested in and, therefore, they visit us very often. Due to the pandemic, meeting in the library is limited, although, adhering to the rules, we still manage to gather and land books for some time”. There are also held discussions on both literacy and literature together with invited speakers at the club. Participants exchange their thoughts and share emotions about what they have read. Local youth initiated a “Put Your Book” campaign to enrich the library with books. As a result, the reading room was filled with gift books too. The National Parliamentary Library of Georgia also participated in the campaign and donated about 150 books to the Pankisi reading room. Fatima considers that volunteering and youth activism is very important for community development – “The more young people participate in volunteering activities, the sooner our environment is going to change for the better. Big things start small”...

Salome Gardava created new opportunities by overcoming obstacles. It all started with the diagnosis of her youngest son. Ilia was diagnosed with fourth-degree neurosensory hearing loss. For Salome, as a mother, this was a serious challenge - there were no essential services for children with special needs (namely those having hearing difficulties/hearing impaired) in the region, nor was the level of awareness high. It looked like mothers were accustomed to their situation and had no hope of change. “In 2018, Ilia, my son, underwent cochlear implantation, after which the post-operation rehabilitation course is very important for the development of a child. I found out that there was no such service in the region and we had to take a course at the Tbilisi organization. It was a big problem for parents. Children were left without services, so we decided to make positive changes through establishing an organization in the region”. Association “ILI” was established in 2019 in Samegrelo. Its purpose is to protect the rights of children with special needs as well as facilitate personal development and integration into society. The organization counts about 40 beneficiaries. “ILI” actively cooperates with the local self-government and a successful example of this is a decision on funding external auditory processors of cochlear implants taken by the self-government on the basis of a research document related to the needs of children with hearing loss. “From 2020, there has been allocated GEL45000 in the budget of every year, which finances 3 beneficiaries a year. This is our great achievement in the region”. As Salome notes, initially parents were reluctant to participate in projects, in the decision-making process as well as in collaboration with the local self-government. “I remember when 2 years ago I asked them to bring children to film a video clip, it was only one parent who brought a child. While for the last shooting 4 children came. I see the attitude of parents changes and I would like to make them more active”. A room for a rehabilitation center was provided to Association “ILI” for temporary use, which was renovated with donations, however, they lack necessary equipment, furniture at this stage and do not have a speech and language therapist either. “One of our goals is to make a rehabilitation course after cochlear implantation available in the Samegrelo region as well, and we will spare no efforts to do so”.

After the declaration of independence of Georgia, on September 11, 1918, the National Red Cross was founded, on the basis of which the Society of Sisters of Mercy was established. Lots of young people joined the organization, most of the students. 100 years ago, during the occupation of Georgia, they took the wounded from the front line, treated them, how many there were or what happened to them - it is unknown ... More (GEO)

There are 1289 active civil society organizations in Georgia. Their work covers actually all aspect of life. The purpose of this letter is to retell you how and what civil society organizations were doing in the past year of 2020. It is definitely impossible to fit all their activities in just a few pages. We will try to highlight the most interesting topics from them.  Read more (geo)…

The Coalition for Independent Living implements projects that help people with disabilities to build a full life. Get acquainted with its activities in our video.  More (GEO)

After a tiring 48-hour shift, Covid volunteers to personally interview and assist patients in the apartments. Junior doctor - resuscitator Nana Skhiladze, tells us how important now, during the Covid Pandemic, the voluntary initiatives of doctors. More (GEO)

In the village of Skra, volunteers use bicycles to visit elders, collect laundry and take it to a social laundry, while later return it washed. The project “We love you elders” is implemented by the civil society organization “Betlemi” since 2017 and aims at the integration of elders into society as well as the improvement of their conditions. The social laundry was created within the framework of this project and changed the lives of elders while caring for them and attention made their lives easier. A granny, who inspired the project, is still involved in all activities, which is a visible example to everyone that any person can make the lives of others better if s/he has a desire and ability to do so. “Betlemi” existed since 2000 as an initiative group and its member local residents were best aware of the problems of the village of Skra in Gori Municipality. Later on, the initiative group founded a non-governmental organization. A conducted survey revealed that the epidemic had a particularly severe impact as on socially vulnerable lonely elders, as well as on other social groups and families in the Skra community. Those having just a pension as an income are unable to cope with food, medicines, utilities related and other unforeseen expenses, in addition to this they suffer from disabilities caused by age, trauma due to loss of loved ones, or increased cases of domestic violence. The organization “Betlemi” intends to assist even more socially vulnerable, displaced, lonely elders in the community of Skra. Due to deteriorated weather conditions in winter, they plan to temporarily replace bicycles with a minibus that has a washing machine installed in it and visit each elderly person to serve them at their own homes. #ShareTheResponsibility and help those who need you the most, because #ThisCountryIsYours

During the pandemic, the most vulnerable groups, people who need support like never before, appeared to be particularly unsecured. The Civil Society Development Center (CSDC), a non-governmental organization, has launched an “Engage yourself and engage others” voluntary campaign in support of homeless and single women. Through mobilization of volunteers and supporters, its representatives have contacted 100 women to whom they keep delivering first necessity hygiene and food items with the help of volunteers even in the circumstances of restrictions. 25 volunteers, engaged in the campaign, make a significant contribution to the implementation of this project. Representatives of the organization consider that one of their achievements is the mitigation of the situation of single women in the most difficult conditions. The Civil Society Development Center (CSDC) has implemented a number of important and successful projects. One of them aimed at the informational and technological development of schoolchildren in an occupied region of Georgia. This way children visited Tbilisi and, with the support of volunteers, established friendly relations with their peers living in Tbilisi. Besides, it was the toughest project and challenge for the organization to get homeless children off the street and engage them in distance learning. As a result of their tireless work, tens of children have been enrolled in school and are still actively engaged in the learning process. Despite restrictions imposed due to the pandemic, the “Engage yourself and engage others” campaign continues, and, in full compliance with safety requirements, as well as with active involvement of volunteers and supporters, its participants mitigate the hardest living conditions of single and homeless women and children. # ShareTheResponsibility because #ThisCountryIsYours

What does defamation mean and how to distinguish it from freedom of speech? How to defend ourselves from defamation? How we should fight against it so that freedom of speech is not harmed? Marine Kapanadze, Director of the Civil and Political Rights Program at Georgian Democracy Initiative (GDI), will tell us about it.  Interviewed by Maka Jaiani Read more (GEO)