Tbilisi. The Executive Director of the European Foundation for Democracy has met with the CSO and media representatives. The meeting aimed at getting familiar with the mandate and working principles of the Foundation established three months ago. The European Foundation for Democracy was founded recently with the joint efforts of the EU member states and the EU institutions. This is the new European initiative, which aims to support and foster the "deep and sustainable democracy" in the transitional democratic states and societies struggling for democratization.

Samtskhe-Javakheti. Last week the representatives of the Association of Young Economists of Georgia have met in Akhaltsikhe with the students of the Samtskhe-Javakheti State-Learning University. The meeting aimed at involving the students in the process of planning the budget of the Akhaltsikhe Municipality. Young Economists have discussed with students the project that the Association implements with the German Cooperation Society. This project foresees the participation of youth in the local budget planning along with other target groups. The specialist in the sports and youth affairs of the Culture Department of the local self-government has attended the meeting. Meeting of the local self-government representatives with students was planned as well.

Tbilisi. Coalition for an Independent and Transparent Judiciary released a statement about the meetings with Presidential Candidates. "Coalition is ready to promote in pre-election period information and opinion sharing process among civil society representatives and presidential candidates on topical issues of judiciary". For full text Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. In connection with the Khudonhesi project, CSOs expressed their position on legal issues as well as the recent developments. The statement (geo) Source: greenalt.org

Tbilisi. The School of Liberalism has hosted on October 11 journalist ZviadKoridze's lecture "Liberalism and Freedom (Ilia Chavchavadze)" Part II. For those who were unable to attend the lecture the School offers a video recording of the lecture. Source: the School's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. The Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center has published the blog post of Koka Kighuradze and Nino Sukhishvili on the gaps of the Georgian electoral system and recommendations. "Experience from recent years illustrates that often in respect to essential issues the government does not take into account the recommendations of international and local non-governmental organizations, which in a way indicates the lack of the state's will to reform an electoral system in view of active involvement of the civil society and political parties. However, in the recent period there is a pleasant tendency and political will that issues related to an electoral system become a subject of wider discussions and are revised substantially", says the blog post. For the full text (geo) Source: emcrights.wordpress.com

Tbilisi. CSO "Civic Engagement Institute" administers the "Presidential Elections Portal", which aims at informing the voters about presidential elections. Public will be able to get familiar with the biographies and agendas of registered presidential nominees. Further, citizens can assess and express opinions on the presidential nominees and their election agendas. "Presidential Elections Portal". Source: Civic Engagement Institute.

Tbilisi. Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association,  Transparency International Georgia and International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) released a statement. "We would like to voice our position on the developments at the session of Interagency Commission for Free and Fair Elections held on October 11, 2013 when the United National Movement made a decision on leaving the commission".  "When only two weeks are left before presidential elections and  the election campaign enters into active phase, it is vital for parties to return to working regime. To this end, the conflict needs to be resolved immediately.  We consider reasonable the UNM to resume its participation in the commission and the head of the commission to secure holding of sessions in "constructive” atmosphere", says the statement. For full text Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Members of the Youth Parliament of Georgia have organized on October 12 a peaceful protest rally in front of the National Olympics Committee – "No to the Sochi Olympics". The Youth Parliament believes the Georgian delegation must not participate in the winter Olympic games...". For full text (geo) Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. On October 12, the Young Constitutionalists' Association has held a briefing on Georgia's participation in the Sochi Winter Olympic Games."The Georgian Young Constitutionalists' Association" distances itself from the petition on boycotting the Olympics and calls on the civil society to approach this issue with more pragmatism. At that, the Association expresses its support to the Georgian sports, each Georgian sportsman and wishes them success at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games", says the organization's page. For full text (geo) Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. Georgian young lawyers' association released a response to the October 10 Statement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. On October 9-10, 2013, GYLA released statements about cases of Davit Kapanadze and Levan Korkotashvili.  "In response to GYLA’s statement about L. Korkotashvili’s case, the Ministry of Internal Affairs released an official statement on October 10, saying that the information provided by GYLA "is not true”, The statement also noted that "similar statements are aimed at discrediting police and it is owing to release of fabricated information that image of police often suffers.”  "We have no illusions that reforms and changes are easy at the Ministry of Internal Affairs were thousands of people work. We also understand that we will not be able to create a system in which there is a zero chance of violence by the police against citizens. Rather, actions in response to similar facts are important, as well as effectiveness and objectivity of investigation. Due administration of investigation is the most effective mechanism for preventing any future occurrences of undesirable facts. It seems that in the present there is no will of the authorities to use the mechanism. Such responses to similar facts are in fact the reason why the image of the system suffers", says the organization's statement.  For full text Source:gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia released a blog post - "Georgian Government must establish mechanism for online petitions”.  "The best way of addressing this problem is for the Georgian Government to create a dedicated website that would allow citizens to submit petitions to the authorities. This system would promote more active participation of citizens in the policymaking process". "The Georgian Government has already committed to creating such a system. According to the action plan that the Georgian Government has submitted under the Open Government Partnership initiative, the Ministry of Justice is to establish (in 2013) the ichange.ge website that will allow citizens, among other things, to create e-petitions. The action plan says that the authorities will be required to react to a petition once the number of signatures reaches a certain threshold". For full text Source:transparency.ge

Samegrelo. The Estonian Ambassador to Georgia Mr. Priit Turk has visited the Zugdidi Office of "Transparency International – Georgia". The Ambassador was interested in the pre-election environment in Zugdidi, as well as the issues of partnership between the local self-government authorities and CSOs. The organization has informed the Ambassador about the developments in Zugdidi during the pre-election period, as well as the results of meetings with the local population. The Ambassador has emphasized the need to hold the pre-election period and the polling day in the peaceful environment, and stated he intends to visit Zugdidi again after the presidential elections. Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. Young Greens release the statement, claiming "that participation of the Georgian National Olympics Team in Sochi is unjustified". "The problem is much more massive than narrowly environmentalist or national ... The organization of the Sochi Olympics has caused mass encroachment upon fundamental human rights, namely forced migration, limitation of freedom of expression and illegal detentions. Lack of international solidarity convinces us that the economic profit gained by individuals from these Olympic games considerably exceeds the value of human rights ...", says the statement. For the full text.(geo) Source: the organization's page in the social network.

Tbilisi. JumpStart Georgia visualized the smallest estimation of Stalin's victims and interpreted each of them in an alternative way to make it easier for people to understand the large numbers better.  "According to the Caucasus Barometer 2012 survey, 45% of Georgians have positive feelings towards Stalin. Stalin's busts and statues are erected across the country to show respect towards the Soviet leader who ended millions of lives.Historians still argue about the exact number of people that Stalin killed. Numbers vary from 20 to 60 million". Visualization  Source:feradi.info

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia released a blog post – "Kutaisi awaiting its 12th mayor”. "Since 2003, 11 mayors of Kutaisi have been replaced. The process still continues and Kutaisi is currently awaiting its 12th mayor. …We believe that the frequent change of the city’s mayors and the appointment of unqualified candidates will have a negative impact on urban development and the municipal service activities”, says the blog post. Transparency International Georgia addresses the Kutaisi council and requests that it make the certifying commission’s activities transparent, make sure that staff members are skilled, possessing proper knowledge and experience, and that the qualified individuals are selected for the two positions of the city mayor. For full text Source: transparency.ge

Adjara. The Architects' Council of Batumi and the Citizen Advisory Council have held an expanded joint session on October 8, discussing several significant issues of concern to the city. A cultural heritage protection policy in Batumi - this issue has triggered noisy debates. In 2012, the Batumi City Hall has issued a permit to build a multi-storey residential houses at 8 Klidiashvili and 9/10 Vazha-Pshavela. This month, through the petition of the Adjara Government, the constructor has filed an application with the Batumi City Hall requesting to add the number of floors. The Citizen Advisory Council and CSOs assess this fact negatively. They claim this example illustrates that the state policy on maintaining the city's historic outward appearance has not changed. They believe the response and adoption/making stricter the regulations is necessary for protecting the cultural heritage.

Tbilisi. Last Friday the School of Liberalism has hosted the lecture of Levan Ghambashidze "Georgian Civil Society". The School provides a video recording of the lecture for those who were unable to attend. Levan Ghambashidze's lecture – "Georgian Civil Society". Source: the School's page in the social network.

Chisinau. Together for a European Future – 5th Annual assembly of the EaP Civil Society Forum, 4-5 October 2013 in Chisinau, Moldova. More than 250 representatives of the civil society organisations from six EaP partner countries and the EU, government representatives, European institutions and donor agencies will meet in Chisinau this week to discuss the priorities of civil society and its contribution to the reform process within the EaP. The Forum meets once a year to take stock of ongoing work and to agree on future activities. This year the general assembly will focus on the role of civil society in the context of Association Agreements that may be signed/initialed with several of the EaP countries and civil society assessment of the reform process in the EaP countries in advance of the EaP Summit in Vilnius. During parallel sessions Forum delegates will also conduct debates on some of the priorities of the EaP thematic platforms and panels and the Forum’s flagship initiatives on election, media freedom and anti-corruption. It is a tradition that the Commissioner Stefan Füle is opening the Forum with his welcome speech. Source: eapnationalplatform.ge

R-CSN spreads special statement regarding the recent event taking place in the conflict zone region, in the villages Dvani and Ditsi. The statement says that during the last few weeks so called border lining process in the villages of Dvani and Ditsi by Russian occupation forces is pretty much concerning and dangerous. According to the statement this makes the currents situation much more unsafe and tensed. For full text Source:cida.ge

Tbilisi. The Georgian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum has released the appeal, by which the Platform members address Stefan Fule and Catherine Ashton. Members of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum –Georgian National Platform state their deep concern over the latest developments on the occupation line with breakaway South Ossetia. ...The process of shifting of the occupation line, while being conducted in violation of international law and the 2008 Ceasefire Agreement, has also resulted in gross violations of the rights of the residents of adjacent areas. ...We therefore call upon the European Union to condemn these illegal actions by the occupation forces and to take effective measures toward the protection of the rights of affected people and sovereignty of Georgia. Moreover, activation of the international mechanisms to ensure security and protection of the rights of those affected is essential. For the full text Source: eapnationalplatform.ge

Kakheti. CSO "Public Council" has launched the pre-election discussions. According to the organization's representative JumberSakhiashvili, to make the civil society active they often organize meetings with the representatives of as non-government, as well as governmental organizations. "Because there is a pre-election period currently, we planned meetings with representatives of political parties running in the elections. We will meet with all of them and listen to their vision on the development of Telavi and solution of current problems." On October 7 the "Public Council" has organized a meeting in the Telavi Civic Engagement Center with representatives of the Telavi Office of Georgian Dream, attended by NGO representatives, journalists and interested persons.