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...

Regions. Teachers in three regions of Georgia are engaged in training sessions on civic engagement, participation, and education for sustainable development. The training is part of the Teachers Civic Engagement Program, which is organized by CENN and supported by the US Embassy Tbilisi, Georgia. The program aims to increase teachers' engagement in civil society development and democracy. Read more here… Source: www.cenn.org

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...

Tbilisi. Civil society organizations address to EU Commissioner Varhey. “Taking into account that part of civil society is involved in the process of monitoring the implementation of the recommendations, we ask for the interim evaluation to be public and accessible to the stakeholders, including the civil society of the country. Public accessibility of the mid-term evaluation of the European Commission will ensure the transparency of the process, enable the active participation of civil society in it, and significantly contribute to the effective supervision of the implementation of the priorities”, is noted in the joint statement. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

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...

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...

Tbilisi. Salome Kenchiashvili, is the winner of the first scholarship of the Maro Makashvili Award, which is provided by the Gurulian Diary Fund. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Women participating in the Women's Economic Empowerment project conducted a SWOT analysis of the activities of self-help groups. “According to the analysis, self-confidence, teamwork, opportunity to attend trainings, sharing of ideas and active involvement in public activities were highlighted in the strengths, while limited financial resources, lack of equipment, limited internet and stereotypical attitudes prevailed in the threatening conditions”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

The U.S. Embassy in Georgia releases the statement regarding the current situation in the country: “The Georgian people have, once again, spoken clearly that the only choice for Georgia is a secure and prosperous European future. We welcome Georgian Dream’s decision to withdraw both draft laws on “foreign influence.” We urge the ruling party to officially retract these bills and not pursue further this type of legislation, which is incompatible with Georgian and European values and the protection of fundamental freedoms. We encourage Georgia’s political leaders to work together in earnest on the reforms urgently needed to obtain the EU candidate status that Georgia’s citizens overwhelmingly desire”. Read more… Source: The The U.S. Embassy’s page on the social network

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...

Tbilisi. “Georgian Dream” decided to “recall” the draft law “On the transparency of foreign influence” that had already been passed in the first introduction, which caused mass protests. Women’s Information Center would like to explain to the public „that according to the regulations of the Parliament, a legislative initiative can be declared accepted or rejected by a motivated decision. According to Article 158 of the Regulation, a legislative initiative will be considered rejected if the bill fails in the second reading. According to clauses 16 and 17 of the regulation, a draft law that fails to gather the necessary number of votes for its adoption in the second reading is considered a failure. In such a case, a resolution on the inadmissibility of the draft law is drawn up in the second reading. In addition, if the draft law failed in the second reading at the plenary session, it will not be put to the vote within one month of the session period at the request of the initiator. Also, a draft law that fails to collect the required number of votes 3 times as a result of voting in the second reading during one session will be considered rejected. As for the second version of the draft law, all initiators must sign the project recall. Accordingly, the majority must throw out the law, and “people power” must reject it with their own signatures“. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. European Union in Georgia welcomes the announcement by the ruling party to withdraw the draft legislation on “foreign influence”. "We encourage all political leaders in Georgia to resume pro-European reforms, in an inclusive and constructive way and in line with the 12 priorities for Georgia to achieve candidate status". Read more… Source: EU’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Signing ceremonies of new projects, funded within the GGP Grassroots Human Security Grant Program of the Embassy of Japan, continue. Since the independence of Georgia, Japan has provided 200 grants within the GGP Program, totalling over 20 million USD, in addition to other grant schemes. The GGP projects are excellent examples of successful cooperation between NGOs and state institutions and a great reminder of the positive role civil society can play in community development. We want to thank all the dedicated persons and state institutions, who worked hard to develop the GGP projects during these years. Read more… Source: The embassy’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. The proposed 'foreign agent law' in Georgia poses a significant threat to freedom of speech and democracy and Georgia's future with the Euro-Atlantic aspiration. “We strongly urge the Parliament to withdraw this law!” Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

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...

CSS appeals to its co-founder, Deputy Head of the Foreign Relations Committee, George Khelashvili to vote against the law that will deeply harms the activities of the organization (similar to other NGOs) he established and thrived for its development for years! Read more… Source: css.ge

Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs releases the statement and mentions that, the initiated draft law “On transparency of foreign influence” is defining CSOs as “foreign agents”. The draft law is against the Georgian people’s steadfast European aspirations and International Human Rights obligations. It will negatively affect Norwegian-Georgian cooperation.  Norway MFA urges lawmakers to act in the interest of democracy. Learn more… Source: twitter.com

Tbilisi. The Georgian Trade Unions Confederation (GTUC) believes that the draft laws, especially the one registered on February 27, grossly violate freedoms of expression and association guaranteed by the Constitution of Georgia. Also, it contradicts the practice established by the Constitutional Court of Georgia regarding the “legitimacy test” of the restriction of rights. “…While there are many challenges in the country and Georgia is preparing to receive the status of a candidate for EU membership, it is not clear which point of the EU’s 12-point plan requires the adoption of a law on transparency of foreign influence, especially since there is actually nothing about it in the explanatory notes. The Georgian Trade Unions Confederation (GTUC) emphasizes that European Integration is a strong will of the citizens of our country and the Parliament of Georgia, within its competence, should do everything for it.  At the same time, the priority of population, according to numerous social surveys, is solving acute labour and social problems, which is also an important part of the European integration. The Georgian Trade Unions Confederation (GTUC) calls on the Parliament not to support the draft law on “agents of foreign influence” and to continue working to fulfill the EU’s 12-point plan!” Read more… Source: gtuc.ge

Tbilisi. Commissioner urges the Georgian Parliament to reject the draft law “On transparency of foreign influence”. “While transparency may represent a legitimate concern, it should not be achieved to the detriment of the effective enjoyment by non-commercial organisations and media outlets of their rights and freedoms and of the exercise of their legitimate activities. Reporting requirements should be set up on an equal and non-biased basis regardless of the sources of income. Any interference in this field must respect the principles of necessity and proportionality as established by the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights.” Commissioner’s letter in English… Source: www.coe.int

Tbilisi. Comparative analysis of the draft Law of Georgia on Transparency of Foreign Influence (the Draft Law) regarding its compliance with international law and European standards (Analysis).  The analysis was prepared by the International Center of Non-Profit Law (ICNL) and European Center for Non-Profit Law (ECNL). Brief version is available here – ICNL-Briefer-of-the-Georgian-Draft-Law-on-Transparency-of-Foreign-Influence Full analysis... Source: ewmi-activism.org

Samegrelo. The women-led non-governmental organisation “Hands for Peace” hosted a gala exhibition in Zugdidi to present the results of a “Handicraft for Social Change” project, supported by the EU and UNDP through the EU4Dialogue initiative. The EU and UNDP support allowed 40 conflict-affected women to join a training programme in tailoring, embroidery, knitting and macramé to develop professional careers, earn a living, improve livelihoods and increase self-reliance. Six training participants already found jobs in different local enterprises and one of the beneficiaries was successful in applying for a grant programme. Read more… Source: www.undp.org

US Ambassador Degnan about the draft "foreign influence" laws - "These laws are aimed at blocking Georgians who are helping other Georgians. These are Georgians who are trying to address problems in their communities and provide services, whether it’s on climate change, or for business associations, or for young people, or people with disabilities, legal assistance to people who are in some cases in desperate need.  These laws seem to be clearly in line with Russian law, which is aimed at stigmatizing civil society. It’s aimed at silencing dissenting voices. When you look at what’s going on in Russia right now, you see that Russian law has been very effective in silencing civil society and dissenting voices. Georgia has fought hard to build its democracy, to protect its freedoms. These laws will undermine that progress that Georgia has spent so many years building. That is why you hear concerns from the United Nations, from the European Union, from the United States, from many of Georgia’s long-standing friends, who’ve been working with Georgia for over 30 years, to help improve Georgia’s freedoms, protect Georgia’s freedoms, and build the institutions. So that is why people are very concerned. Georgia does not need this law". Source: US Embassy