Tbilisi. According to information released by “Rights Georgia”, on February 8, 2021, the European Commission started consultations aiming at attaining information on measures taken by EU member states to eliminate gender-based violence against women and domestic violence. “Via conducting meetings the Commission intends to obtain relevant information in order to be able to improve its work on issues related to coordinated prevention and protection against violence. Those willing to participate in consultation have to get registered and filled out an online questionnaire”, - is stated on the website of the organization in a social network. Read more… Source: The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. “Rights Georgia” launches an important project in partnership with the Public Defender. “Rights Georgia”, together with Goga Khatiashvili, an expert, is going to monitor process of interrogation of women, victims of violence, in closed court hearings. Read more... Source: The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia calls on the Parliament of Georgia not to consent to the use of pre-trial detention against Nikanor Melia. We also call on the Prosecutor General's Office of Georgia to use the opportunities at its disposal and reconsider the decision on application of measures of restraint. “Considering that only three police officers were charged (non-custodial measures were used) with the use of excessive force against dozens of citizens and journalists during the June 20 events - the arrest of the leader of the opposition political party without proper justification of the procedural need, will be a big blow to the Georgian justice system, making it look like the practices common in non-democratic countries. And this type of international image will significantly slow down the process of western development of the country, which, along with many other benefits, implies the fundamental protection of human rights”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. The Educational Certification Program in Fighting Corruption was started in June, 2019 and is implemented by the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) for the third year in a row. „The Program is implemented in cooperation with Ilia State University. The first phase of the Program consisted of eight professional modules. The participants who were passed the modules successfully received certificates. Up to 500 applicants expressed their willingness to participate in the Program out of which 32 participants were selected for the Program. Out of the initial 32 participants (which were selected among almost 500 candidates), 19 participants received the final certificates. It is noteworthy that the final certificates are awarded to the candidates who have passed at least six modules. Out of 19 participants, 5 participants received certificates for graduating from all eight modules. Among these five – four are female, and one is male. Out of 19 participants – 16 are female, and 3 are male”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. The Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia and the Aures Foundation release a statement in regard to necessity of adjustment of facemask wearing rules. Organizations describe a problem that was faced by people with special needs (disabled, hearing-impaired child/person, elderly person, person with autism spectrum disorder, etc.) during the pandemic. It is critically important for them to see facial expression and mouth movement, while wearing a non-transparent facemask has made it impossible. CSOs demand to adjust facemask wearing rules to solve the problem. Read more… Source: The website of the organization in a social network

Georgian Women’s Movement launches a lengthy campaign on the case of a 14-year-old dead girl #NinisGamo (DueToNini) Read more…

Tbilisi. According to information released by Transparency International Georgia, on January 20 of the current year, the Ministry of Health deactivated the Stop Covid mobile application that was created to fight against the coronavirus pandemic. “Creation of the application, which was activated 9 months earlier, on April 16, cost more than GEL 400,000 (EUR 120,000). The Ministry has not yet provided an explanation as to why this costly project ended unsuccessfully”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Civil society organizations express their concern regarding a hardest case of suicide of a 14-year-old girl in Kobuleti Municipality and call on state agencies to investigate the incident in a timely manner. “Within the framework of the investigation, there should be examined responsibilities of all possible bodies/officials that had an obligation to support the victim as well as to carry out an investigation in the crime committed against her.  This case demonstrates hardest social practices of violence against women as well as signs of criminal indifference and inefficiency of police and social institutions. Despite numerous tragic cases of juvenile suicide, the state has not shown its willingness to make radical changes in existing policies, it pays insufficient attention to development and implementation of a suicide prevention strategy in general. The system remains extremely indifferent in terms of elaboration of an adolescent care policy as well as social and psychological support mechanisms”, - is noted in the joint statement. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. The European Union and WHO join forces to support Georgian and 5 other Eastern Partnership countries to preparing for, deploying and monitoring rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. The initiative will help Georgia ensure that when the vaccines arrive, they are well utilized and reach those that need them most. Read more… Source: The EU’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. A joint project of the Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia and the Aure Foundation – “Transparent screen facemask for human rights” aims to facilitate increase of degree of social integration of people with hearing impairments. “During the COVID-19 pandemic, use of anti-virus facemasks created communication barriers to millions of people with hearing impairments around the world. Facemask makes it impossible to see facial expressions and lips, which is an important reference point for people with hearing difficulties while communicating. There are more than 200 000 people with hearing impairments in Georgia”. Read more… Source: The website of the organization in a 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. Media Advocacy Coalition addresses the Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia for an official explanation. “On February 9, we came to know that Mariam Geguchadze, a representative of the “Mtavari Channel”, was denied entry to the Parliament and her right to perform journalistic activities was restricted. According to our information, civic activism of Mariam Geguchadze was a reason for refusal named by representatives of the Parliament in a verbal form. We call on the Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia to make a public statement regarding possible discriminatory treatment and ensure journalists have a relevant working environment to perform their professional duties”.  Read more… Source: gdi.ge

Tbilisi. The Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) considers that ongoing preparatory works at the Kvemo Namakhvani hydropower plant in the Rioni Valley are illegal and violate permit conditions.  The organization calls on the Technical and Construction Supervision Agency to immediately suspend preparatory type, as well as land works that are carried out without permission, and apply the respective measure of liability against “Enka Renewables” LLC. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. The Secretariat of the Interagency Coordination Council to Combat Corruption has launched the renewal of the Anti-Corruption Strategy and elaboration of 2021-2022 Action Plan. IDFI hopes that the work on the Anti-Corruption Action Plan and Strategy will be productive, the ambitious commitments needed for the progress will be considered and the strategic documents will be approved in a timely manner. IDFI calls on the authorities involved in the development of Anti-Corruption strategic documents to fully comply with the recommendations that are crucial for the prevention of corruption in the country. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. According to information released by Transparency International Georgia, the Committee on Legal Affairs considered it inappropriate for the Parliament of the 10th convocation to review a legislative package on the Anti-Corruption Agency, initiated by the Parliament of previous convocation. “This decision of the committee indicates that the ruling party lacks political will to take important steps towards improvement of anti-corruption legislation and practice of the country, as well as establishment of an effective system for fighting against corruption. We call on the Parliament of Georgia to continue working on this legislative initiative, adoption of which will facilitate solution of corruption related problems in Georgia and serve as an important step towards establishing an effective anti-corruption system in the country”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The Public Defender’s Office has launched an inquiry into a video showing an alleged offence. In particular, the video showing the engagement of a minor girl was spread via social networks on February 8, 2021. “Unfortunately, early and child marriages, as well as vicious engagement practices, are still common in Georgia. The cases examined by the Public Defender of Georgia show that the marriages are mostly forced and the result of illegal deprivation of liberty or an agreement between parents. The steps taken by the State, including in terms of prevention, fail to adequately respond to the challenges facing the country in this direction”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Social Innovation Platform, a new initiative developed by the Center for Training and Consultancy (CTC), offers opportunities, educational resources to help you prepare your idea for pitching. What is pitching and how to do it? Video resource... Video interview with Nino Bigvava on pitching... Source: The website of Social Innovation Platform in a social network

Tbilisi. According to information released by the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), the European Court of Human Rights has reaffirmed in its important decision of January 21, 2021 once again that restriction of access to information of public interest while carrying out journalistic activities breaches freedom of expression. “The case was about providing a Ukrainian journalist with information regarding purchase of state property by Viktor Yanukovych, former President of Ukraine. A subject matter of the dispute was also a refusal of the Constitutional Court to provide the applicant with a copy of a constitutional claim of Members of Parliament, which challenged the Law on Language Policy adopted in Ukraine in 2012. The court should judge whether the refusal of public institutions to provide information to the applicant constituted an unlawful interference with freedom of expression or not. The court decided unanimously that it was breach of freedom of expression. A fair balance between two conflicting interests in the case - protection of personal data and access to public information was ruled out in favor of the latter”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. An organization “Partnership for Human Rights” (PHR) appealed to the Tbilisi City Court against the Ministry of Education demanding to urge the Ministry to develop an effective plan and implement it in order to ensure that children with disabilities and special educational needs have their rights to life, health, safety, and education protected upon returning to school on February 15. “There is increased danger that students with disabilities and special educational needs may have their rights to life, health, education and safety violated due to unorganized and threatening return to schools on February 15, 2021. We consider that passivity of the Ministry of Education cannot be replaced with just recommendations of the Ministry of Health. While at this stage, current state of schools does not allow them to manage the pandemic effectively due to different financial and human resources”. Read more… Source: phr.ge

Imereti. Local Democracy Agency (LDA) is happy to announce a start of series of practical trainings "Capacity building workshops for youth from small towns and rural areas on the development of business ideas" in #AZ, #UA, #GE. Online trainings will help you to find yourself in a business world. Experts from PL, IT, FR will prepare interesting topics. Youth could work in smaller groups to better understand in be involved. The deadline for registration is February 15, 2021.  Follow the registration link... Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia is responding to the illegal deprivation of liberty of Georgian citizen Zaza Gakheladze by the so-called court of occupied Tskhinvali. Zaza Gakheladze, a resident of the village of Kvemo Chala, Kaspi Municipality, was shot and detained by the occupation regime on July 11, 2020. “The Public Defender of Georgia emphasizes that similar illegal actions of the occupation regime grossly violate the rights and freedoms of the population living in the occupied territories, which once again proves the need for international human rights monitoring missions to be allowed to work in the occupied territories”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge