Tbilisi. Consul is an electronic platform for decision-making, civic dialogue and joint initiatives, created for 5 cities of Georgia: Tbilisi... Gori... Telavi... Kutaisi... Batumi...  Get registered at the website for your city, set up your own initiatives and introduce them to general public to gain support in their implementation process.  Read more… Source: The website of the organization in a social network

Adjara. One of the largest cities of Georgia – Batumi - has pledged to join 3000 cities and local communities in over 40 countries in the Child Friendly City Initiative (CFCI), supported by UNICEF. “The Child Friendly Cities Initiative (CFCI) is a UNICEF-led initiative that supports municipal governments in realizing the rights of children at the local level, using the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as its foundation. It is also a network which brings together government and other partners, such as civil society organizations, the private sector, academia, media and, importantly, children themselves who wish to make their cities and communities more child-friendly”. Read more… Source: www.unicef.org

Tbilisi. The Georgia Red Cross Society, together with hypermarket “Goodwill,” is launching a charity campaign to help socially vulnerable single older people and Covid-19 contracted socially vulnerable families. Starting today, at the Kavtaradze branch of “Goodwill” customers will be able to partake in the charity by purchasing any product from the essential product list provided by the GRCS. The other “Goodwill” branches will gradually join the initiative. Read more… Source: The organization’s page in the social network

Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) and the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) release a joint statement in regard to development of policy documents on public administration. In line with expiry of the Public Administration Reform Guide and the 2019-2020 Action Plan, the administration of the Government has started working on a new strategy and action plan. The process has been initiated with engagement of representatives of civil society. The organizations appreciate the fact that engagement of civil society in the process of development of an action plan in ensured and, at the same time, emphasize necessity of addressing shortcomings related to previous strategic documents. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. As the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) updates, on November 19, Trace International released new indicators about the risk of corruption in business. “According to 2020 data, Georgia ranks 28th among 194 countries with 25 points of risk of business corruption. In 2019, Georgia ranked 27th among 200 countries with 26 points, which was identical to the 2018 figures and deteriorated compared to 2017 data, when Georgia ranked 25th among 200 countries with 23 points. These data show that the risk of business corruption has been gradually increasing in recent years. Though the last year this risk is reduced by one point, in international ranking Georgia has still moved one level back”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source:idfi.ge

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. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) publishes an open data guidebook for civil servants. “Open data facilitate development of civic monitoring mechanisms, improve public welfare and effective use of state resources. The purpose of the guidebook is to provide civil servants with practical information about data collection, processing, analysis, publication and storage. Improvement of their qualification in this regard will help public institutions address data processing related challenges and use existing resources effectively”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Samegrelo. UNICEF Representative in Georgia, Dr. Ghassan Khalil visited Shota Meskhia State Teaching University of Zugdidi. “One year ago UNICEF and the university established the partnership to incorporate child rights into curricula. Today the results of this partnership and future plans were discussed at the meeting. We are glad that the Child Rights course is integrated into the University curricula.” Read more… Source: The organization’s page in the social network

Tbilisi. The International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) is annually observed on 3 December to promote the full and equal participation of persons with disabilities and to take action for the inclusion of persons with disabilities in all aspects of society and development. The theme this year is “Building Back Better: toward a disability-inclusive, accessible and sustainable post-COVID-19 World”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page in the social network

Tbilisi. The Georgian Coalition for International Criminal Court welcomes a decision of the Directorate of the Trust Fund for Victims at The Hague Court to start implementation of its support mandate to assist victims of the August 2008 war in Georgia. “According to information released by the Trust Fund, the program is designed for those affected by the 2008 war who live in IDP settlements and on both sides of the border line. The program envisages assistance of a number of types, including medical treatment, psychological rehabilitation and material support to improve living conditions. At this stage, this program will be implemented during 3 years. As the Trust Fund clarifies, additional detailed information about the program will be published after further consultations with the Government of Georgia, civil society and victims of the August war”, - is stated on the website of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. This special report has been written by the Office of the Public Defender of Georgia within the framework of the femicide monitoring mechanism. The report contains an analysis of crimes committed in 2014-2015 years.  “In 2014, the number of murders of women on the grounds of gender was particularly high. Due to the tragic scale of murders of women, this year marked a turning point in raising public awareness about femicide, and from that period onwards, there began active work on improvement of response to facts of violence against women and domestic violence. From 2014 to date, as a result of joint efforts of agencies, international and non-governmental organizations, a number of steps have been taken to combat violence against women and domestic violence. Respectively, in the recommendations part of the report there have appeared only those issues, which so far remain a challenge”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more…  Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. The Bar Association, with the support of USAID/PROLoG, has published a handbook for lawyers – “Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights against Georgia”, which fact will greatly facilitate members of the Association in finding and applying precedential decisions of the Strasbourg Court. The handbook can be found at the link... Source: The website of the Association in a social network

Tbilisi. New UNICEF-ITU report says 15 per cent of Georgia’s school-age children have no internet access at home. “Around 661,500 children are still affected by COVID-19 school closures in Georgia, forcing students to rely on virtual learning. For those with no internet access, education can be out of reach. Even before the pandemic, a growing cohort of young people needed to learn foundational, transferable, digital, job-specific and entrepreneurial skills to compete in the 21st century economy. The digital divide is perpetuating inequalities that already divide countries and communities, the report notes. Children and young people from the poorest households, rural and lower income states are falling even further behind their peers and are left with very little opportunity to ever catch up”, is noted in the statement. Read more…  Source: www.unicef.org

Tbilisi. On November 30th, the Georgia Red Cross Society resumes the charity campaign to support socially vulnerable single older people and socially vulnerable families, members of which have tested positive for COVID-19.  “Starting today, the customers of the Carrefour branch of the Tbilisi Mall will be able to buy any product from the list of the essential items provided by the Georgia Red Cross and take part in charity. The other Carrefour branches will gradually join the charity campaign”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page in the social network

Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) publishes an analysis: Availability of oncology treatment in Georgia. “Oncological diseases are one of the leading causes of death in the world. Treatment of such diseases is a complex and lengthy process that requires significant financial resources. According to the statement of the Minister of Health of Georgia, there are up to 40 thousand patients with oncological diseases registered in Georgia to date. Analysis of state programs, active in the country for treatment of oncological diseases, shows that access of citizens to full-fledged treatment of similar diseases still faces significant challenges”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more... Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. On November 30, there was made a presentation of a new project and online platform for volunteers - www.helpinghand.ge , organized by “Helping Hand”. “The purpose of the meeting was to discuss possibilities of online volunteering in the circumstances of the pandemic and present the updated platform to the general public. The event was attended by representatives of various NGOs, teachers of civic education and citizens interested in online volunteering. After the presentation of the platform, there was held a discussion on issues related to perspectives of online volunteering and future cooperation”, - 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. Check out new list of EU-funded scholarships, trainings, competitions, events, project calls and more here... Source: The EU’s page in the social network

Tbilisi. The winner of the annual Kato Mikeladze award is women's rights activist, the feminist and active advocate for social justice - Mariam Kadjaia. “UN Women is a proud supporter of Kato Mikeladze Award to women human rights defenders and activists established by Women's Fund in Georgia in 2013. We acknowledge women human rights defenders’ contribution to more just and equal societies”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page in the social network

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) calls on the Constitutional Court to timely review cases that are in its proceedings and are related to constitutionality of delegating authority of imposition of restrictions on labor and freedom of movement to the Government. “Prolonging revision of mentioned lawsuits in time will further harm the quality of protection of human rights, raise questions about effectiveness of constitutional justice, and compromise public confidence in the Constitutional Court”, - is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) publishes a document containing an evaluation of the Law on Occupied Territories.  “Exactly 12 years have passed since the adoption of the Law. During this period, the Government of Georgia, in parallel with the existence of the Law, made numerous attempts to offer new peace proposals to unlawful regimes of occupied territories. However, as Thomas de Waal writes, an “unusual strength of de facto regimes” left almost no room for such offers. Along with peace initiatives, the Law on Occupied Territories also became more humane as a result of gradual changes. However, it is debatable to what extent it created an opportunity for positive transformation of the conflict and emergence of human rights and humanitarian perspectives in that process. The purpose of the article is to analyze stages of development of the Law, human rights and humanitarian dimensions and its place in the unified peace policy”, - is stated in the material. Read more… Source:emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. The Office of the Ombudsman developed a special report within the framework of the femicide monitoring mechanism. The document contains an analysis of crimes committed in 2018. “The purpose of the monitoring is to analyze each case of gender based murder, murder attempt and leading to suicide of women in order to identify shortcomings of the mechanism for protection of victims of violence and those affected so as to further improve and develop these mechanisms. Despite the fact that cases of femicide and femicide attempt, occurred in 2018, were analyzed within the framework of the 5-year monitoring report, and taking into account recent trends, we considered it necessary to issue a special report separately”, - is stated on the website of the Public Defender.  Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Within the framework of a joint platform of the Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC) and the USAID/Georgia Good Governance Initiative (GGI Georgia), a working group of experts releases an address in regard to the COVID-19 pandemic. “It is clear that anti-epidemic measures, taken by the state today, are already insufficient to hamper the spread of the pandemic and they require significant changes. Otherwise, the country is going to face a dramatically difficult period, which will not only make it impossible to manage the coronavirus epidemic but will also severely restrict access to other emergency and planned medical services”, - is noted in the statement. Read more…  Source: The website of the organization in a social network