Tbilisi. The collection is designed for everyone who cherishes freedom, dignity, justice, human kindness, patriotism and democracy. “We have tried to offer reader a changing in time and varied picture of freedom, justice and democracy in Georgian thought”, - is stated in the introduction to the publication. There are people of different gender and age among authors who have been living in different epochs and have different socio-economic or political status. Viewpoints and forms of expression of authors are diverse. Any genre of text can be found in the collection. The collection has been published by the Civil Society Institute (CSI) within the framework of a project “Civil Society Development Initiative” and represents part of a large-scale campaign “ThisCountryIsYours”. The project “Civil Society Development Initiative” is financed by both the European Union and Konrad Adenauer Foundation.  Collection (geo) ...

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) publishes a blog post: State has no information about the number of homeless people. “The sole function of the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Labour, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia defined by legislation within the field of the policy of homelessness is to maintain a unified registry of homeless people registered at local self-government bodies, however this duty is not performed in practice. Considering all this, it is impossible to determine the scale of homelessness in the country”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Ajara. Within the framework of the EU-funded project, “Optimising the Potential of Local Assets for Rural Development of Keda Municipality,” the second Rural Development Grant Competition has concluded and the results announced.  By the grant commission of CENN, Institute of Democracy and the Keda LAG board. As a result, 22 projects were selected. The project allocations, according to the priority objectives defined by the Keda Municipality Local Development Strategy, are as follows: Agriculture – 5; Diversification of economic activities – 8; Tourism – 9.  The EU-supported ENPARD project is implemented by CENN in partnership with the Centre for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG), Institute of Democracy (IoD) and the Austrian Institute for Regional Studies and Spatial Planning (ÖIR). The project aims to diversify local economic activities, improve the investment climate, and empower competitive agricultural and environmental practices in Keda Municipality via bottom-up strategic planning in rural development.  Read more… Source: http://enpard.ge

Tbilisi. GYLA has submitted its assessment report to the Parliament of Georgia, which is related to the bill on the amendment to the “Law of Georgia on Information Security”, initiated by Irakli Sesiashvili, Member of Parliament.  “The bill allows the operative-technical agency to have a direct access to information possessed by public agencies, including personal data and network sensors, while in the case of information shared through internet service providers – an indirect access, which fact will enable the agency to control any information spread through the Internet.  It is also noteworthy that the process of revision of this bill is carried out with substantial violations as it envisages important grounds for restriction of fundamental rights, while the Committee on Human Rights and Civil Integration is not part of the process as a mandatory committee. In view of the above, we call on the Parliament of Georgia to carry out the legislative process with the involvement of all relevant committees, not allow the bill to be adopted in the proposed form and ensure the review of the bill is carried out only through broad public engagement and discussion”, - is stated in the report.  Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) has got familiarized with the case of Temirlan Machalikashvili, classified as secret till present.  “On January 10 of this year, when the European Court began a substantive hearing on the case – “Machalikashvili and others v. Georgia” and demanded the Government of Georgia to fully disclose the case file, we were given the opportunity to access confidential materials of the case”, - is noted in the statement released by the organization, - “Overall, the ongoing investigation, in our opinion, is formal, ineffective and illusory, and an arbitrary intervention of the State Security Agency into the investigation process has been clearly observed, which fact violates the fundamental principle of institutional independence of investigation”.  Read more… Source: https://emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. Following the appointment of Shalva Tadumadze, former Prosecutor General, as a judge of the Supreme Court, the Prosecutors’ Council is obliged to assign a new Prosecutor General. The Coalition for an Independent and Transparent Judiciary releases a statement in this regard.  “In order to have a high level of public confidence in the process, it is necessary that: the Prosecutors’ Council develop procedures and criteria for conducting competition, which, in turn, ensures more active involvement of civil/professional groups in the process of selection of candidates; in each decision taken in regard to selection - nomination of candidates, the Council justify that candidates meet criteria required to take a position of Prosecutor General; the ruling political party make sure the Prosecutor General is not selected on the grounds of narrow political interests of the party and the final decision made in parliament is based on a consensus among various political forces”, - is noted in the statement.  Read more… Source: https://idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) evaluates conditions in which Archpriest Giorgi Mamaladze is. “EMC considers that Giorgi Mamaladze should have an opportunity to receive adequate medical treatment outside the penitentiary institution and return to the place of imprisonment in the case if his health condition improves”, - is noted in the statement of the organization. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

The report on “Enabling Environment for Civil Society in Georgia” was prepared in the framework of EU funded project “Monitoring Progress Empowering Action” implemented in EaP countries. The report is based on the monitoring tool - CSO Meter. The report is prepared by the local partner of the project in Georgia – Civil Society Institute, following a joint methodology for all six Eastern Partnership countries. The report covers all 10 areas that are part of the CSO Meter and provides recommendations for the improvement. It also outlines the most important findings in the end. The report has been prepared in a highly consultative manner: about 180 stakeholders were engaged through Advisory Board, survey, focus group meetings and interviews. The collected data represents a valuable source of information to track the progress or regression, to support cross-country learning among EaP countries and most importantly, to propose evidence-based solutions for advocacy and policy-making in Georgia. More ...

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 Coalition for an Independent and Transparent Judiciary prepared an assessment of candidates for supreme court judges. ‘For the first time in the history of Georgia, the Supreme Court justices were appointed for life. The Coalition for an Independent and Transparent Judiciary closely observed all stages of this process. The report assesses Supreme Court judicial candidates based on the analysis of Parliamentary hearings. The document includes assessments of 19 candidates based on the criteria of integrity and competence as defined by the Law of Georgia on Common Courts’, - Is mentioned in the assessment. Assessment Source: The web-page of the Coalition

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia is responding to the President's refusal to pardon Giorgi Mamaladze.  ‘The Public Defender of Georgia once again reminds public of the substantive shortcomings identified in the investigation and trial of the cyanide case, which have repeatedly served as basis for the Public Defender’s statements on the issue of pardoning of Giorgi Mamaladze’, - is mentioned in the statement of the Public Defender of Georgia, - ‘As a result of fully studying both the investigation and the closed trial, the Public Defender published a monitoring report indicating the procedural shortcomings of the investigation that were not rectified during the trial and had a decisive impact on the final outcome of the trial’.  Read more…  Source: http://ombudsman.ge

The web-page of Civil Society Organizations wishes you happy holidays. At the same time we hereby inform you that csogeorgia.org will resume its work from January 8.

Tbilisi. Public Defender made a Statement on Submission of 6 Supreme Court Judicial Candidates to Parliament. ‘Yesterday, on December 26, the High Council of Justice submitted 6 Supreme Court judicial candidates to the Parliament of Georgia. The Public Defender identified the same shortcomings that had been identified at previous stages of the selection process’, - is mentioned in the statement, - “All 6 candidates were interviewed by the High Council of Justice this summer and were granted scores; one candidate (Paata Silagadze) had already been submitted to the Parliament and had been interviewed by the Legal Affairs Committee, but he failed to receive sufficient support to be elected to the Supreme Court. Among 48 candidates,1 the above 6 candidates ranked 14th, 19th, 21st, 27th, 30th and 32nd according to their scores. The High Council of Justice has not submitted to the Parliament the candidates ranked 13th, 17th, 18th, 25th, 28th, 29th or 31st either during the first stage, or now. The above indicates that despite rating the candidates' competence with scores, the amount of points granted have not been a determining factor in the selection of candidates. At the same time, given the anonymity of the rating process and the lack of substantiation, it is also difficult to say that the candidates with the highest scores are better candidates in terms of competence or conscientiousness”. Read more…  Source: http://ombudsman.ge

Ajara. In the framework of the EU funded project “Promotion of Rural Development and Diversification in Khulo Municipality”, implemented by Caritas Czech Republic in Georgia (CCRG), second Rural Development Grant Competition has been completed and results announced.  According to quotas, Grant budget limitations and rural development grant committee decisions 45 full projects have been selected for granting. Winner projects desegregated by priority themes: Rural tourism – 9;  Agriculture – 11;  Social and communal infrastructure – 1;  Culture, health, education, sports, and youth – 4; Non-farm entrepreneurship – 20. Read more…  Source: http://enpard.ge

Tbilisi. Tbilisi City Hall has filed a complaint in the Court of Appeals against a Tbilisi City Court decision that obliges it to install warning banners and barriers at one of the most dangerous areas around the Tbilisi Sea where several juveniles have drowned in recent years. So called waterfall area is a “death zone” at the Tbilisi Sea, where swimming is particularly dangerous and prohibited, however citizens neither are informed about it nor confront any insurmountable barrier. Tbilisi City Hall refuses to enforce the decision of the court and considers that it is not responsible for prevention of such accidents in the city. Human Rights Center prepared a counter-appeal in response to the appeal of Tbilisi City Hall. Read more…

Tbilisi. Media Advocacy Coalition calls on the Ministry of Finance to create equal tax conditions for broadcasters and make the process of paying off a budgetary debt transparent and fair. “Due to non-payment of a budgetary debt, the Revenue Service submitted a collection order to the accounts of TV Companies TV Pirveli, Rustavi 2, Kavkasia, as well as several regional channels. Georgian authorities have not used such an automatic sanction against major broadcasters for years”, - is noted in the statement released by the coalition. Read more… Source: https://www.qartia.ge

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center releases a statement regarding the case of Temirlan Machalikashvili. “Two years have passed since the large-scale special operation was carried out by the State Security Service at the Machalikashvili family in the village of Duisi, however there are no results observed as a follow up of ongoing investigation in the case of cruel murder of Machalikashvili so far. After 2 years from starting investigation there is no single person prosecuted and parents of Temirlan Machalikashvili have not been granted the status of successor”, - is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: https://emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), under the EU-supported ENPARD programme, implemented the second training module for the staff of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia (MEPA).  In the frame of this training plan, more than 100 staff members participated in training courses of Leadership and Public Speaking, Microsoft Office, Human Resource Management and Professional English Language, that were conducted over the last four months and were finalized with the certificate-awarding ceremonies for the successful attendees.  Read more…  Source: http://enpard.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... 

Kvemo Kartli. The Youth Bank has one of the most active committees in the Marneuli district. Both committee members and the authors of projects, i.e., young persons who turn ideas into projects, are quite active, and, in a joint effort with the committee, they work to benefit their local communities. This process is supported by Europe Foundation within the framework of its Youth Integration Program. This year, youth in the Marneuli district set a precedent for future projects to follow – they built a greenhouse that will generate income for the Maradisi village school district. Read more…  Source: http://www.epfound.ge

Tbilisi. On December 21-23, Soviet Past Research Laboratory organized a combined, basic course for beginner researchers – “Archival research to rethink history of the XX century”. “The lecture was delivered by Irakli Khvadagiani, a historian, researcher at Soviet Past Research Laboratory.  The course consists of 2 informal, condensed, practice-oriented lecture-type meetings aiming to assist interested listeners as much as possible in obtaining tangible knowledge about basic principles of archival research”, - is stated on the website of the organization in a social network. Read more…  Source:T he website of the organization in a social network

Ajara. On 20 December 2019, the Constitutional Court of Georgia accepted the constitutional claim of the Public Defender of Georgia for consideration on its merits, relating to the constitutionality of the rule applied by the High Council of Justice for the selection of Supreme Court candidates to be submitted to the Parliament of Georgia. The constitutional lawsuit disputes the procedure of secret ballot for selecting Supreme Court candidates by the High Council of Justice, as it does not require substantiation of a candidate's eligibility. Read more…  Source: http://ombudsman.ge