Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia publishes a blog post: Violations and Response Mechanisms of Ethical Norms in the Parliament of Georgia. “Verbal and physical confrontations in the state legislature have been a subject for discussion in the public. The Parliament of Georgia adopted the Code of Ethics on February 22th of 2019, but the statute of the Ethics Council is yet to be approved and all of the positions have not been filled. As a result, the Council is unable to receive and deliberate on complaints, essentially leaving the violations of the Code of Ethics unenforced”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: www.transparency.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. On November 25, the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) in collaboration with the National Library of Georgia held the presentation of the memorial album about the life and work of a prominent public figure of the First Republic of Georgia, Nikoloz (Karlo) Chkheidze. The album includes the archival and photo materials that have not been published before, extensive annotations and the details of Karlo Chkheidze’s biography and public work. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) publishes a document containing appraisal of November 26 developments. The document provides an initial assessment of how legitimate and proportionate the police force used by the state was. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Ajara. EU and UNDP support innovative business ideas for rural municipalities in Ajara.  Forty local entrepreneurs joined a three-day business bootcamp in Chakvi in November, designed to show how to start, run and grow a rural business enterprise, generate creative ideas and find the realistic ways of their implementation. This condensed business exercise was supported by the European Union (EU), under the EU-funded ENPARD programme, in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Ajara Autonomous Republic.  Read more…  Source: http://enpard.ge

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center publishes a point of view of Nika Maghlaperidze in regard to social inequality existing in educational institutions. “As it has been revealed by a number of studies, inequality is an integral part of our education structure (1). According to a study conducted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and published a few days ago, the situation in this context has visibly deteriorated over the last 10 years. As PISA results show, in 2009, the difference between test points of urban and rural students was 30, while today this difference goes up to 44. Besides, this difference has also increased significantly in case of students representing dominant ethnic group and ethnic minorities”, - the author writes. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. “Beyond the Lost Eye” is the report prepared by GYLA regarding the events of June 20-21, which will be presented on November 27. “The report evaluates the legitimacy and proportionality of the decision to disperse the protest rally on 20-21 June 2019, the cases of inhuman treatment, excessive use of force against journalists and interference with journalistic activities. The report also analyzes the practice of imposing administrative detentions and judicial review of cases in connection with the events of June 20-21” is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. This is a joint statement of Human Rights Organizations concerned about the deteriorating human rights situation in the occupied territories of Georgia and the quest for immediate and active measures to turn this damaging situation into a positive track. “More specifically, we are referring to the pending regrettable developments in the occupied region of South Ossetia/Tskhinvali Region. Among other stressing problems, hereby we would like to highlight the most recent arbitrary detention of the doctor-traumatologist Vaja Gaprindashvili, which requires urgent measures for his immediate release, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia publishes a blog post: Offshore Zones and Georgia. “Some regulations regarding offshore companies should be also worked out in Georgia. The country should comply with the recommendations of the OECD Anti-Corruption Network and require disclosure to offshore companies, at least when these companies or their subsidiaries participate in public procurement, the Partnership Fund’s projects or other state programs”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: www.transparency.ge

From November 20 to 22, in Gori, Telavi and Kutaisi, civil society organizations carried out a campaign - “You have a message” initiated to reduce violence against children and aiming at informing citizens about forms of violence against children. “Civil society organizations as well as citizens signed a petition and called on the state to fulfill its commitments and take effective steps in regard to welfare and harmonious development of children”, - is stated on the website of CIDA in a social network. Read more… Source: The website of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. According to information of Transparency International – Georgia, the company of the family of a member of Batumi City Assembly wins tenders of Batumi City Hall without competition.  "“Acharganateba” is a company owned by the family of Irakli Topuridze, a member of the “Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia” faction at Batumi City Assembly. It wins non-competitive tenders and acquires the right to a simplified purchase - from February 2011 through May 2019 the company has received GEL 26,523,383 in total through 94 tenders and 22 simplified purchases. 82% of this amount comes from mom-competitive tenders and simplified purchases”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: www.transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia made a statement on International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.  ‘The 16-day campaign against gender-based violence has been celebrated worldwide since 1991, begining on November 25 - International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and ending on December 10 - International Human Rights Day. The campaign aims to raise public awareness of the challenges and problems facing the country in terms of violence against women’, - The Public Defender said, - ‘Georgia joins the global campaign every year and focuses on establishing zero tolerance for violence against women and girls. The main theme of this year’s 16-day campaign against gender-based violence is sexual harassment. This year has been important in terms of legislative regulation of sexual harassment and development of appropriate practices’.  Read more…  Source: http://ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. According to the statement of the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association, the Prosecutor General's Office did not fully disclose materials of the criminal case to Mako Gomuri.  “We call on the Prosecutor General's Office of Georgia: to allow Mako Gomuri and her lawyers to get familiarized with materials of the criminal case in full; to meet its duties and responsibilities and conduct a complete and comprehensive investigation, taking especially into consideration the fact that more than five months have already been passed since Mako Gomuri was injured”.  Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Mtskheta-Mtianeti. EU and UNDP assist Georgia’s Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture in reforming its human resource management system.  Thirty human resource professionals from the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia attended a three-day training on Human Resource Management and Organizational Learning. Supported by the European Union (EU) under the ENPARD programme, the training was organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers Georgia (PwC). The exercise covered some of the critical areas in human resource management, including performance and talent management, learning and development, employee relations and success planning. The training participants discussed how to recruit and retain high-calibre staff and what can be done by human resource professionals to support the employees.  Read more… Source: http://enpard.ge

Tbilisi. Tbilisi hosts large-scale conference on strategic communications and counter disinformation. The event is part of the Strategic Communications Week, that aims at raising awareness of public, sharing experiences of EU and the Eastern Partnership countries and promoting public diplomacy.  The purpose of the conference is to analyze the dangers of disinformation in the EU and its neighborhood and to promote coordinated action. Experts, Officials, Diplomats, Young Professionals, Civil and Media Sector Experts on Disinformation and Strategic Communications discuss together on strengthening the capacity of EU institutions to combat disinformation; Strengthening joint response; Mobilizing the private sector and raising awareness of the issue.  Read more…  Source: https://eeas.europa.eu

Tbilisi. On November 18, 2019 the implementation of new training module “Development of mandatory professional skills of private enforcer” has launched. The first group of 25 state enforcers will be trained on practical issues of private enforcement. The purpose of establishment and implementation of training module is to prepare public enforcers for private work. Read more… Source: Social network

Tbilisi. Civil society organizations, operating in Georgia, publish a joint statement: Trials of detained demonstrators were carried out with serious violations. “It can be said unequivocally that while reviewing cases of demonstrators, detained at the November 18 rally, the judge neglected requirements stipulated by law, was biased and restricted rights of detainees”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: www.transparency.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. Over 100 representatives of the private companies, business associations and international organizations took part in a stakeholder forum in Tbilisi on 20 November to discuss business development trends in Georgia and a competitive potential of the private sector at the national and EU markets. Read more… Source: The web-page of the organization

Tbilisi. Media Advocacy Coalition responds to the process of selection of a director of Adjara TV. “Media Advocacy Coalition considers that developments, which took place recently in regard to Adjara Public Broadcaster, including selection of members of the Advisory Board by the Supreme Council of Adjara and further actions, give the ground to assume that the process is managed by the government”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Today is the World Children's Day. „To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, UNICEF organizes the activity called "Kids Take Over" in more than 130 countries across the globe. Several schools in Tbilisi also joins the activity. Older school pupils held a demonstrational lessons for the little ones, showed interesting experiments and taught them the first aid. Read more… Source: Social Network

Tbilisi. Public Defender responds to trials of persons detained on 18 November 2019. “At this stage, according to the information available to us, some of the detainees were detained on November 18, during working hours. Consequently, the maximum term of their detention is 12 hours, according to the Georgian legislation. After this period expires, it is necessary to release them. We would also like to emphasize the fact that only one judge is considering the cases of administrative detention, which naturally complicates the administration of swift justice. It is necessary to involve additional judges in the process in order to prevent violation of the detainees' procedural rights. We urge Tbilisi City Court to comply with the requirements of the law and conduct trials timely and fairly”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge