Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia has found sexual harassment committed by the head of a private company. According to the case materials, the applicant was working as an intern in the company.  The applicant alleges she was subjected to verbal and physical actions of undesirable sexual nature his her supervisor, causing a degrading work environment, as a result of which, the applicant was forced to quit.  The applicant's interests were represented at the Public Defender's Office by the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association.  Read more…  Source: http://ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. By the decision of the Board of the Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics, Giorgi Mgeladze has become Executive Director of the Charter. Until this appointment, Giorgi Mgeladze worked as Investigative Reporter for studio “Monitor”, received numerous awards for best investigative film. He also directed the media monitoring group of the Charter of Journalistic Ethics, was a board member and Chair of the Board of the Charter. Read more… Source: www.qartia.ge

Tbilisi. On June 19, Giorgi Tabagari, Tamaz Sozashvili and Mariam Kvaratskhelia, organizers of “Tbilisi Pride”, received bullying messages, in which they were threatened to be killed due to their activities. “Partnership for Human Rights (PHR) considers that in the circumstances when the indicator of committing violent crime against LGBTQ+ on discriminatory grounds in Georgia is alarmingly high, ineffective response of the government to such cases creates a sense of impunity for hate-motivated crimes and encourages people or groups acting against human rights”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: phrgeorgia.wordpress.com

Within the framework of the project “Inclusive Dialogue - Effective Social Policy”, Local Democracy Agency Georgia held a working meetings with members of the civic advisory board in Baghdati and Zestaponi Municipalities. „The goal of the meetings was to get acquainted with the document prepared based on the need’s assessment of the residents of Baghdati and Zestaponi. Members of the civil advisory boards have been actively involved in advocating for the needs identified within the Project“, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: The page of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. Several blog posts (Georgians are Split over the Prosecutor’s Office in Georgia and People are Divided on Whether the Prosecutor’s Office in Georgia is Independent) on Social Science in the South Caucasus have shown that the population of Georgia is split in their views of the Prosecutor’s Office (PO). In March 2019, CRRC-Georgia carried out a survey experiment to better understand under what circumstances people trust and do not trust the Prosecutor’s Office. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

UN Women, in the frameworks of its support to private sector partners conducted a workshop on Sexual Harassment complaints mechanisms with 15 representatives of Socar Georgia Petroleum. “The workshop aims at informing company’s management on the recently adopted legislative amendments on sexual harassment as well as finalizing the complaints mechanism which SOCAR Georgia Petroleum will soon introduce. Sexual Harassment Complaints Mechanism is part of the Action Plan on Women’s Empowerment Principles (#WEPs) which Socar is implementing since 2018“. Read more… Source: The web page of the organization in a social network

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) publishes an article of Tornike Gerliani: Migrants of unrecognized war, i.e. who and how fights against HPPs. “Present article contains a review of methods and strategies of fight and resistance carried out by anti-HPP movements around the world. Subject issues include grounds, practices and their interaction while using different political frameworks. Along with evaluation of implementation of large-scale hydroelectric projects, as well as their severe impact on the environment and population, there will be demonstrated those prevailing political and economic visions, which predominantly define contemporary models of development”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: emc.org.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. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) responds to the tragic fact of death of Margo Martiashvili, a resident of the Ikoti village of the Akhalgori district, and the grave humanitarian and social situation, in which people located on the other side of the occupation line have been living during last months. “The practice of arbitrary closure of checkpoints entails a number of critical issues, including limited access to basic needs and services such as medicines, nutrition, emergency medical care, social assistance services, including pension, which in most cases is the only source of income and existence”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. EU and Government of Georgia launch new 150 M GEL programme supporting vocational education and labour market development in Georgia.  At a special event held at Gldani Vocational Education and Training Centre, Mikheil Batiashvili, the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, Carl Hartzell, EU Ambassador to Georgia and Cesare Onestini, European Training Foundation (ETF) Directorlaunched the second phase of the Skills4Jobs programme in Georgia. Five year programme to assist 105 000 Georgians find jobs by expanding high quality vocation education, improving labour policies, and supporting entrepreneurship training.  Read more…  Source: https://eeas.europa.eu

Civil Development Agency (CiDA) is the organizer of an ongoing working meeting on “Involvement of local self-governments and civil society organizations in the process of juvenile crime prevention”. “The purpose of the meeting is to talk about development and implementation of services at the local level that are tailored to the needs of juveniles having been in conflict with law and at risk of committing crime”, - 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. Today, the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) with the support of the European Union (EU) presented the 2017-2018 interim monitoring results of the Strategy & the Action Plan implementation by the PSG.  As in the document is mentioned the implementation of the activities set forth by the Action Plan of the Prosecution Service of Georgia (PSG) worsened in 2018 in comparison with 2017, - ‘According to the interim monitoring results, out of 127 activities for the year 2017, the PSG fully implemented 87 commitments, mostly implemented 20 and 15 - partly, though 5 were left unimplemented. As for 2018, from 119 activities: 32 were unimplemented, while 65 were fully, 11 – mostly and 11 – partly implemented’.  Read more…  Source: https://idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia has requested information from all municipalities of Georgia, except Tbilisi, on the ownership of the buildings where the City Hall, the City Council and/or other municipal-funded institutions are located. “According to the information that we received, 22 out of the 63 municipalities do not have a sufficient number of properties to carry out their duties. The Tsalka Municipality is the only municipality that does not even own the building in which its City Hall / City Council is based and instead uses a state-owned property for free. In certain cases, municipalities have to rent a property for the operation of kindergartens, individual services, and municipal legal entities”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: www.transparency.ge

Ajara. The EU-supported Khulo Local Action Group (LAG) has launched a new project “Promotion of service quality development in the guest houses in Khulo Municipality”.  The four months project aims to improve the quality of knowledge in the field of guesthouse management, service and marketing through retraining the guesthouse operators from Khulo municipality. Overall, 13 guesthouse operators have been selected to participate in the trainings. The project is financed jointly by American embassy small grant program and Caritas Czech Republic in Georgia.  Read more… Source: http://enpard.ge

Tbilisi. According to information of the Gender Informational Portal, those committed violence against women or domestic violence will be monitored electronically. “The package of amendments has already been presented to the parliament and will be discussed at the bureau sitting of today. Electronic monitoring envisages a special bracelet to be attached to the violator after issuing a restraining order”, - is stated on the website of the Portal. Read more… Source: www.ginsc.net

Samtskhe-Javakheti. Over 100 representatives of public, private and civil society organizations attended the conference, which summarized the results of the EU-supported two-year ENPARD project “Strengthening Rural Development models in Georgia”.  The project, implemented by Mercy Corps, People in Need and CARE Austria, in partnership with the European LEADER Association for Rural Development (ELARD), ran since 2017 and aimed at promoting a community-driven rural development approach in Borjomi, Lagodekhi and Kazbegi municipalities. Through sharing the best European practices in rural development, the project has contributed to the implementation of the EU’s LEADER approach in the three municipalities, where it has helped establish Local Action Groups (LAGs), elaborate Local Development Strategies and provided EU grants to over 200 development initiatives. As a result, throughout the project implementation, more than 600 permanent job opportunities were created in all three municipalities.  Since 2015, in the framework of the EU ENPARD programme in Georgia, eight Local Actions Groups have been created (in Borjomi, Lagodekhi, Kazbebgi, Dedoplistskaro, Tetritskaro, Akhalkalaki, Keda and Khulo municipalities), which, in collaboration with the EU partner organizations, are successfully implementing rural development projects. Up to 400 initiatives have already been funded by EU through their direct involvement country-wide. These initiatives are boosting production and services in the areas of agriculture, tourism, social and rural infrastructure and environment. They have already provided better employment to over 1000 rural households and benefited more than 10,000 people across the country. Currently, the EU’s LEADER methodology is being introduced and Local Action Groups established in four additional municipalities (Akhmeta, Tsalka, Tskaltubo and Mestia).  Read more…  Source: http://enpard.ge

Tbilisi. The head of the Anti-Violence Network of Georgia, Nato Shavlakadze, the organization regional coordinator, Eliso Amirejibi participate in the annual conference of the work with perpetrators European Network (WWPEN), where about 60 representatives of different organizations from 31 countries discuss the efficiency of advancing intervention. Read more… Source: Social network

Kvemo Kartli. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC), together with community centers of Khuldara, Kvemo Sarali, Aghmamedlo and Kasumlo villages, shared a list of priorities and a document containing recommendations and visions for the budget elaboration process with the Mayor and the City Assembly of Marneuli. The document has been prepared on the basis of field trips and consultations with local activists in the villages of Marneuli municipality and is an attempt to strengthen policies for protection of rights of ethnic minorities, creation of a fairer political and social environment for them, as well as inclusion at the local self-government level. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Adjara. “Transparency International Georgia” has publicized needs identified by civic councils in 2019 in Adjara. Supply of potable and irrigation water, bringing to order internal roads and drainage channels, reinforcement of landslide-prone terrains, installation of outdoor lightings, rehabilitation of kindergartens and sports infrastructure, access to the internet, maintenance of cultural heritage sites – this is an incomplete list of needs, in regard to which the organization has already applied to municipalities urging to address them. 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. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is pleased to present the twenty-second edition of the CSO Sustainability Index (CSOSI) for Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia, covering developments in 2018. It addresses both advances and setbacks in seven key components or “dimensions” of the sustainability of the civil society sector: legal environment, organizational capacity, financial viability, advocacy, service provision, sectoral infrastructure, and public image. The Index is intended to be a useful source of information for local CSOs, governments, donors, academics, and others who want to better understand and monitor key aspects of sustainability in the CSO sector. Read more… Source: www.fhi360.org