In August 2019, the “Women’s Economic Empowerment in the South Caucasus” project provided opportunity to 21 vulnerable women of Shirak and Gegharkunik regions to advance their skills in sewing and tailoring.  „Two workshops were conducted by the specialists of the Burda Academy Yerevan. The participating women took part in masterclasses on how to start a sewing business, in fashion stylist, and in networking closing event with several Armenian designers. "Women’s Economic Empowerment in the South Caucasus” is a project of UN Women, implemented in three countries of the South Caucasus with support from the Swiss Cooperation South Caucasus and the Austrian Development Agency The Armenian segment of the project is implemented by UNDP in Armenia in partnership with the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia and in close collaboration with UN Women Georgia”, is noted in the statement.  Read more… Source: Social network

The web portal www.CsoGeorgia.org releases a weekly newsletter of grants competition, contests, vacancies, fellowships and tenders for civil society organizations and for any interested person.  Newsletter...

Samtskhe-Javakheti. On September 3-4, within a frame of an ongoing project, Taso Foundation conducted trainings on Women's Leadership in Aspindza and Akhaltsikhe municipalities. Women had an opportunity to meet a rural leader from village Leilani, who is not only the leader in her community but also of the women's movement as a whole. Leadership, management, motivation, these are some of the topics discussed during the training. These activities are carried out in the framework of the project “Women’s Economic Empowerment in the South Caucasus” is managed by UN Women and funded by Swiss Development Cooperation and Austrian Development Cooperation. Read more Source: The page of the organization

Tbilisi. Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) submitted its opinion to the Parliament regarding the draft law on “Personal Data Protection” initiated on 22 May 2019.  The opinion of IDFI covers the following important issues: grounds for processing personal data; grounds for processing special categories of personal data; termination of processing of personal data, erasure and destruction of data; restriction of processing of data.  Read more… Source: The web-page of the organization

The web portal of civil society organizations - www.csogeorgia.org – conveys feelings of gratitude to its users and says them goodbye just for a month. The portal will resume the activities in September. Stay in touch with us, we will be back soon…

The web portal www.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 launch event of the Adventure-Rope Park and Algeti National Park Visitor’s Center was held along with the official hand-over of equipment to successful grant applicants.  Within the framework of the EU ENPARD Programme RDFG and the Tetritskaro Local Action Group (LAG) successfully completed two phases of the Rural Development Grant Program. Through the given initiative 65 rural development projects have been selected for funding which has raised a co-investment of around 5 million Georgian Lari (35% of which comes from beneficiary contributions). The rural development projects selected to receive support will create job opportunities for over 300 residents of the Tetritskaro Municipality, 40% of whom will be women.  Read more… Source: http://enpard.ge

Tbilisi. Partnership for Human Rights (PHR) publishes a blog post: “Dynamic of issuance of restraining orders by regions requires further analysis and appropriate actions from MIA”. “In 2014-2018 years, the indicator of issuance of restraining orders has a growing tendency in almost every region, except Guria and Samtskhe-Javakheti”. Read more… Source: phrgeorgia.wordpress.com

Tbilisi. “Article 42 of the Constitution”, with the financial support of the “Open Society Georgia Foundation”, organized a conference on “Girgvliani case and judicial practice” at the hotel “Holiday Inn”. At the conference, there was presented and discussed a draft conclusion, elaborated by “Article 42 of the Constitution”, according to which conclusion the Court of Cassation had an opportunity and obligation to return “Girgvliani case” back for re-trial as well as receive a special ruling if taking into consideration procedural law and judicial practice of that time.  Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. On July 25, the police detained Irakli Okruashvili, one of the leaders of the Victorious Georgia political party, on charges of the organization, management or participation in group violence[1] for his alleged role in the June 20-21 events. The Ministry of Internal Affairs published a video evidence depicting Okruashvili’s actions during the event. „Due to high public interest, we call on the Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia and the Prosecutor’s Office to make public the evidence that would prove the charges levelled against Okruashvili. Otherwise, there will be reasonable grounds to believe that Okruashvili’s detainment and the charges levelled against him were politically motivated“, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: www.transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) publishes a blog post: What is going on in Dzama Gorge. “The video describes conditions of Georgian Muslim eco-migrants and the local Ossetic community living in Dzama Gorge”, -is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) responds to prohibition of placement of a tent for Malkhaz Machalikashvili in front of the Parliament. “EMC considers that prohibition of placement of a tent for Malkhaz Machalikashvili in front of the Parliament without alternative is an infringement of freedom of assembly and contradicts legislation of Georgia”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. Civil Society Organizations publish a statement on charges against the founder of TBC Bank. “We, the undersigned organizations, are of the opinion that the existing circumstances, such as the launch of the investigation and the charges levelled against Khazaradze and Japaridze, could be an indication that the case is politically motivated. This suspicion is further reinforced by the fact that Khazaradze announced his intention to establish a public movement on July 9, 2019. Moreover, Mamuka Khazaradze is the founder of the Anaklia Development Consortium, which is the main responsible body for the construction of the Anaklia Deep Sea Port - a major and strategically important project for Georgia”, is noted in the joint statement. Read more… Source: www.transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Local Democracy Agency Georgia, within the framework of the project "Young People's Assessment in the Eastern Partnership Countries", has finished the summer school in Kutaisi, in which participated 16 young people from Georgia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Moldova. Read more… Source: The page of the organization in a social network

Happening Now USAID-PROLoG organized a workshop for members of the Coalition for an independent and Transparent Judiciary on Freedom of Expression and Public Persuasion involving American expert Jason C. DeSanto from Northwestern University. Read more… Source: The page of the organization in a social network

The web portal www.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) publishes an article of Mariam Devidze: “Gold and cyanide, struggle for wealth or survival?” “Pessimistic attitude of population makes local communities more vulnerable and hinders demonstration of resistance skills. In the end, it is obvious that in Tkibuli, Chiatura, Kazreti and not just there, the environment, individuals and local settlements weaken/are sacrificed for industrial activities. Both demonstration of collective resistance and fighting for a better living environment may be complicated at this stage, though, on a daily basis, the environment and we struggle against the existing capitalist order for survival. However, the main battle is still ahead”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more…   Source: emc.org.ge

Tbilisi. Non-governmental organizations based in Georgia are addressing you in regard to the recent developments around Rustavi 2 TV. “We, the undersigned organizations, are calling on you to follow the developments around Rustavi 2 and thoroughly monitor all ongoing processes. It is important to preserve the broadcaster’s critical editorial policy and to prevent any violations of the labor rights of journalists”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Media Advocacy Coalition believes that independent media outlets are an important factor for the country's democratic development. The journalist acts in accordance with his own conscience and professional standards while his professional activities are protected from interference from the director and the owner. Therefore, it is important not to interfere with the journalist's editorial activity or the creative process and impose censorship. In addition, on the background of the ongoing processes, journalists' labor rights should be protected. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Racha-Lechkhum-Kvemo Svaneti. Social integration, developing the basic comunication and interpersonal skills were the major topics of the EU-supported Youth Summer Camp organized by the initiative of the Akhalkalaki Local Action Group (LAG) in Racha. The event was held within the framework of EU-supported project “Promoting a New Rural Development Approach in Akhalkalaki.”  During the Summer Camp, participants had the opportunity to raise awareness about the history of Racha Region, visit cultural, historical and recreation sites, and receive information about the academic programmes of local vocational college. Moreover, the youth learned local traditional handiworks such as the art of patterning and creating Georgian enamel, as well as cooked local dishes with the host family. In addition, the camp participants were introduced to local tourism development trends and innovative methods of establishing effective communication and interpersonal skills.  Read more… Source: http://enpard.ge 

Tbilisi. Georgian foundation for Strategic and International Studies publishes a blog post: Key messages of Vladimir Putin from an interview given to the Financial Times. “Emphasizing traditional values as a counterweight to liberalism has been especially outlined in the Russian political agenda for the last several years. Besides, it should be taken into consideration that this particular direction of the Russian propaganda is mostly designed for post-Soviet countries. On this background it is not accidental that the issue of protection of traditional values is becoming increasingly relevant to us, which fact is proved by activation of certain groups in connection with this subject during last period of time”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: www.gfsis.org

Tbilisi. Inadequate financial documents of the National Wrestling Federation, conflict of interest, problems with the disposal of state assets and failure to fulfill official commitments – today the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) published a study on 2015-2018 expenditures and related corruption risks at the National Wrestling Federation of Georgia. “The financial reports of the state wrestling program are not aligned with the budget execution reports issued by the Ministry. For instance, in 2017, the former provides information about only GEL 782,785.38, while the latter states that GEL 3,500,000 was allocated for the state wrestling program for the same year”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: idfi.ge