On November 28-30, the Executive Director of the Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC), Nino Evgenidze, within the framework of the conference "WECHANGE - Dialogue for the Future 2022: Building Sustainable Civil Societies and Protecting Democracies in the European Union and the Eastern Neighborhood", participated in a panel discussion - “Russian imperial ambition derailing: consequences of Russia’s war against Ukraine for the Eastern Partnership Region and the EU”. “I come from a country 20% of which is occupied by Russia, with the Russian troops deployed just 40 kilometers from my city, Tbilisi. Unfortunately, in 2008, the West and the World could not stop Russia in Georgia. So now, it's everyone's responsibility to support Ukraine and provide them with all the financial and military assistance they need. Ukrainians are not only fighting for themselves but also to keep Europe whole, free and at peace. We should be very grateful to them because they are sacrificing their lives to defend your and our freedom." – stated Nino Evgenidze. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. On November 29 UNICEF and the International Chamber of Commerce in Georgia signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at mobilizing support for children through ensuring child rights in business practices and empowering young people to become competitive workforce on the labour market. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. A minor will no longer need the consent of an abusive father to get an education upon the request of “Rights Georgia”, the court issued an interim order. On November 25, 2022, the Samtredia District Court fully satisfied the request of "Rights Georgia" and the minor will no longer need the permission of the abusive father to study at school depending on her and her mother's geographical location.  "Rights Georgia" litigates this case before the court with the support of the USAID Rule of Law Program.  “Words cannot describe the emotion and happiness that I had during the hearing when the judge announced the decision. It's a great joy that I don't have to ask permission from an abusive father on matters related to the child's education. I am happy that from today I can provide education to my child independently,” -  the mother of the minor tells us. Read more... Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. The Programs Director of the Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) - Levan Avalishvili, conducted a lecture on freedom of information for the participants of the bachelor’s group within the framework of the Certification Program in Fighting Corruption. Levani spoke to the participants of the course about the importance of public information, the legal framework, and the mechanisms for requesting public information established in Georgia. The lecture was held in an interactive mode. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Civil Society Organizations respond to the significant deterioration of the health of the third president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, and call on the government that the issue of his further treatment should be decided not by political expediency, but only based on the standards of protection of human life and health. Read more… Source: osgf.ge Photo: OC Media 

Tbilisi. November 25 is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which aims to raise public awareness, recognize current challenges and outline future strategies to combat violence. In addition, this day marks the beginning of the 16-day global activism against gender-based violence. Regardless of legislative and institutional changes, violence against women and domestic violence remain important challenges in Georgia. There are still many problems in terms of prevention, timely detection and effective response to the cases. Accordingly, the Public Defender of Georgia calls on the Parliament of Georgia, as well as the central and local authorities, to prioritize the implementation of the following measures: Improve sexual abuse legislation and ensure that, in accordance with international standards, the definition of sexual abuse is based on the absence of free, genuine and voluntary consent of the victim; Integrate gender equality issues into all types of education and plan awareness raising campaigns in order to raise public awareness of gender equality and domestic violence; Approve the document of national referral procedures for the identification, protection, assistance and rehabilitation of victims of violence against women and/or domestic violence; Plan appropriate projects and programmes to promote women's economic empowerment. Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. The Department of Human Rights of Ilia State University joins the 16-Day Global Campaign against Gender-Based Violence in cooperation with the USAID Rule of Law Program. The campaign, which will last from November 25 to December 10, includes various activities aimed at raising public awareness of violence against women and girls. The Department of Human Rights of the School of Law of Ilia State University will hold several events within the framework of the campaign. more... Source: The organization's page on the social network

Tbilisi. From September 2021 to March 2022 Georgian decision-makers had two concrete proposals on the table regarding the forest in Racha: 1. The first proposal came from a businessman with Russian ties who had not fulfilled his previous obligations to the State and who offered to pay GEL 11 per hectare. 2. The second proposal came from a reputable international fund that has previously invested EUR 8.5 million in the conservation of Georgia’s nature and is paying a guaranteed USD 45 (about GEL 149.2) per hectare, or 13 times as much as the first proposal. It should have been simple to make a decision that would bring the State the maximum benefit – specifically, the creation of a protected area with maximum territory and, only after this, the issuance of a hunting license for the remaining territory. With the decision that was made, the Georgian State lost a revenue of about GEL 2,057,593. The organization calls on the Office of the Prosecutor General of Georgia to launch an investigation and to establish whether the decisions related to the management of the forest in Racha contain signs of corruption. Read more… Source: 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 launch event of USAID Unity Through Diversity Program was held at TBC Concept space. The Program is implemented by UNA Georgia together with partner organizations, with the financial support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).  USAID Unity Through Diversity is a 5-year Program that connects public and private sectors to co-address the political, social, and economic barriers to the integration of ethnic and religious minorities in Georgia. The Program works to increase minority inclusion in policymaking, expand mutually beneficial social, civic, and economic linkages between minority and majority populations, reduce the barriers to civic and economic integration, and by doing so – to strengthen Georgia’s societal resilience.   USAID Unity Through Diversity Program is implemented by UNA Georgia with the financial support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. IDFI became a local partner of the Slovakia-based independent consulting company and think-tank - Strategic Analysis. On November 15-16 IDFI got involved and presented the results of the work in the region at the international conference - “Administrative Bordner Line (ABL) issues and their challenges: what are their solutions?”. Learn more… Representatives of IDFI and Strategic Analysis signed a partnership memorandum and expressed desire to mutually work on future projects in neighboring European countries and South Caucasus. Strategy Analysis has more than 10 years of work experience in the region. Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. On November 17, 2022, the Steering Group of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Anti-Corruption Network (OECD/ACN) endorsed the OECD/ACN Fifth Round Monitoring Assessment Framework, which will examine the anti-corruption environment in OECD/ACN member countries. According to Georgian Civil Society Organizations, unfortunately, unlike other OECD/ACN member countries (Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan), the Government of Georgia did not participate in the process of adopting the fifth round monitoring assessment framework. If the Government of Georgia does not agree to adopt the framework of the assessment already accepted by all the countries of the network by the end of 2022, the fifth round of monitoring under the istanbul Anti-Corruption action plan will no longer be carried out in Georgia in 2023. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Kvemo Kartli. On November 16, within the framework of the Civil Society Initiative project, a coordination meeting of leaders and young activists of the Kvemo Kartli regional hub - the Foundation for Civil Integration and the Regional Community and Public Organization was held. The participants of the meeting got acquainted with the work carried out within the framework of the project and plans for the future. The meeting highlighted the challenges and opportunities associated with participating in small grants programs under the project. The Meeting was carried out within the framework of the EU and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) funded project “Civil Society STAR Initiative”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. According to the assessment of the IDFI, the pivotal shortcoming in terms of availability and accessibility of open data in Georgia is the absence of open data legislation. “There is a need to develop data management capabilities locally, as well as the need to disaggregate centrally collected data in terms of municipal units.  There is an urgent need to update Georgia’s open data portal, as well as consistent technical support, publication of new databases, and regular update of existing data for the continued functioning of the portal. Furthermore, it is important to provide access to data through more open formats (especially API)”. Learn more… Source: idfi.ge

Guria. During the period of 2021-2022 within the joint project of USAID and UNICEF "Preventing and Responding to COVID-19 in Georgia":. 32 schools and 4 hospitals in Guria region have safe drinking water thanks to installation of water filtration equipment in partnership with Shalom Club Guria. Up to 5,000 students and teachers and 7,000 patients of the primary health care clinic benefited from the safe water in these facilities.  38,234 adolescents and youth reached with messages on safe hygiene practices, COVID-19 prevention measures and safe water and sanitation, in partnership with Helping Hand, Adjara Organization of Scouts Movement, Civil Society Development Center and Kant’s Academy.  Find out more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. During the period of 2021-2022 within the joint project of USAID and UNICEF "Preventing and Responding to COVID-19 in Georgia" over 400,000 teachers and school personnel, healthcare workers, religious leaders, parents, and children were reached with information on COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccination in partnership with ჰელფინგ ჰენდ  (Helping Hand) and the AIVA • Association of Immunization and Vaccinology. The interventions contributed to increasing the rate of vaccinated teachers from 9 per cent in August 2021 to over 76 per cent as of early 2022. Find out more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

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...

Kakheti. TI Georgia’s next regional meeting took place in Kvareli, at the Youth Center of Akhalsopeli Village, where schoolchildren with much positivity and enthusiasm greeted the speakers: Eka Gigauri, Irakli Saghinadze, and George Ushikishvili. The new generation choose the European perspective for Georgia, and the future goals that participants discussed with the speakers prove it well. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. TI Georgia has researched the political donations from January 1 to September 30, 2022. According to the research, during this period, all political parties in Georgia received 1,944,073 GEL in donations, of which 666,000 GEL (34%) went to the ruling party, the second place is "Conservative Movement" ("Alt-Info") with 393,661 GEL, and the third - "Lelo for Georgia" with 370,600 GEL. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Institute for Development of Freedom of Information publishes the research: Access to Public Information by the Media: Legislation v. Reality. “It was revealed during the course of the project that there are practical-normative problems of a systemic nature in terms of obtaining information on issues of interest to the media. Ignoring both formal and material requirements of the legislation regulating freedom of information is a regular occurrence. The number of public institutions that attempt to comply with the requirements of the legislation as much as possible is exceptionally low. There is about a 12% probability that information on issues of interest to the media will be provided fully and within the timeframe stipulated in the law. The degree of arbitrariness in public institutions is high. This may be due to the lack of effective judicial or external administrative control. In some cases, it appears that complete ignorance of public information requests is a proven practice of a public institution. The effectiveness of judicial oversight is significantly reduced by the length of timeframes stipulated by law for the consideration of a case, as well as by the courts’ disregard of these terms. The systemic problems discussed above essentially worsen the quality of access to public information on matters of media interest. On a practical level, there is no expectation that the media will be able to obtain information on an issue of its interest within the timeframe stipulated by the law. The cases of compliance with the requirements of the legislation regulating freedom of information by a public institution are exceptional”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Kakheti. Irakli Saghinadze, the producer of the series "My Wife's friends", together with TI Georgia’s  executive director, held interesting discussions regarding the status of EU candidacy in Pankisi. The people of Pankisi think that it is necessary to raise awareness in society, to understand well that we need to enter the European Union for our own well-being. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Guria. Young Pedagogues Union, within the framework of the project “Improved child protection system in Guria and Kakheti” held a training on the topic “Teaching children and adults about child protection issues and ways to respond to them”. These sessions served to prevent violence against children - raising awareness, recognizing violence against children and teaching ways to respond to it. The project is implemented with the financial support of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development and the Hermann Gmeiner German Foundation. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network