Kakheti. Meeting with the youth of Telavi was a very active discussion. It is hopeful to talk with them about the future of Georgia, the will to enter the European Union, and some steps that should be taken in this regard. Singer George Ushishvili stressed out the importance of the EU's effort to preserve Georgian folk music and culture in general. TI Georgia’s executive director Eka Gigauri, according to her own experience gave students a clear picture of how to get scholarships in order to study in Europe. TI Georgia expresses gratitude towards PH International for contributing to holding this meeting. Regional meetings are carried out with the support of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung South Caucasus. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. On September 12, 2022 IDFI requested public information from the Georgian National Communications Commission (“Communications Commission” or “Commission”) about the addresses to block internet pages sent to internet-providers from 2017 up to date. The analysis covers the period from 2017 to September 26, 2022. “In this period the Commission sent 65 addresses to providers. Overall, 480 websites were requested to be blocked. Excluding the websites that could not be checked for one reason or another, the actual rate of website blocking under the Commission’s authority is 55%. Such a rate and the number of cases of avoidance could put the enforcement of this authority of the Commission under question. On the systematic level it does not appear that the Commission abuses procedural/material shortcomings of the website blocking mechanism. However, there are number of shortcomings, mostly procedural, which show that the current mechanism of website blocking has significant potential of misuse against the freedom of expression”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. GCSD signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Business and Technology University. The Memorandum aims to promote information technology awareness through joint projects, research, student employment, and interdisciplinary knowledge accumulation and sharing. Read 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...

Tbilisi. With the support of the U.S. government, orphaned children with disabilities will now live in a home type environment and receive better medical care. With Ambassador Degnan in attendance, the newly constructed buildings were handed over to the Ministry of IDPs from the Occupied Territories, Labor, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia to support the Georgian Government’s efforts to decentralize big orphanages. United States Army European Command spent approximately 2.2 million GEL on the project. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Kvemo Kartli. IDFI continues raising awareness about the PPD Quality Tracking Mechanism in municipalities. This time, the representatives of IDFI and the USAID Economic Governance Program conducted an info session with the representatives of Rustavi City Council and City Hall. IDFI team members presented the results of the "Assessment of the Quality of Public-Private Dialogue in Drafting Normative Acts-2020-2021". Meanwhile, the representative of the USAID Economic Governance Program spoke about program’s role in strengthening the dialogue between the private and public sectors. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Representatives of the Media Companies and Civil Society Organizations appeal to Mr. Charles Michel, President of the European Council. “On November 2, 2022, the Court of Appeals of Georgia upheld the conviction of Nika Gvaramia, founder and General Director of an independent TV channel Mtavari. It is our strong belief that this is a politically motivated case and charges against him are groundless, as it has been stipulated in the independent opinion presented to the Court by the Public Defender of Georgia and non-governmental organizations. Against the backdrop of grave challenges in judiciary and the Georgian Dream’s aggressive policy against critical media, we do not expect Nika Gvaramia's rights to be defended in the Supreme Court of Georgia. We see Presidential pardon as the only remedy to end his unjust imprisonment. Several political and public groups have already addressed the President of Georgia with the request to pardon Nika Gvaramia. President Michel, you are a staunch supporter of Georgia's democratic development, and we sincerely hope that your call on President Salome Zourabichvili could encourage her to take this step, pardon the General Director of a critical broadcaster and a political prisoner. This would be not only a humane act, but also a significant action for the benefit of our country. President Michel, we are confident that your engagement will be a major contribution to the freedom of the media in Georgia; moreover, it will empower Georgian people in their unequivocal aspirations towards Europe”, is noted in the joint statement. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Institute for Development of Freedom of Information publishes the survey: Georgia's Implementation of the international sanctions imposed against Russia. “In light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, one of the most prominent show of support towards Ukraine from the international community was the imposition and enforcement of strict sanctions against the Russian Federation. The government of Georgia initially refused to join the imposed sanctions on Russia on the grounds of perceived economic and political threats facing the country. The political decision to abstain from participating in sanctions, turned into an important moral and reputational obligation for Georgia not to become a means for Russia to evade international sanctions. In this regard, it is of particular importance that the Georgian authorities, in coordination with international partners, through a fully transparent process, ensure the prevention of any attempt to evade the sanctions on the customs territory of Georgia as well as the financial sector”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Samegrelo. In Zugdidi, TI Georgia shared expectations with civic education teachers of public schools about the beneficial changes that the implementation of the 12-step plan can bring on the way to getting closer to the European Union and receiving the status of a candidate country. The meeting with teachers was organized by the association "Atinati" within the framework of USAID's civic education program, which PH International Georgia implements together with partner organizations. Read more... Source: The organization's page on the social network

Regions. On October 25, 27 and 28, the campaign visited Gori, Ozurgeti and Kutaisi and met with local parents, teachers of schools and kindergartens and representatives of educational resource centers. Along with the presentation of “Parents' ABC” at the meeting, psychologist Maya Tsiramua told parents about positive parenting methods and shared how we can become better parents, what are the ways to create a harmonious and understanding relationship with children and how to promote their development. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. On October 24-26, Europe Foundation held a training on investigative reporting and digital security for media professionals. For three days, the participants worked on techniques for effective sourcing and interviewing, strategies for protecting sources, ways to search for documents and data outside Georgia, finding information online and through social media, secure communication. The event also hosted a discussion around the issues in investigative journalism and security. Read 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...

Kvemo Kartli. On October 28, organized by the Civil Integration Fund, within the framework of the "Civil Society Initiative" project, a meeting was held between Ms. Nino Omiadze, the head of the Sports and Youth Affairs Service of the Dmanisi Municipality and local young activists. At the meeting, they talked about the challenges and problems faced by the local youth and the management and coordination of the youth policy at the municipal level. 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. On November 2, 2022, the Tbilisi Court of Appeal delivered the verdict in the case of Nika Gvaramia, the former director of the "Rustavi 2" TV company, currently the founder and general director of Mtavari Aharki, upholding Gvaramia’s imprisonment. “The verdict delivered today by the Court of Appeals contradicts European Commission’s requirements for the candidacy status for Georgia, in particular, requirements for pluralistic media environment and an independent and impartial judiciary [4] The case of Nika Gvaramia was included in the resolution adopted by the European Parliament on the freedom of the media and safety of journalists in Georgia.[5] This decision of the court further distanced Georgia from the EU candidacy status and made the European future of our country even more vague. Given the current critical situation, we once again call on the President of Georgia to pardon Nika Gvaramia and play a positive role in the process of Georgia’s integration into the European Union”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. On November 2, the judges of the Tbilisi Court of Appeals, Merab Jorbenadze, Lavrenti Maghlakelidze and David Mamiseishvili found Nika Gvaramia, the former director of "Rustavi 2" and the founder of "TV Mtavari", guilty of abuse of power (two episodes - the so-called commercial airtime sale and the so-called vehicle episode). As a final sanction, he was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months imprisonment. “The efforts made by international partners over the years to strengthen the judicial system have been significantly damaged by the actions of the members of the clan. Politically motivated cases are one of the indicators of challenges to judicial independence. Similar cases cast a shadow on the judiciary, including impartial judges. Accordingly, we believe that in the future spending the partners’ resources on judges, who in the past have violated human rights, won't have a positive impact on the development of the judiciary”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Adjara. How to fight disinformation and anti-Western propaganda related to the status of the EU candidate country? What are the steps to get the status? On this topic, TI Georgia held an interesting meeting with young people in Kobuleti within the framework of the regional tour, which we are carrying out with the support of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung South Caucasus. Also, an interesting discussion followed another meeting in Batumi, where the organizations held a screening of Beso Solomanashvili's new film. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Adjara. Transparency International Georgia examined asset declarations of the Government and Members of the Supreme Council of Adjara public officials submitted in 2021-2022 and identified inaccuracies in 39% of declarations. 24 out of 62 public officials in the office inaccurately submitted asset declarations. 12 officials did not indicate real estate in the declaration owned by him/her and/or his/her family member. 12 officials did not declare their own and/or family members’ business interests – being a shareholder and director of a company. 11 public officials did not delegate the right to manage shares in the private companies to other persons. 4 public officials did not disclose received remuneration during their tenure. 3 public officials received income from activities restricted by the law. 2 public officials - members of the Supreme Council, Ilia Verdzadze and Fridon Putkaradze took into consideration inaccuracies indicated in our 2019 research, however, the Chairman of the Government Tornike Rizhvadze ignored violations in his asset declaration identified in our 2020 research. Hence, Transparency International Georgia calls on Civil Service Bureau to examine asset declarations of the persons named in the study and respond to the identified issues in a timely and comprehensive manner. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. On October 31, with the participation of Georgian political parties, local and international organizations, CEC members, as well as representatives of embassies, we held a workshop on the issues of political finances, which our organization has been working on for years. The discussion touched on the challenges of oversight and transparency of political finances, as well as fundraising for parties, Russian influence, and the presence of "black" money. The participants of the workshop also expressed interesting opinions on the possible ways to solve the problems. The event was held 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. On October 28, the Legal Issues Committee at the Parliament of Georgia initiated a draft law that provides for the creation of a new body – LEPL Anti-Corruption Bureau. The declared goal of the authors of the draft law is to ensure the fulfillment of Point 4 of the 12 recommendations that were given by the European Commission to Georgia as prerequisites for granting the status of a candidate for EU membership. According to the draft law, the function of the new agency will be to contribute to the fight against corruption, which it will carry out by creating anti-corruption policy documents and coordination and supervision over their enforcement. The head of the Bureau will be appointed by the Prime Minister of Georgia. It is TI Georgia’s assessment that the proposed reform fails to address recommendation 4 given by the European Commission, which asks the country to: “Strengthen the independence of its Anti-Corruption Agency, bringing together all key anti-corruption functions, in particular to rigorously address high-level corruption cases.” TI Georgia calls on the Georgian Dream not to miss this historic opportunity and to do everything possible to ensure that even the most skeptically disposed party does not have any questions on whether or not Georgia has adequately fulfilled any of the recommendations of the European Commission. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. In the Chavchavadze Literary-Memorial Museum, under the supervision of the Women's Information Center, a summary meeting of the project "Mainstreaming and promoting gender equality in the target municipalities". The purpose of the summary meeting is the presentation of conclusions and results on maintaining gender equality, bests practices sharing, and discussing challenges and obstacles... Representatives of the central and local government/decision-makers participated in the meeting, including the Chairman of the Permanent Gender Equality Council of the Parliament, Nino Tsilo,s and member - Ana Natsvlishvili, persons responsible for general equality issues in all municipalities. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Guria. On October 26, the Entrepreneurial course was started at the Learning and Employment Support Centre of Ozurgeti. Training Topics: Generating business ideas; Components of a business plan Skills and qualities of the entrepreneur; interpersonal communication Identifying client needs; Convincing and positive language Effective offer; non-verbal communication, etc. The course is organized within the project "Skill Building and Innovative Job Opportunities for Regional Development of Georgia" implemented by the Georgian Center for Strategic Research and Development (CSRDG) in collaboration with Young Pedagoues' Union and the Georgian Civic Development Association in Guria, Kakheti and Kvemo Kartli region. The project is financially supported by the EU Delegation in Georgia. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Watch USAID’s animated series to learn about being an engaged citizen. Today the organization presents the episode that covers citizen oversight. Stay tuned for other episodes. “Animated clips explain the principles of democracy and can be used in the classroom to make the teaching and learning process more fun and easier to understand. In addition, the animated clips promote the importance of civic education, raise awareness, and encourage students to engage in civic life. USAID created this series as part of its Civic Education Matters Campaign. We are working together with Georgians to promote citizen engagement with Georgia's democracy and to build democratic institutions that are responsive to citizen needs”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network