Since February, the EU has imposed hard-hitting sanctions against the Kremlin, with the aim of halting the invasion of Ukraine.  State of play on sanctions read more… Source: eu-solidarity-ukraine.ec.europa.eu

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia studied the issue of Georgia's economic dependence on Russia, as it poses a threat to the country. In particular, the data as of June 2022, on trade between Georgia and Russia, tourists, remittances, foreign direct investments from Russia, and registration of Russian companies in Georgia were analyzed. In January-June 2022, Georgia received about USD 1.2 billion in income from Russia through remittances, tourism, and commodity exports, which is 2.5 times more than the income received from Russia in January-June 2021 from the same sources. Moreover, this year’s receipts are 36% more than the income received from Russia before Covid-19 - in January-June 2019. This means that compared to previous years, Georgia's economic dependence on Russia has been increasing. This growth is mainly due to the soaring remittances. Exports of goods taken separately decreased. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. On August 18-20, 2022, Boot Camp: "Polarized Society Facing Hybrid Challenges", organized by the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) and the University of Georgia (UG), was held in which the students of the IDFI/UG Academic and Certificate Course - Disinformation and Propaganda Studies: History, Theories and Ways of Debunking were involved. Within the framework of the two-day camp, the participants discussed the modern challenges of hybrid warfare, the current trends related to the manipulation of information, and the spread of propaganda. Special attention was paid to the policies following Russia's aggressive invasion of Ukraine and the leverages of society based on Ukraine's experience in the fight against hybrid warfare. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. In the village of Adzvi, located in the Gori municipality, the police did not allow Human Rights Center to see the water conduit which according to the locals had been polluted. The NGO sector and media often speak about the unjustified restrictions existing on movements near the boundary line. HRC sent an official letter to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Security Service. HRC requested a response from the agencies as to why the movement to the villages near the boundary line is restricted and whether there is a relevant normative act regulating the issue. Read more… Source: www.humanrights.ge

Adjara. According to the TI Georgia’s information the Mayor of the Khelvachauri Municipality Zaza Diasamidze is building a house without a permit, and the construction expenses are not disclosed in the asset declaration. Transparency International Georgia found that Zaza Diasamidze started construction in 2019, on the land belonging to his wife, Tamila Tchurkveidze, although he only reported this in the asset declaration submitted in 2022. The information about the donated land plot can be found in the asset declaration submitted by Zaza Diasamidze in 2019, submitted as the Head of Division of the Khelvachauri District of the Adjara Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA). Tamila Tchurkveidze received a 500-square-meter plot of land in 2018 upon a deed of gift from her father. The plot is located in Akhalsopeli, 240 meters from the Gonio-Apsaros highway. A month later, Tamila Tchurkveidze applied to the Batumi City Hall for permission to utilize a homestead for building a house; the City Hall approved the application in October of the same year. In December 2018, Diasamidze’s wife agreed an architectural project with the Batumi City Hall, however, according to the letter of the City Hall’s Urban Development and Policy Service a construction permit was never issued for this architectural project, consequently, Zaza Diasamidze and his wife never paid a construction permit fee. Transparency International Georgia urges Batumi City Hall to investigate unauthorized construction in Batumi by the Khelvachauri Municipality Mayor and take prompt action. Furthermore, organization urges the Civil Service Bureau to review the violations found in the asset declarations of Zaza Diasamidze and respond in accordance with the law. 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...

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...

Imereti. “Local Democracy Agency Georgia” held a working meeting with the members of the Baghdati  Youth Council. The purpose of the meeting was to present and discuss the municipal program developed based on the needs of local youth. The municipal youth program prepared based on the initiatives of the council members will be submitted to the municipality for further consideration. The Baghdati Youth Council is being strengthened within the framework of the project “Civil Society STAR Initiative,” with the support of the European Union and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Imereti. Local Democracy Agency Georgia, within the framework of the project “Civil Society STAR Initiative”, provided consultations to the  representatives of civil society and community organizations in Tkibuli municipality. At the meeting: was presented the results of the research conducted by CSI, which related to the tax environment of the civil society organizations; was provided consultations on management issues of the organization in order to strengthen them; was given the information about the grant competitions announced in Imereti region. Similar meetings will be held in the municipalities of Imereti region. The meetings are being organized by LDA Georgia within the framework of the project “Civil Society STAR Initiative”, with the support of the European Union and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. Read more…  Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. The team of the Social Justice Center celebrated the winning of the 2022 global Max van der Stoel award established by the OSCE’s High Commissioner on National Minorities to honor the contribution to supporting and empowering national minorities. The Max van der Stoel Award, one of the most prestigious titles in the field of Human Rights was established in 2001 for organizations and individuals with an outstanding record of commitment and achievements in supporting ethnic/national minorities in their countries. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. A closing meeting was held on June 11-12 within the framework of the ongoing project “Empowering New Generation of Local Civil Society Leaders in Georgia". "The project is being implemented with the technical support of ISFED and the financial support of the Black Sea Trust, a Project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Young leaders who have attended civic education workshops from different municipalities of Georgia participated in the meeting. The main goal of the meeting was to give the graduates an opportunity to inform each other about the success stories accumulated as a result of participating in the project. Those graduates, who implemented small grant initiatives in their municipalities within the project, shared their successful practices with others, talked about the implemented activities, the achieved results, and the lessons learned. The participants also discussed the ways of further cooperation”. Read more…  Source: isfed.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...

In response to Russia’s continuing war of aggression against Ukraine, EU has recently adopted the “maintenance and alignment” package of restrictive measures against Russia. New measures are intended to tighten existing economic sanctions targeting Russia, perfect their implementation and strengthen their effectiveness. See details here... See Q&A here...  Source: www.eeas.europa.eu

Tbilisi. On July 22, 2022, IDFI and Ilia State University held the awarding ceremony and rewarded the program graduates of the Educational Certification Program. Nino Doborjginidze, Rector of Ilia State University, and Giorgi Kldiashvili, Executive Director, Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) took part in the award ceremony. “It should be highlighted that apart from the lecturing courses, the Program participants have the opportunity to participate in additional activities, such as, taking part in the trainings and workshops organized by IDFI, participate in the international exchange programs and establish the contacts on the local, and international level. The Educational Certification Program provides the unique ability for the employees in public, private and non-governmental sectors and students to develop as experts in fighting corruption, receive the theoretical and practical knowledge, share the international experience and support the defeat of corruption on different levels in Georgia. The program is financially supported by the Open Society Foundations (OSF) under the project “Building Sustainable Human Capacity in Fighting Corruption” and by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) with the scopes of the “Core Support” project”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia and International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy publishes the joint survey: State Resources at the Service of the Ruling Party: Proven Methods of Vote Buying and Illegal Mobilization of Voters in Georgia. The organizations studied the documents allegedly taken from the correspondence of securgd@gmail.com during 2018-2019. This email address was allegedly created by the ruling party - Georgian Dream. The files provided by the whistleblower also included some documents from 2020. Certain data in the documents were verified through public information. “Based on the research, a large-scale scheme of mobilizing voters in favor of the ruling party by illegal means was identified, which is highly likely to prove the use of state agencies (including law enforcement agencies) for election/party purposes. Personal information about employees of budgetary organizations and other citizens was probably collected through these agencies, to put pressure on them in the future. In addition, in exchange for support in the elections, citizens were provided with pre-requested and other types of benefits through various state agencies. The scale of the scheme allows us to assume that as a result of interfering in the election process with these methods, it was possible to mobilize voters in favor of the ruling party on a large scale”. Read more... Source: isfed.ge

Imereti. Within the framework of the project “Civil Society STAR Initiative”, LDA Georgia conducted training on the importance, role, stages, methods and specifics of advocacy for the members of CSOs and active citizens in the target municipalities. The following issues were discussed at the training: What is advocacy?; Types of Advocacy; Basic elements of advocacy; Identifying the problem of advocacy, the specifics and stages of advocacy; The trainings are being conducted by LDA Georgia within the framework of the project “Civil Society STAR  Initiative,” with the support of the European Union and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Rondeli foundation shares the blogpost: Why Is Biden’s Middle East Tour Important? On July 13-16, the President of the United States of America, Joe Biden, met with the leaders of the pro-American and allied countries of the Middle East within the framework of his first official tour in the region. “The interest and active involvement of the US in the issues of the Middle East is important for the regions bordering it, including the South Caucasus. The situation in the Middle East’s neighborhood cannot be of non-importance for the United States. This situation, along with many other matters, increases the degree of Washington's interest in Georgia”. Read more…  Source: gfsis.org.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia published the Report on the Performance of the Parliament of the Tenth Convocation. “The post-electoral political crisis and the problems related to the coronavirus pandemic had a negative impact on the first year performance of the Parliament of the 10th convocation. Due to growing political crisis, the Parliament failed to exercise its control mechanisms effectively. The opposition, largely due to its legislative boycott, was not fully involved in the activities of the Parliament. No significant reforms were implemented during the reporting period, including the 19th April agreement between political parties, that envisaged power-sharing within the Parliament.” Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. GCSD within the framework of the project “Towards Better Understanding of NATO”, implemented with the support of the NATO Public Diplomacy Division, conducted a 3-day training-session “NATO Youth Academy”. The course covered topics such as NATO’s current political agenda and NATO’s approach to countering disinformation, aspects of NATO-Georgia partnership as well as NATO’s new strategic concepts. For more follow the link… Source: www.gcsd.org.ge

Imereti. On July 22, 2022, with the support of the European Union (EU), the Imereti Regional Hub - Local Democracy Agency Georgia (LDA Georgia), organised a public meeting on the topic “Causes of Migration and Employment Opportunities in the Imereti Region”. The meeting was held within the framework of the European Union (EU) and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung funded project “Civil Society STAR Initiative”. 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...