Shida Kartli. The Rondel Foundation publishes the fifth edition of “Monitoring of the situation at the occupation line in the Tskhinvali region” prepared by Elene Mindiashvili. “On December 12, Mamuka Chkhikvadze, a citizen of Georgia who had previously served in the Georgian Armed Forces, was detained near the village of Nikozi. Gela Gochoshvili, arrested in August, was released. A motion detector was installed at the house of Data and Valia Vanishvilis. People living in villages adjacent to the dividing line will receive financial assistance during the winter period”. Read more... Source: kremlin-roadmap.gfsis.org

Tbilisi. On January 10, the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) together with Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) held a closing event of the project “Contributing to PAR through Civic Monitoring and Engagement”. “International and local experts, as well as the representatives of government and civil society exchanged the information on best practices, existing challenges and needs of Public Administration. The discussion also aimed to foster debate on what needs to be changed to improve the quality of the reform”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) publishes a blog post: Political advertisements on Facebook and Instagram during the period of the 2021 elections. “According to the Facebook Advertising Library, political parties and their representatives/ candidates, participating in the elections, posted 8 126 political advertisements on Facebook and Instagram for the 2021 local self-government elections within the period from August 9 through November 6. Not less than USD 524 602 and not more than USD 536 086 were spent for this activity”. Read more… Source: isfed.ge

Tbilisi. According to the Georgian Democracy Initiative (GDI), the Constitutional Court provided the organization with information, which discloses that “Merab Turava, Chairman of the Court, does not consider “Aiisa” related information about Judge Manana Kobakhidze, disseminated from so called state security service files, to be credible/authentic, therefore refuses to initiate disciplinary proceedings against her. Whereas, a clergyman publicly confirms the fact of communication with the judge, while according to the same information, Manana Kobakhidze urges the General Prosecutor’s Office to conduct a thorough investigation into the fact. A formal response of the Constitutional Court of Georgia to the submitted petition raises legitimate questions about institutional independence and accountability of the Court. While simultaneous election of Manana Kobakhidze as Chair of the Second Panel further indicates that the court is not committed to protect its credibility, maintain public trust and make similar decisions taking into account constitutional and international standards”, - is noted in the statement of the organization. Read more… Source: gdi.ge

Imereti. Local Democracy Agency Georgia shares a brief overview of the activities and results of the implemented grant ''Increasing the Quality of Citizen Involvement in Local Self-Government". Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Guria. Innovation and Civic Development Center - Progress House hosted the meeting on social enterprise, with participation of the CSOs operating in Guria region. The meeting was organized within the project “Civil Society STAR Initiative”, being implemented with support of the EU and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS). Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Association "Anika" presents a study of social service needs for vulnerable people (disabled and old aged) in the project's four target regions: Kakheti, Imereti, Guria, and Adjara. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Guria. Volunteering Hub is a non-formal education center, works on Sundays and managed by Guria Regional HUB Innovation and Civic Development Center – Progress House. The members discuss digital communication. Volunteering Hub is run within the project “Civil Society STAR Initiative”, implemented with support of the EU and Konrad -Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS). Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. UN Women publishes the blogpost - FAQ: Types of violence against women and girls. “Violence against women and girls is one of the world’s most prevalent human rights violations, taking place every day, many times over, in every corner of the globe. Conditions created by the pandemic – including lockdowns, reduced mobility, heightened isolation, stress and economic uncertainty – have led to an alarming spike in domestic violence and have further exposed women and girls to other forms of violence, from child marriage to sexual harassment online. This FAQ provides an overview of the many forms of violence, along with other commonly used terms, that any gender equality activist should have in their vocabulary toolkit”. Read more… Source: georgia.unwomen.org

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) considers that non-involvement of international experts in the process of examination related to the case of Lekso Lashkarava, as well as disproportionate dissemination of an expert conclusion, reduces confidence in the investigation process. “GYLA, in agreement with the family of Lekso Lashkarava, will continue to protect rights of the family during the process of ongoing investigations. A lawyer of the organization is going to apply to the investigative agency requesting to hand over the expert conclusion, while public will be informed about additional information right after we get thoroughly familiarized with the mentioned document”, - is noted in the statement of the organization. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. According to the information of the USAID Georgia the organization is significantly expanding the USAID Basic Education Program which supports student-centered education reforms in Georgia's public schools. “With additional funding from the American people, we will increase our efforts to train Georgia's primary grade teachers, create new learning resources to meet the needs of ethnic minority students and students with disabilities, support after school activities, and support Georgia's Ministry of Education and Science to develop a bilingual education policy”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. European union supports the first VET school of social entrepreneurship in Georgia. “The opening of a vocational school of social entrepreneurship is very important. The project aims at provision of knowledge-based practice to beneficiaries aged 18 to 29, from Kakheti , Shida Kartli and Tbilisi, that will master their skills needed for future professional development and employment opportunities”. Read more… Source: eu4georgia.eu

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. Part of civil society organizations releases a joint statement urging to veto a legislative change on abolition of the State Inspector’s Service. “The party made an unconstitutional and extremely damaging for Georgian democracy decision without any justification or involvement of relevant actors and the State Inspector herself. We, the signatory organizations call on the President of Georgia to exercise her constitutional authority and veto respective legislative changes, while to return the bill on legislative amendments to the Parliament along with motivated remarks”. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. In 2017, Georgia kicked off a fundamental reform effort to diversify rural economies, reduce poverty and make rural areas a better place for entrepreneurship, employment, education, health care, technology and climate action. "The European Union (EU) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have been supporting this transformation by helping the country create policy frameworks and by assisting local projects initiated by rural residents. In 2020 and 2021, over 80 rural entrepreneurs joined a GEL9 million (almost US$3 million) grant programme to boost rural entrepreneurship, promote non-agricultural livelihoods and help overcome the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic". Read more… Source: eu4georgia.eu

Tbilisi. The U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi releases the statement. “Last week, the ruling party undermined government accountability by abolishing the State Inspector Service, which is mandated to investigate police abuse and protect data privacy, undermined the independence of individual judges by amending the Law on Common Courts, and undermined faith in the judiciary by appointing yet another Supreme Court judge using a flawed selection process. No credible reasons were provided to the public for why these actions needed to be rushed through without appropriate consultations. Steps that weaken democratic institutions, such as the judiciary or independent oversight agencies, damage Georgia’s aspirations for NATO and European Union membership, and undermine the basic freedoms that are the foundation of Georgian culture and society”. Read more… Source: The Embassy’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. CENN is launching an environmental social media campaign #ACT4CLIMATE, calling on the public to take effective steps to mitigate the effects of climate change. “As part of the campaign, throughout the year, each month will be dedicated to a different topic. You will receive important information on the topic each month - how you can participate in the fight against climate change”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. The Parliament of Georgia is considering an amnesty draft law submitted by Mikheil Sarjveladze. An alternative amnesty draft law will also be submitted to the Parliament by the Lelo Party. “The Public Defender of Georgia welcomes these initiatives and hopes that the Parliament will consider and adopt the amnesty law in a short period of time, which will be in line with the basic principles of criminal justice and the positive obligations of the State towards victims and will apply to a lot of prisoners, who have been in the penitentiary system during the Covid pandemic”. Read more… Source: www.ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Tbilisi and Kiev offices of the Heinrich Boell Foundation present a publication “Women and History - Gender perspectives of everyday life (1970s - 1980s)”. “The publication incorporates four articles from Georgia and Ukraine. The articles were grouped under a common theme: Gender perspectives of everyday life”. Read more… Source: feminism-boell.org

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia is concerned that the Parliament of Georgia is considering extremely dangerous changes relating to the judiciary in a hastened manner, without sufficient discussion or prior consultation with civil society. “It is inadmissible to devote only 2-3 days to the discussion of such issues, to schedule a committee meeting without publishing the bill and to deprive stakeholders of the opportunity for informed participation in the discussion. We call on the Parliament of Georgia not to support the proposed changes, as they drastically worsen the state of the justice system and the right to a fair trial in Georgia. In case the bill is adopted, we call on the President of Georgia to use the opportunity at her disposal and to return the bill to the Parliament with motivated remarks”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. The Open Society Georgia Foundation has summarized its activities of last year. “Activities of the Foundation and its partners were accompanied with some tensions related to challenges entailed by the pandemic or difficult political situation in the country. Among developments occurred this year, it will be hard to forget tragic consequences of the pandemic and July 5, the day marked as the most hard date in the history of democratic development of the country. With the support of the Foundation, there were implemented more than hundred initiatives throughout the year, aimed at promoting free election and media environment, as well as protecting rights of civil activists and journalists. We have actively worked on issues related to ensuring labor rights, organizing public and green spaces, provision of decent housing for homeless. Through the efforts of the Foundation and its partners, the situation related to rights of various groups in Georgia has attracted the attention of UN member states”. Learn more about activities of the Foundation in 2021... Source: The website of the organization on a social network