Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) considers that developments occurred in regard to approval of budgets for Batumi and Zugdidi for the year of 2022 raise doubts about legality of decisions made in conjunction with these processes in material terms. “Such a practice contradicts both democratic principles and the essence of local self-governance, reinforced by the Constitution, thus endangering perspective of democratic governance to be performed by population at the local level”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. During the Human Rights Week, representatives of the Eastern and Western Georgia Regional Divisions of the Public Defender's Office held information meetings with target groups of the municipal centers and introduced them to the general principles of human rights and the mandate of the Public Defender. “The participants showed particular interest in the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on human rights and the practice of the Public Defender in terms of elimination of the challenges and problems identified”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. On December 16, 2021, the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) with the financial support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) held the 3rd International Conference: "Openness of the State Archives and Memory Studies". “The conference focused on transformations and challenges in the field of archives and archival openness. Issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact were discussed, as well as the relevant legislation and prospects for popularizing archival research”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. The European Network of National Human Rights Institutions and its partners have issued a joint statement in support of the Public Defender of Georgia. “Due to its recent work, the Georgian Public Defender (Georgian NHRI) has faced continued verbal threats and attacks by prominent politicians. We call on the Georgian Government and Parliament to uphold the clearly defined international principles, and protect the Georgian NHRI from intimidation, threats, or any actions that may limit its independence and effectiveness.  Indeed, they have a duty to ensure that institutions that monitor the state are protected from undue interference, and are not hindered in their work to promote and protect human rights, equality, good governance, and the rule of law”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. On December 16, 2021, the Public Defender of Georgia published a special report – “Human Rights Education at the Higher Education Level in Georgia”. “The report reflects the results of the monitoring of the quality of human rights education in undergraduate law programmes and provides relevant recommendations to address shortcomings. The study showed that in most of the undergraduate programmes, basic human rights and freedoms are taught in only one compulsory subject. In addition, as a rule, the content of the subject is limited to the study of the rights reflected in the second chapter of the Constitution of Georgia, and in this process students are almost not required to analyze the rulings of the Constitutional Court”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. The Social Justice Center presents a summary evaluation of labor policy in Georgia. “2021 developments have once again highlighted the systemic, severe experience of breach of human rights and visible or invisible practices of exploitation of employees in the workplace, which facts are connected with inconsistencies and fundamental shortcomings in labor policy. Above developments were not only individual labor disputes but also general social protests against the existing economic and social system, which has so far failed to ensure minimum wellbeing and social security of those employed”. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Samtskhe-Javakheti. According to the information of the Transparency International Georgia Companies belonging to Georgian Dream members and donors, as well as family members of current and former public officials, receive state procurement in addition to the subsidies from the state program. “In 2018-2020, 17 such entities within the framework of Enterprise Georgia received approximately GEL 2,240,794 (one third of the amount spent in the region within the program). Among them, 9 entities received GEL 4,733,891 from state procurements at various times. 7 out of 17 entities donated 594,400 GEL to Georgian Dream”. Read more... Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The signatories to the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) presented their joint initiatives aimed to support gender equality at the 4th annual WEPs conference. “From 2014 UN Women Georgia partners with the private sector through implementing the WEPs and this work is supported by the Norwegian Government”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. The Social Justice Center publishes an analytical document: April 19 Agreement - another missed opportunity for judicial reform. https://cutt.ly/7YVN7lj “The document contains an evaluation of the state of implementation of those articles from the April 19 agreement, which related to the reform of the judiciary and the Prosecutor’s Office”. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) publishes a blog post of Tamar Khukhia, an analyst of the organization, - “Judicial reform in Georgia – a missed opportunity”. “In this circumstance, when the clan has monopolized authority in the judiciary, it is important to carry out fundamental transformation, systemic, even painful reform of the system of justice and not those fragmentary quasi-changes that we have been observing in recent years. Otherwise, the deserved criticism will be even sharper, while consequences – irreversible”. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. According to information released by the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, the European Court has ordered Georgia to pay 193’500 Euros for violation of rights on the IDAHO day in 2013. Court cases were handled by the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, the Women’s Initiatives Supporting Group, Identoba and The European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC). “The state has been ordered to pay 193’500 Euros as a compensation in favor of applicants. At the same time, the decision envisages a number of general measures, in regard to which the complaining organizations will further communicate with the Committee of Ministers, as the international body supervising execution of decisions/judgments”. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. The Center for Strategic Research and Development of Georgia (CSRDG) has launched a website www.csrgeorgia.com. It is the first website in Georgia, which provides a variety of resources on corporate social responsibility (CSR). “The platform brings together the most recent information on CSR and sustainable development both globally and locally in Georgia”. The website has been created by CSRDG within the framework of the “Civil Society Initiative” project and with support from the EU and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Read more… Source: The website of the organization on a social network

Tbilisi. On December 15, representatives of the IDFI, CTC and MSDC presented the National Assessment of Georgian Municipalities 2021. “According to the results of the 2021 National Assessment of Transparency and Accountability of Georgian Municipalities, the average score of municipalities is 28% (on a 100% rating scale), which is equal to the 2019 assessment score. It can be thus said that, according to the data of 2021, the rate of transparency and accountability of municipalities has remained practically unchanged”. Read more… Source: idfi.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. On December 9-14, 2021 IDFI’s Winter School "Rule of Law and Human Rights" was held. “The aim of the school was to enhance students' knowledge of the rule of law and human rights, to encourage discussions on problematic issues, to exchange views and to strengthen democratic values”. Learn more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. An organization “Democracy Index” presents a study: “Quality of reasoning of court decisions in Georgia”.  “The purpose of the study is to identify problems and provide recommendations via checking the quality of reasoning of decisions made by common courts in Georgia”.  The study… The project is supported by: USAID-PROLoG - Promoting Rule of Law in Georgia Activity.  Source: democracyindex.ge

Tbilisi. The group of experts/specialists set up by the Public Defender paid a fourth visit to patient (accused/convicted) Mikheil Saakashvili. “From the somatic point of view, the patient's condition is more or less satisfactory in the light of the course of treatment. However, the group of experts will provide additional recommendations, which will be discussed in detail in the appendix. It is noteworthy that the recommendation to conduct psychotherapy was made by the group of experts on November 25, which has not been implemented so far. The group of experts has some remarks in relation to the pharmacological treatment in this direction, which will also be presented in the appendix”. Read more... Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. Discover a new resource - get information on the web page of the Eastern Partnership Summit. Find out how the EU cooperates with Georgia, the outcome of this cooperation so far, and what to expect in the future.  Video... Source: euneighbourseast.eu

Tbilisi. On December 14, GIP presented the Georgia Governance Index (GGI). “The GGI report is the first attempt to offer a comprehensive assessment of Georgia’s performance in four governance areas: democracy and human rights (democratic governance), statehood, and state institutions (effective governance), social and economic policies (social and economic governance), and foreign and security policy (external governance)”. Read more... Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. Under the program “Enhancing the Capacity of Georgia in Preventing Violent Extremism and Radicalisation”, GCSD organized a three-day training on the prevention of terrorism, violent extremism, counter-terrorism, and radicalisation. Read more… Source: www.gcsd.org.ge

Tbilisi. Media Advocacy Coalition negatively appraises a decision of the Parliament of Georgia to review the legislative package restricting gambling games and their advertisements in an expedited manner. “Review of the bill in an expedited manner and its adoption via two hearings in one day precludes full-fledged parliamentary discussions, submission of opinions by interested parties and refinement of the draft. These procedures are fundamentally important for initiatives that can entail significant financial implications for both the state budget and the media sector”. Read more... Source: The website of the Coalition on a social network

Guria. According to the information of the “Young Pedagogues Union” the last module of job search skills course was held, organized by Learning and Employment support Centers of Chokhatauri and Ozurgeti. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network