Tbilisi. In honor of the memory of those killed during the hostilities in Abkhazia, Ambassador Kelly C. Degnan, Senior Defense Official COL Stephanie Bagley, and members of Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Georgia laid wreaths at Heroes Square. ‘Sokhumi fell to Russian-backed forces 28 years ago today. This grave tragedy resulted in thousands losing their lives and hundreds of thousands forced from their homes. We remember this day with sorrow and with the hope that remains in the hearts of so many internally displaced people,’ - It is said in the information spread by the embassy. Read more…  Source: The page in the social network

Tbilisi. On September 23, 2021, the Constitutional Court announced its decision in the case “Giorgi Tsertsvadze v. the Parliament of Georgia”. With this decision, the court satisfied the lawsuit and declared the disputed normative content of Article 33, Part 6, Subparagraph “a” of the Criminal Procedure Code of Georgia unconstitutional. The disputed norm gave the Chief Prosecutor of Georgia or a person entitled by him the authority to seize a criminal case from one investigative body, despite the investigative subordination, and transfer it to another body that was compromised by the reasonable complaint filed against its employee (police officer) due to the fact of encroachment on the right guaranteed by Article 9, Paragraph 2 of the Constitution. In the opinion of the plaintiff, mentioned authority endangered independence of the investigation and was not limited by guiding principles. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. With the help of UN Women, Georgia has joined the Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC) and once more has underlined the need for #equalpay for equal work. „It is noteworthy that with this step, the country reaffirmed its readiness to fulfil the obligation to eliminate the gender pay gap“. Read more… Source: georgia.unwomen.org

Tbilisi. Today, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) presented a study – “Public attitude towards electoral processes”. Within the framework of the study, there were examined the attitude of society towards participation in the elections, in general, as well as the progression of electoral processes and malpractices during the elections.  According to information released by the organization, the document is based on the results of quantitative and qualitative research. Within the framework of the quantitative research, data were collected through a telephone survey methodology. There were conducted interviews with 3100 adults in Georgian, Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Russian languages. Collected data are representative of the population of Georgia, except for those living within the occupied territories. As part of the qualitative research, six focus group meetings were held with the socially vulnerable populations in Tbilisi, Zugdidi, and the village of Shilda. Besides, there were conducted six interviews with public servants from Tbilisi, Zugdidi, and the village of Shilda, and four interviews with representatives of various businesses from Tbilisi and Zugdidi. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center, supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Rule of Law in Georgia (USAID / PROLoG) project, releases a study on Access to Justice in Georgia.  The study conducted by Social Justice Center in 2020-2021 years has revealed that access to justice in Georgia has many dimensions. The main problem is the fact that the state does not have a unified vision in regard to the improvement of access to justice and fails to pursue effective policies in this regard. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. On October 2 and 3, there will operate a Media Center of non-governmental organizations associated with the elections of local self-government bodies in Georgia. At the Media Center, non-government organizations, observing the elections, will provide journalists with information about the election process. The center will host briefings conducted by: Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association; International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy; Transparency International Georgia; Multinational Georgia; Human Rights Center. The Media Center of non-governmental organizations will be located in the hotel “Rooms” – Garden Hall, 14 Merab Kostava Street, Tbilisi. Only people who have been vaccinated twice are allowed at the Media Center. Read more… Source: osgf.ge

Tbilisi. The initiative group “Hippodrome-Concrete Free Zone” organizes a public discussion for Tbilisi mayoral candidates. The purpose of the discussion is to let expected mayoral candidates introduce their vision regarding further development of the park to the population, to argue about the problem of the hippodrome and optimal ways out of this problem. “It is the 11th month that an unlawful construction takes place on the territory of the former hippodrome. Tbilisi City Hall does not have the documentation necessary for the implementation of the project. Besides, due to its content, the project provoked protests among the local population and users of the hippodrome from the very beginning as the sketch project submitted by Tbilisi City Hall fails to consider the history of the park, its social significance, extraordinary specifics, and natural development, the general context of both the district and the city, and, most importantly, users themselves”, - is noted in the statement released by the initiative group. Read more… Source: osgf.ge

Tbilisi. The Public Defender of Georgia presented a report – ‘Women and mobility – gender aspects of the women daily movement’.   The report studies the gender characteristics of daily mobility, the choice of means of transportation, and what motivates this choice, gender barriers to specific mobility means, the impact of gender and mobility barriers, challenges on gender equality, and transport policy in the country.  Read more…   Source: The webpage of the organization

Tbilisi. The European Union (EU) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are partnering with the Agency of Protected Areas of the Ministry of the Environmental Protection and Agriculture to help Georgia sustainably manage these forests, preserve biodiversity, mitigate climate change and create environmentally friendly economic opportunities.  Through this partnership, the EU and UNDP will assist the Agency of Protected Areas to improve management of 34,000 hectares of forests in the Algeti, Javakheti and Lagodekhi protected areas, develop forest management plans, train and equip rangers and establish eco-tourism services. In addition, the EU and UNDP will help create a multi-language mobile application to provide tourists with information about all protected areas in Georgia.  The 14-month EUR 211,000 support draws on the resources made available under the EU-funded European Neighbourhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD) programme(link is external), which is assisting Georgia to reform and modernize its national approach to rural development.  Read more…   Source: The webpage of the organization

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center releases a statement in response to the termination of the Namakhvani HPP agreement by the company ENKA. Disseminated information regarding the termination of the Namakhvani HPP agreement by ENKA requires an immediate explanation from governmental agencies about the content, conditions, and deadlines of the agreement. In case the agreement for the Namakhvani HPP project is terminated, it will be a success of strong public protest and resistance, while the fact itself will set an extremely important precedent for changing the malpractice of holding similar negotiations behind closed doors in the future”, - is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. Today, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) presented the second interim report for the official pre-election period of the 2021 local self-government elections.  The report covers the period from August 31 through September 21, 2021, as well as certain events, development of which began before August 31, continued further within the monitoring period or became known during the monitoring period. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

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. Transparency International Georgia has launched a live blog on election irregularities and response.  The data covers the period till September 22.  Read more…   Source: The webpage of the organization

Tbilisi. USAID, ICNL, and FHI 360 published ‘2020 civil society organization sustainability index’. The document contains such issues as overall CSO sustainability, legal environment, organizational capacity, financial viability, advocacy, service provision, sectoral infrastructure, public image. Read more…  Source: The page in the social network

Tbilisi. IDFI spreads a Collection of Essays – ‘Topical Issues of Personal Data Protection'.  This collection includes essays written by students on current issues of personal data protection. The essay competition was announced on May 14, 2021, in which dozens of students from various higher education institutions participated. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information and the State Inspector's Service revealed the authors of 15 winning essays.  Read more…   Source: The webpage of the organization

Tbilisi. UN Women Georgia presented a study – ‘Workplace Sexual Harassment in the Civil Service in Georgia’.  The Study on Workplace Sexual Harassment in the Civil Service in Georgia is a joint initiative of UN Women and the Civil Service Bureau of Georgia. The study was prepared by CRRC-Georgia for UN Women within the framework of the “Good Governance for Gender Equality in Georgia” project generously supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Read more…  Source: The webpage of the organization

Tbilisi. Media Development Foundation the sixth annual report of anti-Western propaganda reflects the results of media monitoring conducted in 2020.  The study is carried out in partnership with the UN Association of Georgia (UNAG) within "Promoting Integration, Tolerance and Awareness Program in Georgia” implemented by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Read more…  Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. The Tolerance and Diversity Institute publishes a research – “Racial profiling in Georgia – Existing policies and practices of the police system towards ethnic minorities and migrants”. “The problem of racial profiling is current in the daily activities of police institutions in different countries. The police often use human visual characteristics and other personal data while performing routine procedures. In such a case, there occurs a risk that this data may make given group of society more relevant for the police, i.e. police officers may pay more attention to people with certain visual characteristics, unconditionally considering them as those posing increased risk”, - is stated in the introductory part of the research, - “The present research is the first that aims to study the current practice of racial profiling in Georgia based on experiences of police officers, migrants and ethnic minorities. We hope that this research will make a significant contribution to launching of public debates on the issue of racial profiling, while it will help the state to pursue appropriate policies”. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center once again appeals the Constitutional Court to argue about constitutionality of the standard for obtaining evidences as a result of search.  “On June 28, 2021, the Parliament of Georgia adopted a norm that fails to ensure refinement of the system for obtaining evidences as a result of search and still contains risks of police taking arbitrary actions. According to the new rule, possession of an illegal item seized as a result of search based on operative information may be corroborated by any evidence other than testimonies of police officers participating in search. However, there is no necessity to obtain another evidence if it is objectively impossible. The law does not envisage any obligation for police officers to obtain neutral evidences”, - is noted in the statement released by the Center.  Read more…  Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy prepared a study – “Agitation of public servants on social networks”.  “In the modern world, the use of social networks for political and electoral purposes grows day by day. Social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, have become the main platforms of candidates during an election campaign. It is specifically through these means that direct communication with voters, mobilization of supporters, or change of the public agenda takes place. The purpose of the study is to analyze the challenges of responding to the use of social networks for electoral/political purposes in Georgia, in particular: the legislative framework and the practice of response of relevant bodies to these cases. Besides, based on the experience of various developed, democratic states, to study standards of regulation of behavior and agitation of officials on social networks”, - is stated in the introduction to the study. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. The Georgian Democracy Initiative (GDI) presents a report on the monitoring of parliamentary hearings of candidates nominated by the High Council of Justice of Georgia for vacant positions of judges of the Supreme Court of Georgia.  As stated in the report, - “It is true that the present competition was conducted on the basis of improved procedures and rules compared to a similar process in 2019, however, there were revealed no fewer shortcomings related to the content in the process itself. The difference between appraisal prepared by members of the High Council of Justice and actual results demonstrated during committee hearings was conspicuous. Candidates, whose personal or professional, as well as communication skills, were highly valued by members of the Council, often lost their temper during committee hearings and behaved inappropriately for their high judicial status”. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. Media Advocacy Coalition publishes a report, which contains an evaluation of July 5 and 6, 2021 developments related to a large-scale attack on media in Tbilisi in terms of various aspects. The report incorporates an analysis of preconditions and legal aspects of violence committed against media. The evaluation is based on information available in public and open sources. The content of the report has been worked out by the Coalition member organizations. Read more… Source: qartia.ge