Tbilisi. According to information released by Social Justice Center, the Supreme Court of Georgia did not satisfy a complaint of Biblus in regard to defamation and left decisions of a lower court unchanged. The court concluded that one part of information spread by employees represented correct facts, while the other part - their personal opinions, which is protected by the right to freedom of expression. Social Justice Center got involved as a defender of workers employed at Biblus immediately after 2017. As it is known to public, in 2017, some of those employed at “Biblus Gallery” talked about labor exploitation, low remuneration, unregulated work schedule and unfair, unjustified system of fining. Following to these statements, the company discharged 2 employees. With the legal assistance of Social Justice Center, the court found dismissal of employees unlawful, however, the dispute is still ongoing in higher instances. Read more... Source: The website of the organization on a social network

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia (TI Georgia) has prepared the report on the implementation of parliamentary control within the framework of the project, Parliamentary Control Assessment in Georgia, with the assistance from the Good Governance Initiative (GGI) of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). “The study provides the assessment of the parliamentary control carried out during the period between 1 January 2019 and 1 October 2020. The new Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Georgia was a step forward towards the enhancement of parliamentary control, which manifested in improved statistics on the use of specific parliamentary oversight mechanisms. Nevertheless, parliamentary control is weak while challenges with the accountability of the parliament and government members in the process of parliamentary control as well as the lack of legislative guarantees for improving the rights of the political opposition remain serious”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. As a result of legal assistance provided by Partnership for Human Rights (PHR), court found separation of children from their family due to poverty unlawful. “The Tbilisi City Court made an unprecedented decision. It found transfer of children to foster care and separation from the family due to poverty unlawful and ruled out to pay GEL 35 000 to three affected children as a compensation for moral damage. 2 years ago children were unlawfully taken out of the house and separated from their mother by the social service, without strengthening the family. For two years, children lived under the stress caused by separation from the parent. The court found this circumstance unlawful and satisfied the lawsuit of PHR”. Read more... Source: The website of the organization on a social network

Tbilisi. June 15 is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day, which aims to promote the rights of older people in all areas of society. One of the main challenges in Georgia is the lack of visibility of violence against older people. The Public Defender has been talking about unchanging and systemic problems in this area for years, which are related to important issues such as identification of risk factors provoking violence and ill-treatment, inhuman and degrading treatment or other forms of violence, and production of comprehensive statistics, as well as adequate responses to the cases of abuse and effective oversight system. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. The imbalance caused by the large number of prisoners and the small number of penitentiary staff fails to provide a safe, secure or orderly environment that is necessary for the rehabilitation and re-socialization of prisoners.  Read more: National Preventive Mechanism Report 2020 June is International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. On June 11, 2021, the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), in its capacity as the regional hub for the Global Data Barometer (GDB), held a training session for national researchers.  "IDFI joined the Global Data Barometer project and its regional hubs in the fall of 2020. IDFI became the regional hub for Eastern Europe and Central Asia and is responsible for coordinating the assessments of 12 countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. The goal of the training was to introduce national researchers to the GDB methodology. In the coming months, they will assess the accessibility of open data in their respective countries based on this methodology. Specifically, the data collection stage will begin in mid-June and last until the end of August". Read more... Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. On June 14, 2021, on the initiative of the Public Defender of Georgia and with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), an online meeting was held to discuss the participation of people with disabilities in the decision-making process. “It was noted at the meeting that ensuring the participation of persons with disabilities in the decision-making process is one of the main requirements of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Convention requires the involvement of persons with disabilities not only in the decision-making processes that specifically address them and matters involving them, but also any mainstream processes that in any way affect persons with disabilities”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. This year U.S. Embassy Tbilisi invites every child in Georgia to join the Embassy’s Summer Reading Challenge. “The program is simple: find any book written in Georgian or English, read it, complete a book report form, and return that form to an American Space in Georgia by September 10. Children can find books in American Spaces, public libraries, school libraries, and book shops, or they borrow books from friends or family. They are encouraged to read any type of book that interests them, either fiction or nonfiction. Every child who reads at least 100 pages will receive a silver-level certificate of achievement signed by Ambassador Kelly Degnan. Every child who reads at least 500 pages will receive a gold-level certificate. All pages read in English will count for double”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: The U.S. Embassy’s page on the social network

Adjara. According to the information of the Transparency International Georgia the companies of the former member of Batumi City Council - Nukri Dolidze, Bondi 2009 and Monoliti 2005 are one of the major implementers of large infrastructure projects in Adjara. “We call upon: The State Security Service, to study the non-competitive tenders that resulted in signing the contracts worth of millions with Monoliti 2005 and Bondi 2009; Batumi City Hall, Civil Infrastructure and Amenity Service N(N)LE, and Adjara Roads Department to ensure a competitive environment during the implementation of state procurements; The Civil Service Bureau, to study the asset declaration submitted by Levan Dolidze in 2021 and inform the public about the results”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The present document is a special report of the Public Defender of Georgia developed under the Femicide Monitoring Mechanism and the crimes analyzed in the report are committed in 2019. „Problems related to the complex fight on violence against women and domestic violence and lack of coordination between state agencies is an obstacle for prevention of marginal manifestation of gender violence, femicide. We should underline separately that specific measures in relation to social work in fight on violence against women and domestic violence have not took place and social service is still formally involved in proceeding of cases related to violence against women and domestic violence. Taking mandatory courses focused on violent attitudes and behavior change by abuser is still problematic“. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Gori. Representatives of the Gori office of the CSI, together with the head of the youth department of Gori City Hall, visited the youth space in the village of Kordi and presented materials prepared within the framework of the “This Country is Yours” campaign. The Civil Society Institute (CSI) actively works to develop capacity of young people in the region and is ready to contribute to the process of building a youth ecosystem using available resources. The need of youth spaces in regions was identified while working on a youth strategy document and Gori Municipality, together with the Youth Agency, facilitated establishment of a model space in the village of Kordi. At this stage, young people work on painting the center and, with the help of various organizations, equipping it. The Kordi youth space will soon be officially opened and young people, living in the conflict zone, will have the opportunity to enjoy the place that can be used for acquiring non-formal education as well as for a variety of activities.

Tbilisi. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) defended an internally displaced family, which was refused to get an alternative accommodation by the LEPL - Agency of IDPs, eco-migrants and livelihood provision. “As a basis for its refusal, the agency pointed to the fact that the family lived in an apartment owned by a close relative and did not need housing. GYLA argued at court hearings that the refusal of the agency was based on a misinterpretation of legislation and that living in an apartment owned by a close relative did not deprive the internally displaced family of the right to be provided with an alternative accommodation. The courts of all three instances shared the position of GYLA and the court dispute ended in favor of the internally displaced family. As a result, the internally displaced woman and her minor children will receive housing”. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. On June 14 - the day of protection of the rights of persons with disabilities in Georgia, organizations and activists with disabilities respond to the delayed implementation process of the Law of Georgia on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and call on the Government to fulfill its overdue commitments under the law immediately. “The Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which was adopted by the Parliament in July last year, at the first stage of its enactment - in 2020-2021 years, defined development of important tools for policy planning and implementation as the main obligation of the executive authority. However, despite long-standing expectations of the disabled community, even imposition of relevant obligations by law did not appear to be sufficient to develop a policy framework in a timely manner. We consider it alarming that a significant part of those obligations, the deadline for execution of which was set for January 1 of this year, has not been fulfilled at all”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. Georgia marks the Day of Persons with Disabilities on June 14. The purpose of this day is to raise public awareness of people with disabilities and to remind state agencies once again of their responsibilities to improve the rights situation of these people. We offer a photo collage where representatives of the community and disability rights activists themselves talk about the main systemic challenges, the most pressing problems they face and the importance of solving these problems. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Tbilisi. EU4Environment is launching Industrial Waste Mapping in Rustavi and Zestaponi municipalities in 🇬🇪Georgia. “This work aims to identify, assess, and map the waste streams of the local manufacturing enterprises. Its main goal is to develop options for an improved resource efficiency and introduction of circular economy principles and practices”. Read more… Source: www.eu4environment.org

Tbilisi. According to the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), the Parliament of Georgia approved amendments to the Law on Information Security by 77 votes to 2 in the third reading, which amendments contradict certain requirements of the EU Directive (Network and Information Security (NIS) directive). “Initiated changes have been the subject of extensive discussions and criticism within civil society, private sector and experts of the field since the day of registration. IDFI actively participated in the process of revision of the bill, as well as study and analysis of risks associated with changes. Amendments, adopted by the Parliament, cardinally change the cybersecurity system of Georgia and contain significant risks”, - is noted in the statement. Read more... Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. According to a statement released by Social Justice Center, “Georgian Manganese”, which was avoiding questions about harm caused by extraction for years, had to become a party to negotiations as a result of the protest of residents of Shukruti and thus acknowledge its responsibility. “Unfortunately, the rule and conditions for compensation of harm caused by extraction of minerals to affected local population are still not defined at the legislative level. Respectively, population of Shukruti had to carry out private negotiations and reach civil agreement on the procedure and amount of compensation for suffered harm directly with the company. Besides, released information about the agreement, as well as an uneven and non-transparent nature of the negotiation process are essentially problematic, as fairness and credibility of the agreed mechanism of compensation remain questionable, while facts of the ongoing criminal persecution against protesters raise additional questions about the subject of the agreement”, - is noted in the statement of the organization.  Read more… Source: socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. On June 10, 2021, a Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) and the University of Georgia. The memorandum aims to establish a partnership between the parties, to jointly develop academic courses on studying and combating disinformation and propaganda, and to offer them within the University of Georgia, School of Social Sciences. The memorandum envisions expansion and continuous development of this direction. The aim of the academic courses developed through the partnership is to help students develop/deepen anti-disinformation and anti-propaganda skills. The academic courses developed and offered within the framework of the Memorandum will be led and/or visited by local and international researchers in the field of disinformation research. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Samtskhe-Javakheti. On the 9th and the 10th of June of the current year the representatives of the Georgia Red Cross Society and the International Committee of the Red Cross implemented a field trip in Akhalkalaki region where they held informative meetings with the volunteers. “It is worth mentioning that for supporting those who showed an interest and for strengthening the volunteering movement, the leader volunteers of the region used this opportunity efficiently and registered more than 65 volunteers at the Youth Employment Forum in Akhalkalaki on the 10th of June”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

This report is provides a brief contextual overview describing legal and structural peculiarities of the operating environment for Georgian CSOs. Next, it outlines the methodological approaches used in this study. This is followed by the main findings, specifically with a chapter on the internal governance structure of Georgian CSOs, a section analyzing the economic and financial sustainability of these entities. Next comes a chapter assessing CSO capacities and the nature of multilateral cooperation. The empirical part concludes with the analysis of CSO participation in policy dialogue. The report wraps up with conclusions and evidence-based recommendations  This report has been produced with the assistance of the European Union and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung within the frameworks of “Georgian Civil Society Sustainability Initiative”. Study...

Tbilisi. According to information released by Transparency International Georgia, there are about 3,200 entities that are registered in Georgia and have links with offshore companies. “Within the framework of the survey we managed to identify 10 offshore companies that are related to Bidzina Ivanishvili. In 2012-2020 years, 6 offshore companies received state property via direct privatization mode, in three of which cases the price of the property was symbolic - one Georgian lari. While 15 offshore companies received GEL 77 million worth of property through an auction. Officials can secretly participate in state projects, procurement and privatization via offshore companies, which is a contributing factor to “elite corruption”. We recommend to make sure Georgia complies with recommendations of the Anti-Corruption Network of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and demands disclosure of actual owners of offshore companies at least in the cases when these companies or their subsidiaries participate in privatization of state property, state procurement or any other state-funded program”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Chairman of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association has sent an address to members of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs, in which he calls on Deputies to review planned amendments to the Law on Political Parties and the Election Code. The legislative initiative envisages termination or suspension of state funding for boycotting parties, as well as deprivation of free airtime from them. As it is known to the public, in March of the current year the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR came up with a joint opinion on these bills, in which they strongly criticized them. Organizations consider that termination of state funding for parties poses threat to the ability to continue their activities and, in general, to party pluralism. Read more… Source: gyla.ge