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JULY 9, 2015

ENGAGING WITH CITIZENS IN THEIR BACKYARDS: A CSO

SPOTLIGHT ON VILLAGES IN UPPEAR AJARA

On July 7-8, 2015, ACCESS staff members and representatives of leading Civil Society

Organizations (CSOs), including Transparency InternationalGeorgia (TIGeorgia), the

Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC), and the Civil Development Agency (CiDA) visited local

communities in upper Ajara to engage the locals in discussions about their most pressing needs

and find ways in which CSOs can support them. Meetings were held in inviting and inclusive

environments locals' yards, which helped stimulate free and open discussion. Representatives

of the Ajara-based CSOs (TI-Georgia Ajara Branch, Borjghali, and Black Sea Eco-Academy) also

attended the meetings.

The main purposes of the tour were to establish closer links between national and local CSOs and

local communities, involve citizens in setting agendas for CSOs to ensure that they represent the

primary needs of citizens on all levels, and engage citizens in open discussion on Georgia's EU

integration.

Meetings were held in five villages of upper Ajara region: Okruashvilebi (Khulo Municipality),

Chanchkhalo (Shuakhevi municipality), Nigazeuli (Shuakhevi Municipality), Vaio (Keda

Municipality) and Merisi (Keda Municipality).

Siting in Tbilisi and speaking in conference halls or at TV-stations is not enough. We have to go

and reach out to the communities at the grassroots level to hear about their problems and needs

so that we can tailor our activities and campaigns according to those needs, said Zviad

Devdariani (CiDA executive director) to citizens at the meeting.

Registration of agricultural land plots, delivering and selling agricultural products on the markets,

poor village infrastructure (deteriorated roads and lack of water), environmental, social and

infrastructural problems caused by construction of the large hydropower dam in Shuakhevi

municipality, lack of communication with dam construction company, low awareness on planned

construction activities and its potential impact on the surroundings, poor communication with

government authorities and low civic engagement in decision-making, rapid spread of the tree

disease in the forests of the Nigazeuli village these and other problems were raised and hotly

discussed during the meetings in all villages.

CSOs promised local residents to raise these issues towards the local and central government

entities and update population on developments. EPRC representative offered locals to help in

drafting project proposals and seeking out available government and/or donor funding to foster

small enterprises at the local level.

Following Up on Citizens' Concerns

As a follow-up to the meetings EWMI, EPRC, CiDA and TI-Georgia sent joint letters to the

Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia, Minister of Regional

Development and Infrastructure of Georgia, and the Head of the Supreme Council of the Ajara,

elaborating on community concerns and problems. In particular, the letter recommended:

Increasing communication with Merisi village residents regarding planned hydropower dam

construction activities.

Addressing water problems in villages of Chanchkhalo and Vaio.

Repairing drainage systems in village of Nigazeuli so that investors can afterwards repair

village roads.

Mitigating the spread of a disease that is infecting trees in Nigazeuli.

The Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development invited EWMI ACCESS and its partner

CSOs to meet with the Deputy Ministers and exchange details pertaining to environmental

problems identified during the tour.

Ministry representatives informed EWMI ACCESS that the dam construction company had

multiple obligations under the contract vis--vis the prevention of environmental damage in the

upper Ajara region and the Ministry was receiving regular monitoring reports from the company

on impact of their works on local environment. In response to the joint letter from the CSOs, the

Ministry had decided to initiate a special inspection of the construction company to make sure

that it met all of its obligations and to verify credibility of their monitoring reports. The Ministry

also promised to provide copies of all previous examination and monitoring results upon

receiving a written request so that EWMI ACCESS and its partner organizations could share it

with the concerned residents of upper Ajara.

Addressing the disease affecting forests, Ministry representatives said that Ajara's forests were

under the management of Ajara's government. After receiving the joint letter the Ministry

contacted Ajara's government to get additional information. The regional government confirmed

that the forest required sanitary inspection and intervention, but they were unable to resolve this

problem due to a legal loophole in the local legislation and the lack of storage facility for cut

wood. The Ministry of Environment assured EWMI ACCESS and CSOs that it would assist the

Ajara government in removing the legal loophole and identifying a solution to the storage

problem.

Another letter was sent to the head of Keda municipality requesting it to promptly address

citizens' concern regarding water shortage and install water bore-holes in the village of Vaio. The

head of Keda municipality pledged to allocate funding in 2015 to dig two bore-holes in village

Vaio and one in the nearby village of Inasharidzeebi.

EWMI ACCESS and its partner CSOs will continue to monitor government responses and actions

and advocate on behalf of Ajara's regional population. Furthermore, ACCESS will ensure that the

citizens of upper Ajara remain informed about the developments affecting their villages and

livelihoods.

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11 JULY, 2015

CiDA ASSISTED BBC JOURNALIST IN

PREPARATION OF AN ARTICLE ABOUT

GEORGIAN MIGRANTS

Financial crisis in Greece has affected not only Greeks but

the Georgian migrants living there. BBC has dedicated an

article to the Georgian migrants living in Greece, published

under the headline Greek debt crisis: Georgians feel

Greece's pain.

BBC South Caucasus correspondent Rayhan Demytrie has

contacted CiDA to get more information about Georgian

migrants. Since 2013 CiDA implements the EU funded

project Georgia - Personalized Assistance for Migrants" (G-

PAM) which aims at supporting Georgia to better manage

migration processes. Project representative Zura Tsurtsumia

informed the BBC correspondent about the current situation

regarding migrants as well as the root causes for migration,

what kind of influence the current economic crisis has on

migrants and so on.

To meet personally already returned migrants Rayhan

Demytrie and Zura Tsurtsumia visited Kakheti region of

Georgia where they met them. Returned migrants talked

about their life abroad, their conditions and problems they

encountered in Greece.

To see the full article about the Georgian migrants please

follow this link: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-

33484942?SThisFB&fb_ref=Default

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GOOD EXPERIENCE IN MIGRATION FIELD

WAS MARKED IN A SPECIAL BULLETIN

On March 31 April 2, 2015 representatives of the several

ministries of Afghanistan and Iraq visited Georgia with the aim to

familiarize themselves with Georgia's experience of managing

migration processes and knowledge in this field.

As part of the study trip, foreign guests met with state,

international and NGO sector representatives, including CiDA's

project lawyer Maia Paksashvili. CiDA's representative talked

about the G-PAM project and introduced its activities and results

to the guests. Meeting participants got interested in the project's

idea, as a result of it in the newsletter published after finishing

the study trip, CiDA's experience in migration field was

acknowledged. The newsletter also mentions the webpage

(www.migrant.ge) created under the above mentioned project

which was carried out by CiDA with the financial support of the

European Union.

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WWW.CSO.GE

On July 17, 2015 CiDA held a meeting with media representatives

to present a new version of the www.cso.ge webpage. Working

on the webpage is due to finish and one of its sectoins will be

dedicated to media, which will be updated daily. Media

representatives will have chance to get information and media

announcements about the events planned in the NGO sector. In

addition, journalists will be able to access statements and reports

released by civil society organizations operating in Georgia.

Representatives of the media sector have assessed this initiative

positively. According to them this kind of information will help

them introduce new developments in the NGO sector in Georgia.

CiDA will host a webpage presentation in the near future.

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PROTESTING OCCUPATION

On July 22, members of the Regional Civil Society Network (R-

CSN) organized a peaceful demonstration in Gori to protest

creeping occupation near the village Khurvaleti, Shida Kartli

region, and to support the local populations living near the

administrative border.

Russians should not determine the Georgian borders, Unite

for de-occupation, and Georgia needs international support

were main messages of the protest participants.

At first, the location of the demonstration was announced to take

place in the village of Khurvaleti, however to avoid additional

provocations, it was held in Gori. The peaceful demonstration

was joined by foreigners living in Georgia and in Gori in particular

and urged the international community to make adequate

statements and steps to stop the creeping occupation in the

country.

Before the demonstration, members of the Regional Civil Society

Network (R-CSN) held a working meeting where they discussed the

current situation near occupation line.

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COORDINATION MEETING ON MIGRATION

PROJECTS

The 5th coordination meeting of the migration-related projects

was held on 24 July 2015. The Secretariat of the State

Commission on Migration Issues is convening these special

coordination meetings twice a year to discuss already finished

and planned projects in the field of migration in Georgia.

These meetings serve a goof platform for international and

non-governmental organizations involved in the EU- and/or

other donor-funded projects as well as the state authorities

members of the Commission to get detailed information on the

innovations in the field of migration and make business

contacts with partner agencies, thus minimizing the risk of

duplications and thematic overlaps. This in turn ensures that

the result-oriented actions are mutually agreed and efficiently

coordinated.

Participant of the meeting was CiDA and presented two

projects which is due to begin in Kakheti and Kvemo Kartli

regions of Georgia. The second project is continuation of the

already existing project G-PAM which received financial

support from the Eurasia Partnership Fund and the European

Union.

Meeting participants discussed the new and planned projects

jointly

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NATIONAL AND LOCAL CSOs TO AGREE ON

STANDARDS OF FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY

On July 25, leading regional and Tbilisi-based CSOs gathered at the

Ambasadori Hotel in Kachreti to discuss financial transparency of CSOs

and agree on the ways to promote such transparency. The meeting was

organized by EWMI as part of the ACCESS project aimed at enhancing

public trust in and support to CSOs in Georgia.

The meeting started with discussing the challenges of Georgian CSOs, in

particular: insufficient knowledge of and credibility of CSOs with the

Georgian public; recent attempts to discredit CSOs by branding them as

'corrupt' and 'state enemies'; and increasing number of CSOs with

unknown and suspicious sources of funding. To address these challenges,

CSOs decided to agree on common standards for promoting CSO

financial transparency and increasing public access to information on

who funds CSOs and for what.

Although many of the participants of the July 25 meeting already publish

detailed data on their donors and project budgets, they underlined the

importance of adopting a sector-wide transparency standard and

stimulating a discussion on the significance of CSO transparency. This will

help to better inform citizens, as well as donors, policy-makers, and other

stakeholders about CSOs' work; establish a culture of greater

transparency of the CSO sector one of the key actors in building

democracy; and put an additional pressure on opaque CSOs to reveal

their funding sources or explain the reasons for remaining closed.

The meeting participants agreed that the joint standard had to be

inclusive and not exclusive so that any interested organization was able

to sign it regardless of the level of its development. Also, it had to

address the most fundamental principles of transparency, and it had to

be simple, succinct, and clear. Prior to drafting the joint document, they

reviewed the past efforts and experiences of the Georgian civil society

(i.e. Code of Conduct adopted in 2004, Think Tank Ethics Code adopted in

2013) and the international experience in the field (i.e.

www.transparify.org initiative), and finally agreed to develop a document

that would require its signatory CSOs to publish the information about

their funding sources, funding amounts, project/program objectives, and

project/program duration.

The draft document will be shared with other CSOs for additional input.

Once the document is finalized, the CSOs will organize a public signing

event in Tbilisi scheduled for September, 2015. After the Tbilisi event, the

CSOs will travel to the regions to present the joint document and engage

a larger number of regional and Tbilisi-based CSOs in the discussion on

CSO financial transparency.

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CiDA JOINS UN GLOBAL COMPACT INITIATIVE

On August 12, 2015, the Civil Development Agency joined United

Nations Global Compact initiative. The UN Global Compact is the

world's largest corporate sustainability initiative, which supports

the creation of a sustainable and inclusive global economy that

delivers lasting benefits to people, communities and markets. For

achieving the mentioned goal, the UN Global Compact

encourages companies to: (1) Do business responsibly by aligning

their strategies and operations with Ten Principles on human

rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. (2) Take strategic

actions to advance broader societal goals, such as the

forthcoming UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Through the membership in the UN Global Compact initiative,

CiDA pledges to support corporate social responsibility in Georgia

through promoting the implementation of the initiative's Ten

Principles with business enterprises and other members of the

society.

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