Shombi Sharp, UNDP Resident Representative a.i. in Georgia, and Otar Danelia, Minister of Agriculture of Georgia signed an agreement to continue assistance to rural development in the country through a GEL 6.8 million project funded by the European Union and the Government of Adjara.
This initiative will assist in the development of a national Rural Development Strategy of Georgia and a specific strategy for the Ajara Autonomous Republic, and support their practical implementation.
95% of the GEL 6.8 Million (Euro 2.63 million) project budget is provided by the European Union and 5% by the Ajara Government.
The two-year initiative is part of the European Union funded European Neighbourhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD) which launched its second phase in Georgia a month ago.
Through ENPARD, the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia works closely with the European Union, UNDP, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Government of Ajara Autonomous Republic to promote rural development all over the country, and specifically in Ajara, and enhance institutions – respective ministries, national agencies, associations and educational bodies – engaged in this process.
COBERM is a grant programme funded by the European Union and implemented by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) that supports initiatives of local Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in a wide range of areas and activities, including support to improving the lives of people and living conditions of local communities affected by conflict.
COBERM has been set up in May 2010, and implemented two phases during 2010-2015. The third phase of the programme was launched in January 2016.
Purpose of the call: COBERM is soliciting innovative project ideas from representatives of civil society, including registered local and international non-governmental organizations that are likely to contribute to the goals of the programme.
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: 23 September 2016 18:00, COB. No applications will be accepted after this deadline.
More Information: The Call for Project Ideas and Submission Forms in English, Georgian and Russian can be downloaded from the right bar of this page.
Quality of roads, public kindergartens, cleaning service and citizen engagement in decision-making are in focus of a research commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Swiss Cooperation Office (SCO) for the South Caucasus and Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC) and carried out by the Georgian research company ACT in November 2015.
The discussion about key findings of the study on 27 July 2016 brought together representatives of the Georgian Government, Parliament, local authorities, civil society and international organizations.
Niels Scott, Head of UNDP in Georgia, and Tengiz Shergelashvili, Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia, addressed the participants of an event with welcome remarks.
The comprehensive nation-wide research is based on interviews with 3,800 citizens over the age of 18 in all regions of Georgia. It examines public views about the services that are currently provided by municipalities and central government, provides comparative analysis with the similar study conducted in 2013, and includes recommendations for local authorities based on the perceptions and expectations of citizens.
The research is part of a wider programme supported by UNDP, Swiss Cooperation Office (SCO) for the South Caucasus and Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC) to assist self-governance reform in Georgia.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, Administration of Kareli Municipality, LTD “Agara Sugar Company” and Agara public school signed a memorandum on 26 July 2016 to introduce vocational education and training programmes in Agara public school, Kareli municipality.
The memorandum was signed by: Ketevan NatriashvilI – First Deputy Minister of Education and Science; Natia Natsvishvili – UNDP Deputy Resident Representative a.i. in Georgia; Zaza Guliashvili – Head of Kareli Municipality, Alkhan Alizada - Director of Agara Sugar Company; and Darejan Begiashvili – Kareli Municipality Public School Director.
Vocational training in Agara public school will start next September. Educational courses for electricians, welders and plumbers will be open to high school students, as well as to adults who wish to improve their professional skills or acquire a new profession. The preparation works will be launched this summer to rehabilitate school premises, arrange classes and workshops, and provide training for teachers.
Up to 75 students will take vocational training throughout the next educational year. The graduates will have the increased opportunities for employment at the local labour market.
The initiative in Agara public school is part of a wider programme funded by the European Union to promote formal and non-formal education and lifelong learning in Georgia.
“The system of education should provide opportunities for learning experiences and personal and professional development at any stage of people’s life. Partnership between the public and private sectors is the best way to make such experience an affective instrument for employment and labour market development,” said Natia Natsvlishvili, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative a.i. in Georgia.
The experience of Agara public school will help introduce lifelong education opportunities in the schools and professional colleges across Georgia.
Three civil society organizations – Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics, Internews – Georgia and Civic Development Institute (CDI), released the first media monitoring report ahead of the 8 October Parliamentary elections in Georgia.
A press conference on July 22, 2016, brought together representatives of the Georgian media, non-governmental and international organizations, and diplomatic missions.
Carlo Natale, Deputy Head of Delegation of the European Union to Georgia, and Natia Natsvlishvili, UNDP Resident Representative a.i. in Georgia, welcomed participants of the press conference and then gave floor to media monitors who presented key findings of the first six weeks of media monitoring, May 20 –July 11.
The election media monitoring will go on through the end of November 2016 to assess performance of forty-six national and local media outlets – televisions, radio, print and online media. Next intermediate reports will be released in September and early October, prior to the election day. The final report will be published at the end of 2016.
The election media monitoring is supported by the European Union and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
A full version of the report is available online at: www.mediamonitor.ge
BATUMI. 16 July 2016 – EU Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn visited Georgia on 14 July to speak at “Georgia's European Way” conference in Batumi.
After the conference, Commissioner Hahn visited a number of agriculture projects in Ajara Autonomous Republic funded by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The EU official was accompanied by EU Ambassador to Georgia Janos Herman, United Nations Resident Coordinator Niels Scott and Minister of Agriculture of Georgia Otar Danelia.
Commissioner Hahn visited the agricultural cooperative “Lurja 2015” which produces berries in Ochkhamuri village in Kobuleti. The founder and several members of the cooperative are visually impaired. Commissioner Hahn handed over two laptop computers with speech recognition software specially designed for visually impaired persons.
Commissioner Johannes Hahn also visited the Kobuleti branch of the Ajara Agroservice Canter to learn about services for farmers that help promote agriculture and rural development in Ajara.
Meetings of high-ranking EU officials with small farmers continued on 16 July, when Deputy Director General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, Katarina Mathernova, accompanied by Minister of Agriculture of Georgia, Otar Danelia, and Deputy Head of UNDP in Georgia, Natia Natsvlishvili, visited a wine cellar “Satsuri” and honey producer “Naturgift” in Batumi.
Both cooperatives were established with assistance of the programme ENPARD funded by the European Union and implemented in Ajara AR by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Katarina Mathernova handed over to the cooperative "Naturgift" a modern honey production equipment worth GEL 60 thousand.
The visits to EU-funded agricultural cooperatives and the meetings with small farmers offered EU officials first-hand information about the challenges and achievements of local economies in Georgia and the role cooperation in boosting rural development.
The programme ENPARD is recognised as one of the most successful agriculture initiatives funded by the EU. Since 2013, the programme has supported Georgia’s agriculture and rural development with over EUR 102 million. In Ajara Autonomous Republic ENPARD is being implemented through cooperation with UNDP.
The first phase of the programme came to end in June 2016. The second phase will be launched shortly to continue through 2018.
Up to 40 journalists of the broadcast, print and online media took part in the media tour to Ajara organized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with support from the European Union and in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia and Ajara Autonomous Republic Government.
The journalists travelled to the villages across the region and visited small farmers’ cooperatives supported by European Neighbourhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD) recognised as one of the most successful agriculture initiatives funded by the European Union.
Media representatives received first-hand information about the challenges faced by small farmers, successes of agriculture cooperatives, and the role of agriculture cooperation in boosting rural development in Georgia.
On 28-29 June, the journalists travelled to the villages in Ajara highlands and visited berry and hazelnut plantations, trout farms and greenhouses.
On 30 June, media representatives met with Janos Herman, Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia; Niels Scott, Head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Georgia; Archil Khabadze, Chair of the Ajara AR Government; Zaur Putkaradze, Minister of Agriculture of the Ajara AR; Nodar Kereselidze, First Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Georgia; and David Galegashvili, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Georgia.
Together they visited a berry plantation in the village of Ochkhamuri and the Ajara Agriservice Centre branch in Kobuleti.
“It is encouraging to see that the assistance offered by the European Union and our cooperation with UNDP, the Government of Georgia and local partners make farming more efficient and bring new prospects to the rural areas. In Ajara only, ENPARD assisted more than 70 farmers’ cooperatives. Over ten thousand small farmers benefitted from our services,” Ambassador Herman said to journalists.
“The success of the programme ENPARD in Ajara is the result of proactive cooperation with the national and regional government. The programme is coming to an end this month but we look forward to launching its next stage to continue our assistance to rural development in Ajara and the other regions of Georgia,” said Niels Scott, Head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Georgia.
The European Neighbourhood Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (ENPARD) was implemented in Ajara in 2013-2016. The total budget of ENPARD Ajara is €3.3 million with up to €3 million from the European Union and the rest from the Government of Ajara Autonomous Republic.
Thirty-five students of the Georgian universities took part in the essays contest #MyRustaveli presenting their own vision of the timeless values of humanity and equality featured in the 12th century Georgian epic poem "The Knight in the Panther's Skin".
On 24 June 2016, four winners of the contest received awards from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Embassy of Sweden in Georgia, Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia and Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia.
Addressing the contest participants, Niels Scott, Head of UNDP in Georgia, said: "We invited young people to explore their personal ways of talking about fundamental values described in the Rustaveli’s poem – the values of prosperous and successful society built upon the principles of humanity and equality, gender equality among them. I salute each and every participant for revoking Rustaveli’s ideas in a contemporary context."
The students essays competition is part of a public information campiagn #MyRustaveli announced to highlight 850th anniversary of the great Georgian poet – Shota Rustaveli. The campaign will continue till the end of 2016 with a series of public events and activities.
The new three-year project supported by the European Union will strengthen capacities of judiciary institutions and legal professionals
Ensuring access to justice for all and establishing an effective justice system for children in Georgia – these are the main objectives of the project that has recently been launched with the financial support from the European Union.
The project ‘Enhancing Access to Justice and Development of a Child-friendly Justice System in Georgia’ is being jointly implemented by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The main focus of the initiative is to strengthen capacities of government institutions and legal professionals. The rule of law and reform of the justice sector are one of the main priorities of the EU-Georgia cooperation agenda and the Georgia – UN Partnership for Sustainable Development.
"Building up on the achievements so far, the justice sector should be further strengthened so that people in Georgia can benefit even more in their everyday lives from the effects of the efforts made. We work together to improve access of all people to justice and to fair trial, guaranteeing the protection of their rights and legal interests", said Stephen Stork, Deputy Head of Operations Section of the European Union Delegation to Georgia; .
"We are happy that the Georgian institutions are committed to engage actively in this project, implemented together with the teams of UNICEF and UNDP," he concluded.
The programme will strengthen the Legal Aid Service so that more people are able to receive qualified legal aid; enhance independence and effectiveness of legal profession that will contribute to high quality legal protection of people, especially those of the vulnerable groups; ensure greater application of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, like arbitration and mediation, throughout the country.
It is also planned to revise the national civil, administrative and criminal legislation in line with child rights’ international standards; create a comprehensive data system on children in the justice system; strengthen ministerial child’s rights monitoring and quality assurance mechanisms; Improve environment for children in the justice system; establish specialization of criminal and civil law systems and strengthen capacity of specialized justice professionals; educate children in conflict with the law, child victims and witnesses of crime, children participating in civil and administrative violations proceedings about their rights.
“Justice and human rights are the foundation of two major international agreements that will shape Georgia’s development in the coming years: Association Agreement with the European Union and Sustainable Development Goals. The United Nations welcomes Georgia’s strong commitment to make another step forward on the path to effective and accessible justice system. We are proud to join hands with the European Union, Government, civil society and people of Georgia to assist the country in achieving this goal,” said Niels Scott, Head of the United Nations in Georgia.
With the total budget of over Euro 3 million, the three-year programme ‘Enhancing Access to Justice and Development of a Child-friendly Justice System in Georgia’ will be implemented in 2016-2018.
Over thirty representatives of Georgian and international bar associations get together at a conference in Tbilisi on 20-21 June 2016 to discuss an independent, qualified and ethical exercise of the lawyer’s profession.
The Conference is organised by the Georgian Bar Association, with assistance from the Council of Europe (CoE), European Union and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and in cooperation with the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) and Iv. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University.
President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili opened the event.
Zaza Khatiashvili, Georgian Bar Association Chair; Cristian Urse, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia; Shombi Sharp, UNDP Resident Representative a.i. in Georgia; Stephen Stork, Deputy Head of Operations Section of the European Union Delegation to Georgia; and Irakli Burduli, Dean of Faculty of Law of Iv. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, addressed the Conference at an opening session.
The Conference participants discuss common challenges faced by lawyers and examine best practices in different countries. At the end of the Conference on 21 June, they will present a joint working document that will be published as a reference and guidance for professional associations of lawyers. Improving the quality of the profession of lawyer will in turn ensure the efficiency and fair administration of justice for the citizens of countries concerned.
The Human Rights Secretariat of the Administration of the Government of Georgia, European Union and United Nations organized a reception on 6 June 2016 under the theme “Human Rights for All: Georgia on the Path to Implementing National Human Rights Strategy 2014-2020”.
Giorgi Kvirikashvili, Prime Minister of Georgia; Janos Herman, Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia; Niels Scott, Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Georgia, and Manana Kobakhidze, Deputy Chairperson of the Parliament of Georgia, opened the event with welcome remarks to representatives of the Government, Parliament, civil society, international organizations, diplomatic missions and the media.
The reception acknowledged Georgia’s progress in promoting national mechanisms for the effective protection of human rights, including for the endorsement of the National Human Rights Strategy by the Parliament of Georgia two years ago, in May 2014.
The event also informed about the launch of a large-scale three-year programme to support the implementation and monitoring of the National Human Rights Strategy and Action Plan in the areas prioritized by the European Union-Georgia agreements – the rights of minorities and vulnerable groups, internal and external oversight of law enforcement, children’s rights, labour rights, protection of privacy, and freedom of expression and information.
The programme “Human Rights for All” is funded by the European Union and jointly implemented by the four UN agencies – United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and International Labour Organization (ILO
