2009 annual report

Georgia

International Labor Solidarity
$249,999
To improve the capacity of Georgian trade unions to engage in social partnership with the government. The Solidarity Center will support legislative action and training to promote the defense of trade union rights. It will also assist Georgian unions in building outreach capacity to both existing members and unorganized workers. In addition, the Solidarity Center will support activities designed to increase integration and coordination among Georgian trade unions.

Association Open Society - New Kutaisi
$24,182
To train civil society activists in Kutaisi and other municipalities of the Imereti region of Georgia in monitoring the budgetary process. Using procedures established under past programs, the Association will advocate for improvements in the way local governments apportion resources among the population, focusing on women and children. The program will include trainings and seminars, publications, a half-hour television program, and a website.

Association “Studio Re”
$63,928
To produce 20 television shows that will be broadcast on Maestro Television in Tbilisi and 21 regional television stations throughout Georgia. The programs will provide an important forum for balanced and informed public debate of the most pressing issues in Georgian politics. Topics will include constitutional reform, electoral law reform, territorial disputes with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, media independence, and penitentiary reform.

Civic Development Institute
$29,948
To foster cooperation among human rights and media NGOs in the country. The Institute will form and train a network of human rights NGOs, comprised of organizations from nine regions, which will cooperate with an existing network of media outlets to create a new internet news portal. The website will permit journalists and activists to report to a wider audience.

Cultural-Humanitarian Fund “Sukhumi”
$62,280
To promote women’s leadership in politics, particularly women displaced by the war in Abkhazia. Sukhumi will conduct a nonpartisan advocacy campaign to persuade local parties to advance women candidates and persuade women to participate in the 2010 local elections. The organization will conduct monthly meetings of “Women Voters” clubs in four towns, train election observers, and conduct an advocacy campaign about women’s political participation.

Former Political Prisoners for Human Rights (FPPHR)
$48,966
To conduct human rights monitoring and coordinate activities of the NGO coalition “Civil Society for Democratic Georgia.” FPPHR will prepare a report about human rights in Georgia, conduct human rights monitoring, and provide legal assistance in three offices. The offices will also monitor trials, and hold a series of roundtable discussions.

Foundation Internews Georgia
$24,105
To support the website Media.ge, a comprehensive resource for Georgian media. Internews will develop a new platform, which will permit the greater functionality of the portal. Among the new services will be a weekly profile of a media outlet, online surveys, reports from the regions, and a news feed feature with links to full stories on other websites.

Georgia for North Atlantic Treaty Organization
$34,573
To inform the public about the military, political, and economic prerequisitesfor NATO membership. Georgia for NATO will hold five roundtables in the country’s regions focusing on a particular issue such as the independence of the judiciary or international human rights standards. In addition, the organization will produce a weekly radio talk show about these issues, which will be widely broadcast on Radio Ucnobi.

Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA)
$55,430
To pursue cases of strategic litigation, file friend-of-the-court briefs with the Supreme Court of Georgia, and provide legal expertise to parliament. GYLA will litigate cases with implications for improving government legislation in the Georgian Constitutional Court and the European Court for Human Rights. It will also provide legal briefs to the parliament and the Court to improve the professionalism of these bodies.

Human Rights Center
$63,230
To improve human rights practices in Georgia. The Center will monitor and report on human rights, provide free legal aid, and support the activities of two regional human rights centers. It will conduct human rights advocacy and submit reports to UN, OSCE, Council of Europe and other international organizations. Finally, the organization will produce four short documentary films about human rights.

International Republican Institute (IRI)
$350,000
To better enable local officials and government bodies to be more responsive to their electorates. In times of crisis, citizens need clear, reliable information and confidence that their government is working for them. IRI will provide communications and organizational training and public opinion research to local government officials and also work with local political party representatives.

National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI)
$266,189
To provide organizational assistance to the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), a local NGO working to promote citizen participation in political and election processes. NDI also will assist ISFED and other targeted civil society organizations in fostering dialogue between citizens and elected officials.

Newspaper Batumelebi
$41,450
To publish a weekly newspaper which serves the population of the Republic of Adjara, an autonomous republic in Georgia. The program will establish an honoraria fund which will be used to improve the variety and quality of articles submitted to the newspaper. Some of the articles will be posted on the newspaper’s website, netgazeti.ge.

NGO Abkhazia Info
$24,368
To support for a radio talk show “Dialogues” which broadcasts on a Tbilisi radio station, Ucnobi. The show will be broadcast for 45 minutes every weekday at 5pm and will include a discussion among guests and callers on the issues of the day. Guests will include representatives of political parties, the Office of the Human Rights Ombudsman, NGOs, public movements, and other public figures.

Partnership for Social Initiatives
$52,350
To conduct an assessment of the impact of the August 2008 war on the course of reform in Georgia. The Partnership will conduct research, produce five analytical papers, and organize five debates and five roundtable discussions. The organization will also organize four training seminars and host a radio talk show.

Union Article 42 of the Constitution
$58,325
To bring about judicial review of legislation that violates constitutional norms and to improve public awareness of this procedure. The organization will identify laws that violate the constitution, identify possible cases for litigation, and bring those cases to the Constitutional Court. It will also conduct analyses of how proposed amendments impact human rights, hold two trainings for journalists, and organize four roundtables.