georgia

 

Following the Rose revolution in 2003 Georgia and its society is currently prioritising the agendas of promoting democracy, establishing the rule of law and good governance and of fostering a market economy. Notably, bringing Georgia closer to the EU is amongst the country’s top foreign policy priorities. Whilst the country is performing well in the economic sphere, it must be noted that these gains are not reflected by the level of development in the Georgian civil society.  European integration is rightly understood as a vehicle for modernisation and as an impetus for restructuring all layers of society. Consequently, integration efforts are deemed as a way to help Georgia to overcome the post-communist political and societal legacy. The activities of civil society are essential for the establishment of a mature democracy, for the respect for human rights and for the rule of law. Furthermore, the involvement of civil society organisations in the pre-accession process contributes to the quality of, and public support for, accession-related reforms.   

Civil society organisations in Georgia, however, lack support and adequate roots in society. Indeed, their interventions often lack satisfactory popular backing and both public awareness and trust remain rather low. It is also worth noting that after 2003 the Georgian civil society experienced a considerable loss of expertise due to the migration of many employees to positions in government and business. Yet another key issue in the Georgian third sector is the prevalence of donor-driven projects in which certain organizations must tailor projects to meet with specific donor’s requirements and thus often compromise the independence of civil society. Fundamentally, the project aims to empower Georgian civil society through organisational capacity building; the strengthening of cooperation amongst the CSOs in Georgia; and through developing the monitoring and advocacy skills of non-governmental organizations in Georgia.

Through participation in two study trips to all of the Visegrad countries, selected representatives of Georgian civil society organisations gain comprehensive knowledge on identified topics with a view to employing this knowledge in the drafting and implementation of their own strategies.  The topics dealt with encompass but are not limited to; cooperation between local governments and NGOs, media training, media for non-profit organizations, local NGO-business cooperation, and transparent granting facilities. Additionally, on a one-day Donor Fair, current and potential donors will be given the floor to present their donor strategies, funding trends and perspectives on the ways to communicate between the sector and donors. 

NEWS:

Georgian NGOs inspired by Slovakia (June 6, 2011)

V4 - Georgia cooperation: Lessons learnt and future steps, engagement and collaboration with non-state actors (February 3, 2012)

 

PROJECT DONOR:

The project is funded by the International Visegrad Fund.

 

PROJECT PARTNERS:

The Pontis Foundation presently has established partnerships with the Foundation for Development and Democratic Rights - DemNet (HU), DEMAS (CZ), the Education dor Democracy Foundation (PL) and Civitas Georgica (GEO).