Fellowship Programme
Country
Area of Interest
Topic
| Country | Georgia |
| The scope of | |
| Type of solution | |
| The technology used | |
| The budget development decisions | 0 |
Sandro embarked on a mission to ignite a passion for democracy and citizenship among Georgia’s youth. His project was centered on promoting the values of active citizenship and democratic engagement.
The key objective of his project was to encourage reflection on democracy and citizenship, advocating for a positive change in Georgia’s political culture. While changing political culture is a substantial task requiring both education and direct democratic participation over time, the project successfully sowed the seeds of change. Positive feedback and outreach indicate that it achieved its intended goals. Youngsters, although in limited numbers, have gained a deeper understanding of democracy and citizenship. Importantly, they have become advocates for change in political culture and democratic values, setting the stage for positive transformation in their local communities.
The cornerstone of this endeavor was the creation of a comprehensive report on the problems of political culture and citizenship in Georgia based on the public discussions focused on the merits of democracy and the citizens’ role in the democratization process. This report, which can be accessed here in Georgian, gives a general assessment of political culture in Georgia, and identifies key challenges and potential solutions, creating foundation for future discussion and research of the topic.
Sandro: “An important finding of the project was that if one aims to facilitate democratic values and ideas, the most effective way is when the beneficiaries themselves are directly engaged, rather than being just passive participants. For example, young people engaged with my project were given the opportunity to express their opinions via video, as well as through photos and essays. That is quite effective in terms of spreading message/values, as the participants themselves become advocates of the ideas, who have access to, and bigger trust within, their own communities.”
| Country | Georgia |
| The scope of | |
| Type of solution | |
| The technology used | |
| The budget development decisions | 0 |
Fellowship Summary: Researching, drafting, and promoting a policy document and roadmap for stakeholders engaged in protection of the rights of child victims in Georgia.
Lado Javakhishvili is a lawyer by training and has spent nearly 10 years in public service working within the Georgian justice system. Up until the end of 2021 Lado served as the Deputy Director at the National Agency for Crime Prevention, under the Ministry of Justice, but with a growing desire to contribute to restorative justice and support of juvenile justice beyond the political constraints of working for government, Lado moved his career into civil society. He founded the Institute for Democracy and Justice in Tbilisi and launched his civic activism with a Fellowship project focused on the protection of the rights of children who are victims of crime.
“Juveniles are some of the most vulnerable of citizens when they become the victims of crime and in Georgia, although there is some State provision for services for juveniles who commit crimes, for juvenile victims there is almost nothing. So, I wanted to use my fellowship to raise awareness to this issue.”
During 2022 Lado has researched and developed a policy document and roadmap to help steer stakeholders responsible for the protection of rights of child victims in Georgia. As part of the research Lado looked at good practices in other countries and as a benefit of the Fellowship was able to participate in an international conference in Italy on ‘Justice Beyond the Borders’ organized by European Forum for Restorative Justice.
“Participating in the conference was probably the most satisfying and enjoyable part of my fellowship, as like so many others, it was my first chance since the Covid pandemic to actually sit down face-to-face with my peers to learn and share ideas. There was one particular session, led by a legal professional from Brazil, which I found truly inspirational.”
In addition to the policy paper, Lado has successfully led an awareness-raising campaign, using a series of digital posters on social media to highlight the plight of juvenile victims of crime and promote the need to protect their rights. “I expect the future beneficiaries of my fellowship will be the 1000 or so juveniles who are victims of crime in Georgia every year”.
“This is a great opportunity and I know that when I look back on my civic advocacy I’ll see that it all started with the Fellowship.”
| Country | Georgia |
| The scope of | |
| Type of solution | |
| The technology used | |
| The budget development decisions | 0 |
The project: Elephant in the Room aimed to enhance the campaign planning capacity of the LGBTIQ groups and organizations in Georgia. The fellowship action comprised the international study trip, awareness-raising training and creative campaign. In the first stage of the project, Beka organized a study trip/internship at the ILGA World – International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association in Brussels, Belgium. Then, having learned new perspectives and approaches to the community outreach and anti-discrimination initiatives, he launched a series of training for the local LGBTIQ groups. On top of that, to raise the visibility of the basic problems faced by the Queer community, Beka started the social campaign – For the Equal Opportunities. Through the creative posters tailored to the various concerns affecting the universal rights of freedom of expression/education and access to healthcare, he enhanced the visibility of the Queer issues to the larger audiences.
The action increased awareness of the 24 beneficiaries from the Georgian LGTIQ communities in terms of planning and managing large-scale campaigns on the local level. Also, the project delivered 20 creative electronic and printed posters raising the understanding of the everyday challenges (tailored to the universal human rights) faced by the LGBTIQ communities. The above campaign served as a creative tool to empower the Queer community and tackle gender-based discrimination in Georgia. Finally, the action increased the capacity for the Beka himself, since he had an opportunity of traveling to the ILGA World Office and upgrading his skills in social and legal issues.
Project in media:
ქვიარ საფოსტო ბარათები – თანასწორობის იდეისთვის
საფოსტო ბარათები ქვიარ ადამიანების პრობლემებზე
საფოსტო ბარათები, რომლებზეც ილუსტრირებულია უმცირესობების უფლებები:
| Country | Georgia |
| The scope of | |
| Type of solution | |
| The technology used | |
| The budget development decisions | 0 |
The action: Using Data in Politics: Awareness-raising Campaign among the Voters and CSOs prior to the Georgian Parliamentary Election 2020 aimed to research the use of data in Georgian politics, identify the main trends of political manipulations while targeting the voters and educate the large audience about the importance of data protection/privacy. To identify the local trends, Nino observed the pre and post-election period in Georgia and followed Tactical Tech’s methodologies and close guidance by the Fellowship Supervisor – Varoon Bashyakarla. As a part of the research, Nino interviewed the field experts from the CSOs, media, think tanks, digital marketing agencies and personal data protection company representatives. Following this, she disseminated the research findings among the large professional networks at the DataFest Tbilisi 2020 and Open Data public events. On top of that, Nino launched the media/social media campaign and applied creative materials (animated videos, posters, publications, quizzes) to reach a wide audience and engage the general public in discourse.
The project delivered an analytical document – Data in the Georgian Politics researching the data-driven methodologies to influence the voters’ decisions in the country. As the study reveals, out of 12 globally-acknowledged methodologies, including advanced TV targeting, only the Robocalls and Mobile Texting methods have been used by almost all politicians in Georgia. Hence, the project developed educational animated videos and a quiz tailored to data use in Georgian Politics. As a result of the community outreach campaigns, approximately 100,000 Georgians were reached and became more aware of the possibilities of their personal information being used in political processes; it’s expected that some of them will change their behavior and become more cautious with their data in digital space. Finally, the project created a network of 150 activists trained about the use of personal data in political processes and expected to further contribute to research and advocating the issue.
Video ‘The business of using your data in elections’ (in English):
Video ‘The business of using your data in elections’ (in Georgian):
Video ‘How data is being used in politics?’ (in English):
Video ‘How data is being used in politics?’ (in Georgian):
Infographics ‘Methods of influencing voters using data’ (in English):
Infographics ‘Methods of influencing voters using data’ (in Georgian):
Data in the Georgian Politics Research Paper
| Country | Georgia |
| The scope of | |
| Type of solution | |
| The technology used | |
| The budget development decisions | 0 |
The action was a communication campaign aimed at disseminating COVID-19 related information to the ethnic Azeri and Armenian communities of Georgia. To achieve the above objective, Tamar targeted two specific regions – Samtskhe-Javakheti (Armenian minority settlements) and Kvemo Kartli (Azeri minority settlements) and contracted two local media outlets – TV9 to reach the Armenian-speaking audience and Kvemo Kartli TV to reach the Azerbaijani speaking communities. For the duration of June-October 2020, both media outlets disseminated the fact-checked information (creative posters, Q&A section, quiz, short educational video) about COVID-19; and worked to increase awareness about then upcoming Parliamentary Election of Georgia in October 2020 and increase skills in curbing the political misinformation and propaganda related to the elections.
The project raised awareness of the local Azerbaijani and Armenian-speaking communities of Georgia and reached hundreds of local people through online portals. Also, the action delivered 6 creative infographics about the COVID-19, disinformation in media and the Parliamentary elections in the Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijani languages. Through a wide range of informative materials, including the articles, Q&A sections, quiz and educational videos on the TV9 and Kvemo Kartli TV platforms, the project raised the epidemic and political awareness of the local communities. On top of that, the local organizations built capacity in establishing a direct and engaging conversation with their audiences, since they reached hundreds of unique visitors. Also, the training held for the TV9 journalists increased the knowledge of the 12 local media representatives in the Parliamentary Governmental System and the related implications.
Educational Video with the Armenian subtitles:
Educational Video with the Azerbaijani subtitles:
Infographics:
Quiz about COVID-19 (in Georgian)
Project in media:
COVID-19-თან დაკავშირებული რეკომენდაციები
Հաճախ տրվող հարցեր Covid-19-ի վերաբերյալ
| Country | Georgia |
| The scope of | |
| Type of solution | |
| The technology used | |
| The budget development decisions | 0 |
Enjoying the variety of e-participation tools in Georgia, the project aimed to research the popularity of those instruments among the general public. To achieve the above objective, Tea studied citizen’s experience during their e-participation interactions. The research covered almost all electronic websites, including ichange.gov.ge (Governmental portal on e-petitions), myparliament.ge (“Give an Idea to the Parliament” project allowing the citizens to suggest proposals), declaration.gov.ge (Online system of the Civil Service Bureau of Georgia), manifest.ge (National e-petition portal funded by the Open Society Georgia Foundation), idea.tbilisi.gov.ge (Website of the Tbilisi City Hall enabling the residents to submit their ideas to the local authorities), mkhileba.gov.ge (national platform to disclose the violation of the Georgian Legislation or the Code of Ethics) and budgetmonitoring.ge (Budget monitoring website developed by Georgia’s State Audit Office. The research was followed by interactive discussions, in-debt interviews and awareness-raising campaigns in Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Batumi.
The action delivered a research document analyzing the barriers and challenges faced by the citizens during the e-participation process. Also, the project developed and disseminated a list of recommendations/digital solutions to the governmental and non-governmental stakeholders; the guidelines serve as a framework to develop the technical and contextual sides of the web-portals, improve the multimedia interface and make them more user-friendly. Besides, the interactive workshops, in-depth interviews and campaigns in the biggest Georgian cities of Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Batumi raised awareness of the young people in digital tools that can be applied to enhance the e-democracy level in Georgia.
| Country | Georgia |
| The scope of | |
| Type of solution | |
| The technology used | |
| The budget development decisions | 0 |
The action aimed to upgrade municipal services into high-quality, accessible, and well-administered public services and raise awareness on the municipal public services in the Kakheti Region. To achieve the above objectives, Salome designed research and conducted educational and community outreach activities in the target region. At the first stage of the project, she conducted qualitative research to study the impact of Public Administration Reform on local public services and applied a Self-Assessment tool to analyze the quality of municipal public services in 13 municipalities of Georgia (including 8 municipalities from the Kakheti region). Then, she delivered two-day training for the local community leaders from Kakheti. The training course covered various topics, such as assessment of the municipal budget programs, evidence-based planning of municipal services, participatory mechanisms for planning and monitoring municipal services, and planning and conducting advocacy initiatives. Finally, she held awareness-raising meetings in 8 municipalities of the Kakheti region involving more than 150 local people. The interactive seminars covered the topics of monitoring and advocacy of municipal services and budget assessment.
The action produced the research document: Impact of the Public Administration Reform (PAR) on Development and Delivery of Municipal Services and provided recommendations to the key-decision-makers of Kakheti region from the perspective of (1) Institutional Development for Good Governance, (2) Sustainable Economic Development, (3) Inclusive Social Development and (4) Environmental Sustainability. The study analyzes the Public Administration Reforms on the public services developed and delivered by 13 local municipalities in Georgia. The research was printed in 250 copies and distributed to the audiences during the local training. In total, the action delivered 8 informational meetings engaging up to 250 young people (including community leaders) from the Kakheti region.
Research “Impact of the Public Administration Reform (PAR) on Development and Delivery of Municipal Services”:
Project in media:
კახეთში აღმოსავლეთ პარტნიორობის სამოქალაქო საზოგადოების სასტიპენდიო პროგრამა განხორციელდა
| Country | Georgia |
| The scope of | |
| Type of solution | |
| The technology used | |
| The budget development decisions | 0 |
The action aimed to identify feasible, effective, and acceptable strategies to address the needs of children affected by parental migration in rural Georgia and mitigate the negative impacts of migratory separation on children. The project was implemented in two phases. First, Khatia conducted the field research of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti and Guria regions and investigated the effects of parental labor migration on children from the teachers’ perspectives; she did Focus-group discussions and In-depth interviews with School Principals and teachers of 6 schools (3 per-region). The survey assessed the indicators, such as children’s behavior, school performance, emotional stability, self-esteem, characteristics, caregiver’s involvement in school activities, etc. In the second phase of the project, Khatia communicated the results and presented the research findings to the school administration and local authorities. Therefore, she hosted public lectures at the Tbilisi State Medical University (TSMU), University of Georgia (UG), and Health House in Guria. Taking all above into account, Khatia promoted the research deliverables at the International Conference ‘12th European Public Health Conference, Building bridges for solidarity and public health’ in Marseille, France as a part of her fellowship award.
The project produced academic expertise on challenges faced by the children of migrant parents and raised awareness of the issue on the local and international levels. As the survey reports, more than 90 % of study participants in both target regions (Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti and Guria) reported the only negative outcomes of parent(s) migration on “Left-behind” Children’s health, wellbeing, and education. Material benefits may be accounted as the only positive aspect; however, it cannot compensate for the negative aspects, such as early marriage, decreased motivation, poor health conditions, unhealthy eating habits, gambling, etc. Unfortunately, migration is often the only solution for the relatively poor families of Georgian rural areas. However, working abroad as a caretaker cannot bring significant financial benefits for the families since the remittances sent back to the country are directed to pay the financial liabilities.
| Country | Georgia |
| The scope of | |
| Type of solution | |
| The technology used | |
| The budget development decisions | 0 |
The project aimed to raise awareness of the Georgian public on the EU-free movement in the EU/Schengen area and therefore, reduce the risks of the violation of the EU-Georgia visa regulations. To achieve the latter objective, Gogita conducted field research and interviews with local and international experts. Then, he prepared the Policy Brief on the EU-Georgia Visa-Free Movement and shared it with the relevant state institutions, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. In the final stage, he organized 10 interactive workshops across the country. The seminars were held in 8 Georgian cities and engaged the students, teachers, journalists, non-governmental organizations, etc. Finally, to share the findings of the policy paper to the international community, Gogita attended the Second Association Exchange Forum in Kyiv dedicated to Association Agreement implementation in Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine and delivered a speech at the panel discussion on the topic of Post-Visa Free Agenda for Political Associations and Corporations on Justice, Freedom, and Security.
The action raised awareness of the nearly 500 young people in the eight Georgian cities. Based on the desk research and interviews, Gogita developed a comprehensive Policy Brief – EU-Georgia Visa-Free Movement – Achievements and Challenges. The document incorporates a complex analysis of Georgia’s visa-free movement in the European Union and suggests recommendations for the Georgian Government. Thus, the project produced 25,000 informative leaflets about the visa-free movement regulations. The leaflets were distributed to the public during the regional meetings and different communication campaigns organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia and the host organization – Georgian Center for Strategy and Development (GCSD). All in all, the training, policy brief, informative leaflets and online campaign served as an instrument to raise policy discussions and improve policy coherence on the EU-Georgia’s visa-free issues.
| Country | Georgia |
| The scope of | |
| Type of solution | |
| The technology used | |
| The budget development decisions | 0 |
