| Subject: Georgia's NGO News 51 Georgia's NGO Sector News #51 27.07,1998 Issued by Horizonti Foundation Information Program Horizonti Foundation Information Program can provide contact information on all of the following topics upon request Contact Address: Horizonti, The Foundation for the Third Sector 33 Gogebashvili, 380079, Tbilisi, Georgia Tel/Fax: (995 32) 29 29 55 E-mail: presscenter@horizonti.org ************************************************** Table of Contents HORIZONTI FOUNDATION ANNOUNCEMENTS =B7 Needs Assessment Report of Georgia's NGOs Working on Youth Problems is Now Available from Horizonti Foundation Information Program NEWS FROM HORIZONTI FOUNDATION =B7 Horizonti Foundation Conducts Introductory Management Training Course in Tbilisi =B7 Horizonti Foundation Conducts Retreat Training on Financial Management MISCELLANEOUS ANNOUNCEMENTS =B7 The Virtual Foundation Announces Grants Program for Georgia's NGOs =B7The Eurasia Foundation Announces an Open Grant Competition for the Development of Professional Associations in Georgia =B7 Studio Re Airs its Program "The Third Sector" on the Second Channel of Georgia's State TV =B7 Georgian Institute of Democracy Creates a Database of Social Surveys Conducted in Caucasian Region =B7 Center for Civil Society International (CCSI) Prepares Second Edition of the Post Soviet Handbook: a Guide to Grassroots Organizations and Internet Resources in the New Independent States =B7 Amnesty International and International Service for Human Rights Publish Booklet on UN about Refugee's HumanRights NGO NEWS =B7 International Society for the Third-Sector Research Conducts its Third International Conference in Geneva =B7 Center of Strategic Research and Development of Georgia Moves to New Office =B7 "Both Ends" Conducts Seminar forGeorgia's NGOs =B7 NGO "Amagdari" Provides Women with Consulting on Legal and Social Issues =B7 "Women for Democracy" Publishes Book Entitled "Women in Political and Social Life" BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT GEORGIA'S NGOS =B7 NGO "Alternative" Promotes Role of Mass Media in Conflict Resolution Processes *************************************************** HORIZONTI FOUNDATION ANNOUNCEMENTS *Needs Assessment Report of Georgia's NGOs Working on Youth Problems is Now Available from Horizonti Foundation Information Program* The Needs Assessment Report of Georgia's NGOs working on youth problems is now available upon request from the Horizonti Foundation Information Program. Beginning from January 1998, the Horizonti Foundation Information Program distributed questionnaires among Georgia's NGOs working on the problems of youth. The survey aimed to identify the strengths and weaknesses of these organizations, their problems and achievements, priority spheres of activities, priority regions and target groups, and future plans and possibilities for networking and cooperation. Twenty-six NGOs filled out the questionnaires and 14 of them participated in the final session, conducted on February 3-4, which summarized the process. The report is available in Georgian and English both as a hard copy and electronic version. Those wishing to obtain the report should submit a request to Mindia Gachechiladze at the Horizonti Foundation Information Program. tel: 29 29 55; e-mail: NEWS FROM HORIZONTI FOUNDATION *Horizonti Conducts Introductory Management Training Course in Tbilisi* On July 29 in its office, the Horizonti Foundation will commence its "Introductory NGO Development and Management" course for representatives of new NGOs as well as for new members of established NGOs. The training will last until August 6 and will cover the following issues: the role of NGOs and their importance to society, NGO sector development in Georgia, NGO structure and governing body, proposal writing techniques, strategic planning, financial management, fundraising, organizing actions, information management, and NGO relationships with government, business, and mass media. *Horizonti Conducts Retreat Training on Financial Management* On July 14-16 in Bakuriani, the Horizonti Foundation Training Program conducted a retreat training entitled "Financial Management in Non-profit Organization". The training covered the following issues: budget and strategic planning, program budget, project budget, income and its sources in the budget, annual budget, financial policy, and financial documents. Representatives of 21 NGOs participated in the training. MISCELLANEOUS ANNOUNCEMENTS *The Virtual Foundation Announces Grants Program for Georgia's NGOs* Since February 2, 1998, the Horizonti Foundation has been implementing the Virtual Foundation program, which aims to raise funds from local sources for small-scale projects through the Internet. All NGOs working in the field of environmental protection, health care, and community development problems are eligible to participate in the program. Projects will be accepted in four rounds. The first and the second rounds are already completed. The third round started on July 6 and will last until August 21. The fourth round starts on September 7 and will last until October 23. Organizations that wish to participate in this program should submit projects in an electronic format in both Georgian and English to the Horizonti Foundation Grants Program. Proposals are accepted on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 16:00 to 18:00. For further information please contact Horizonti Foundation Grants Program. Contact address: 33 Gogebashvili St, Tbilisi, tel: 29 29 55; E-mail: *The Eurasia Foundation Announces an Open Grant Competition for the Development of Professional Associations in Georgia* The Eurasia Foundation announces an open grant competition, in an effort to develop professional associations carrying out their activities in one of the following sectors: =B7 Business education and management training =B7 Economics education and research =B7 Electronic communications =B7 Mass media =B7 Public administration =B7 Rule of law The competition will include three types of grants: 1) seed grants to establish new professional associations - up to 5 000 US dollars; 2) starter grants to support the activities of the relatively new associations - up to 10 000 US dollars; 3) development grants for the development of the already existing associations - up to 20 000 US dollars. Interested organizations are recommended to attend one of the proposal writing seminars to be held by the Foundation on July 23rd and 28th, 1998 at 11 a.m. in the Tbilisi Office of the Eurasia Foundation. The address of the Foundation is 20 Irakli Abashidze St., apt. 4. The proposals should be submitted no later than 17:00, August 26th 1998 to Tbilisi Office of the Eurasia Foundation. For further information, refer to Tbilisi Office of the Eurasia Foundation. Tel/Fax: 22 56 88/96 84 15, E-mail:eftbilis@access.sanet.ge *Studio Re Airs its Program "The Third Sector" on the Second Channel of Georgia's State TV* On July 28 at 20:00, Studio Re will air its regular program "The Third Sector" on the Second Channel of Georgia's State Television. The program is produced as part of a project, financially supported by The Eurasia Foundation. *Georgian Institute of Democracy Creates a Database of Social Surveys Conducted in Caucasian Region* The Georgian Institute of Democracy is creating an electronic database of social surveys conducted in Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. The database, containing information about the surveys and organizations conducting them, will be placed on the Internet and any interested person will be able to have free access to it. In addition, research articles in the social sciences will be available from the GID web site. The Georgian Institute of Democracy requests all organizations that are conducting or have conducted surveys to provide the Institute of Democracy with information that can be entered into the database. Organizations should indicate: 1. Research period, goals and information about research groups 2. Technical indicators such as selection criteria, processing methods, etc 3. Main findings Interested organizations should send their information via e-mail to . Submitted materials are preferable to be compact and in English. Georgian Institute of Democracy encourages organizations to visit its Home Page at the address: www.gid.caucasus.net. *Center for Civil Society International (CCSI) Prepares Second Edition of the Post Soviet Handbook: A Guide to Grassroots Organizations and Internet Resources in the New Independent States* CCSI is currently preparing a revised, second edition of Center for Civil Society International (CCSI) Prepares Second Edition of the "Post Soviet Handbook: a Guide to Grassroots Organizations and Internet Resources in the New Independent States" for publication at the end of this year. CCSI invites independent non-governmental organizations in the countries of the former Soviet Union, as well as international NGOs carrying out projects there, to provide the CCSI with the information listed below: 1. Complete organization name 2. Address 3. Telephone number 4. Fax number 5. E-mail address 6. Web site address, if any 7. Name and title of organizational leader 8. Name and title of contact person, if different 9. Short history of organization, including year formed 10. Reason for the formation of the organization 11. Examples of recent significant accomplishments of the organization 12. Current focus of activities 13. Any objective measures of the organization's size or influence: e.g., offices in other cities, numbers of staff, total expenditures for a recent year, major awards or other important recognition received recently, etc.14. Names of any partner organizations abroad and the cities and countries where located. Organizations that have a Web site containing all the information can simply send CCSI the address of their site. Other organizations are requested to send their answers to the CCSI by AUGUST 31, 1998. The CCSI cannot guarantee that any information received after August 31 will be used in this book, although CCSI will always be glad to have new material for its Web site. Organizations can submit information to CCSI in several ways, in English or in Russian: First preference: E-mail answers at the address: Second: Visit CCSI Web site at http://www.friends-partners.org/~ccsi/ and fill in questionnaire with the help of reply button. Third: Fax answers to (206) 523-1974. For additional information organizations can contact CCSI by e-mail at the address below, or by telephone at (206) 523-4755. Center for Civil Society International 2929 NE Blakeley Street Seattle, WA 98105 E-mail: ccsi@u.washington.edu Web: www.friends-partners.org/~ccsi/ *Amnesty International and International Service for Human Rights Publish Booklet on UN about Refugee's Human Rights* Amnesty International has produced a booklet about Refugees' Human Rights together with the International Service for Human Rights. This manual explains how UN human rights mechanisms can protect the rights of refugees and provides practical guidance on how non-governmental organizations can use the UN human rights machinery to protect refugees. The document is currently available in English, by email or hard copy. A Russian translation, which can be received in hard copy, will also shortly be available. Those wishing to obtain a copy of this booklet should contact Nicola Duckworth at Amnesty International, London by e-mail: Those who prefer to receive the booklet through e-mail should note that that it is a very long document. ********************************************************* NGO NEWS *International Society for the Third-Sector Research Conducts its Third International Conference in Geneva* On July 8-11 in Geneva, Switzerland, International Society for the Third-Sector Research (ISTR) held its third biennial conference "The Contribution of the Third Sector to Social, Economic and Political Change". Researchers from all over the world studying different aspects of the Third sector and its contributions to country development processes presented their findings during the conference. One representative of Horizonti Foundation participated attended the conference. *Center of Strategic Research and Development of Georgia Moves to New Office* NGO Center of Strategic Research and Development of Georgia moved to the new office on July 15. The new contact address of the NGO is: 19 Marjanishvili St., 380002 Tel/Fax: 995 332 95 70 30 or 995 32 96 41 24 Post Box # 45 E-mail: csrdg@iberiapac.ge *"Both Ends" Conducts Seminar for Georgia's NGOs* On July 22 in the office of Georgia's Green Movement, Huub Scheele, a representative of the international organization "Both Ends," facilitated a seminar entitled "Multilateral Financial Institutions." He discussed the structure of multilateral financial institution such as the IMF, The World Bank and the EBRD, relations between multilateral financial institutions and Georgia and the mechanisms of obtaining information from multilateral institutions. Georgian NGOs working on environment protection, development and social law issues attended the seminar. At the seminar, an information pack was distributed, which contains a summary of the presentation and contact addresses of additional organizations, from which NGOs can request further information on the topic. *NGO "Amagdari" Provides Women with Consulting on Legal and Social Issues* Since June 18, with the financial support of the Open Society Georgia Foundation and Oxfam, the Association for the Support of Georgia's Women Employment "Amagdari" has provided free-of-charge consulting on legal and social issues. The association offers women: =B7 Explanations of laws and other legislative decrees regulating their working and social rights, employment, demography, economy, finances, taxation, and loan issues =B7 Explanations of employer violations such as violation of work agreements, illegal firing, violation of working time limits, improper conditions for work, forced work in damaging and heavy jobs, inflexible work schedules for women who have small children In addition, the Association offers social service consulting on the following topics: conditions necessary to receive government and welfare support, reimbursement for work trauma, options for the unemployed and invalids, other options for socially vulnerable women, and possibilities of retrieving assets from bankrupt banks. The NGO has created a database of unemployed women and tries to find jobs for them. The Association also offers interested women information about job vacancies based on information provided by the Tbilisi Employment Department. The NGO works on programs to professionally train and retrain women. Finally, "Amagdari" offers consulting and information services to NGOs working on women issues. Interested persons can apply Monday through Friday from 10.00 to 18.00. Contact address: 80 Paliashvili St., phone: 23 31 37. *"Women for Democracy" Publishes Book Entitled "Women in Political and Social Life"* On July 17, NGO "Women for Democracy" held presentation of its book entitled "Women in Political and Social Life" published as a part of a project financially supported by The Eurasia Foundation. The book contains articles of Georgian authors examining economic and social rights of women, prevailing attitudes towards women in the Georgian society, value systems of women, some aspects of family abuse in Georgia, living conditions and preferences of IDP women, prostitution issues and other themes, and translated articles, such as Virginia Sapiro "Women and Politics." The book contains information about foundations which support the advancement of women's issues and contact addresses of women's organizations. Previously, with the support of the Open Society Georgia Foundation, the NGO monitored media coverage of women issues. In addition, the NGO surveyed psycho-social orientations of women merchants who work in city markets. Finally with the financial support of Oxfam, the NGO published a brochure, "Family Abuse and Human Rights." Recently, the NGO collected 400 questionnaires from women about family abuse. Analysis of these questionnaires will soon be available from "Women for Democracy". ****************************************************** BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT GEORGIA'S NGOS *NGO "Alternative" Promotes Role of Mass Media in Conflict Resolution Processes* The Public-Information Center "Alternative," a non-profit, non-governmental organization, was established in October 1997 to promote and increase the role of an independent mass media and NGO sector in conflict resolution processes in Georgia and the Transcaucasus region. Priority Spheres Key elements of Public-Information Center "Alternative" include: =B7 Contributing to the development of democratic institutions in Georgia (including in conflict zones) and promoting the role of an independent mass media and NGO sector in the peacemaking process =B7 Sustaining and improving general public awareness and participation in the conflict resolution processes in the Transcaucasus region =B7 Creating an integrated information space for Georgia and for the Transcaucasus region in general =B7 Contributing to the development of self-regulating systems of mass media for the Transcaucasus region Current Activities and Grant Management After becoming a legal entity in Tbilisi, P.I.C. initiated the creation of similar organizations in Gori and Tskhinvali. On November 22, 1997, at the fifth round table organized by the O.S.C.E, all three Centers agreed on cooperating and forming partnerships. The projects, which are currently implemented by this integrated body, aim to enable Tbilisi, Gori and Tskhinvali P.I.C.s to play an active part in the Georgian -Ossetian conflict resolution process. The list of current P.I.C. "Alternative" projects include: 1. "Creation of Public Information Centers in Gori, Tskhinvali and Tbilisi in terms of the conflict resolution process" (OSGF grant). The project aims to provide the Gori, Tbilisi and Tskhinvali offices with all the necessary equipment. 2. "Public Information Centers in Gori, Tskhinvali and Tbilisi in terms of the conflict resolution process" (Eurasia Foundation). The project includes training courses for journalists, daily information exchange, public opinion polls and expert review on the conflict issue. 3. "Publishing of special bulletins on the conflict issue" (USIS grant). Future plans =B7 The P.I.C. "Alternative" intends to strengthen the structure and operational capacity of the Tbilisi, Gori and Tskhinvali offices and create similar offices in other regions of Georgia. =B7 During the negotiation process, all three offices will continue to function as structures capable of playing a role in political lobbing and information distribution. =B7 When the legal status of South Ossetia is determined, Tbilisi and Tskhinvali P.I.C.s will offer trainings and continuing support to journalists and will coordinate the work of mass media in both regions. Activities envisoned include the establishment of an integrated information network, the creation of a common database, a staff exchange and the creation of joint projects and sessions to share experiences with other regions of Georgia and Transcaucasus in general. P.I.C. "Alternative" Address: Machabeli str.2, Tbilisi, Georgia, 380007 Tel: (+995 32) 996 325 Fax: (+995 32) 996 325 E -mail: irat@access.sanet.ge Contact Person: Irene Tsintsadze ********************************************************** Editorial policy: The Horizonti Foundation both solicits and accepts submissions for announcements to the NGO News Bulletin. All such submissions must in one way or another be related to the development of the NGO sector in Georgia. Although the Horizonti Foundation retains the right to edit all materials both for content and length, the information provided in the Bulletin do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Horizonti Foundation or its partners and funders. Georgia's NGO Sector News # 51 (27.07,1998); Lia Chakhunashvili (Editor), Maya Bitsadze, (Press Center Officer), Regine Spector (Horizonti Intern) Horizonti Foundation Information Program. | |
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