BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 26
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
New United Nations Development Program (UNDP) grant program promotes civic activism in Georgia, Trend reports via the UNDP.
In a bid to foster government accountability and support civic activism, the UNDP has issued grants worth a total of $315,000 to 18 civil society organizations in six Georgian regions: Imereti, Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Kvemo Kartli, Guria, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, and Racha-Lechkhumi-Kvemo Svaneti. The initiative is part of a Danish-funded $4 million program to support good governance.
The grants are the result of a competitive call for proposals to foster greater participation by citizens in decision-making and implementation at the local level, with a particular focus on promoting the engagement of women, youth, and ethnic minorities. As a result, UNDP will fund 11 projects, each worth some $30,000, that will engage 3,000 citizens in 31 municipalities.
The successful proposals will employ a range of tools to expand civic participation, including petition writing and participation in municipal boards of advisors; creating a dedicated online platform to collect and disseminate knowledge about participatory practices; and strengthening collaboration between the civil sector and local self-government.
In Kvemo Kartli, for example, UNDP grants will be used to fund activities by local youth initiative groups and promote volunteering and social media platforms to address social issues.
In Imereti, civil society projects will focus on creating a discussion space for local authorities, civic activists, and business, and on assisting citizens in taking a more active part in planning municipal budgets.
In Guria, the UNDP grant will assist the local “Participation Academy” in organizing educational programs in decentralization and public engagement, and in Samegrelo-Zemo-Svaneti, local organizations will help submit public petitions to address the most pressing social and economic issues and protect vulnerable groups – internally displaced persons, people with disabilities, the elderly and children without family care.
Increasing citizens’ participation and engagement in self-governance are one of the main goals of Georgia’s national Decentralization Strategy 2020-2015, which was prepared with UNDP support and adopted in December 2019. The grant program responds directly to this objective.
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