Open Governance and Anti-Corruption

4 April 2017

Discussion on the Importance of Public Private Dialogue at the Stage of Policy Development

“Public participation is essential in the process of developing effective legislation. The only tool to evaluate the quality of Public-Private Dialogue (PPD) in the process of developing new draft laws is IDFI’s ongoing initiative” – said Tamar Kapianidze of USAID G4G in her opening remarks at the discussion titled “the Importance of Dialogue with the Private Sector During the Draft Law Concept Development Stage”.

24 March 2017

Recommendations of IDFI on the Draft Anti-Corruption Action Plan for 2017-2018

IDFI welcomes the elaboration of new Anti-Corruption Action Plan for 2017-2018. Despite the comprehensive input from the responsible agencies IDFI identified several shortfalls with respect to the reflection of international commitments, derived from the GRECO and OECD-ACN evaluation reports and 2016 London Anti-Corruption Summit Country Statements.

23 March 2017

Resolution of the European Freedom of Information Commissioners and Ombudspersons

On February 23-24, 2017, at an international conference held in Berlin, the European Freedom of Information (FOI) Commissioners and Ombudspersons signed a joint resolution calling on governments in Europe to protect freedom of information and strengthen the role of information commissioners and ombudspersons in their states.

21 March 2017

Discussion of the Ministry’s draft Strategy and Action Plan of Transparency and Integrity

On March 21, IDFI and the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure held a discussion of the Ministry’s draft Strategy and Action Plan of Transparency and Integrity. The main aim of the event was to present and gather feedback from non-governmental and international organizations on the draft document.

15 March 2017

Meeting of the Permanent Parliamentary Council on Open and Transparent Governance and Consultative Group

IDFI organized a meeting of the Permanent Parliamentary Council on Open and Transparent Governance and the Consultative Group. Participants discussed the recommendations prepared by the Consultative Group in relation to the Open Parliament Georgia Action Plan 2017-2018.

10 March 2017

Recommendations of IDFI on the Open Parliament Georgia Action Plan 2016-2017

IDFI believes that inclusion of the aforementioned recommendations in the Open Parliament Georgia 2017-2018 Action Plan will increase involvement of the citizens in lawmaking processes, transparency of the legislative authorities and the citizens’ trust in them.

28 February 2017

Georgia’s Chairmanship of OGP: Advancing the Global, Regional and National Open Government Agenda

n May 2016, Georgia was elected as a co-chair of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Steering Committee before taking over as a Lead Chair in 2017. The fact that 18 of the Steering Committee member countries supported Georgia was a clear expression of appreciation of Georgia’s achievements and reforms initiated and implemented as an OGP member as well as its future plans.

13 February 2017

Comments of the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information on the 2014-2015 National Action Plan Final Self-Assessment Report of the Open Government Partnership Georgia

The Open Government Partnership (OGP) Georgia’s National Action Plan (NAP) 2014-2015 was created through intense cooperation between the government of Georgia and the civil society. The NAP included 27 Commitments (29 actions) that were distributed among 16 responsible institutions. IDFI was actively involved in monitoring of the action plan commitments and provided the OGP Forum Secretariat with regular assessments about the progress of activities.

9 February 2017

Public Defender Recommends Ministry of Justice to Cease Violating IDFI’s Rights

On January 31^st, 2017, the Public Defender of Georgia held that the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and 11 legal entities of public law (LEPL) operating within its system violated the right of N(N)LE Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI). According to the Public Defender, the state entities failed to fulfil their legal obligation to disclose public information.

9 February 2017

IDP Families Waiting for Permanent Homes - Limited State Resources or Lack of Political Will

As of January 2017, 37,000 IDP households in Georgia are expecting state assistance. According to the Ministry of Refugees, GEL 1.5 billion is needed to provide these families with permanent housing.