On May 23rd, Field Meeting of the Inter-Factional Group and the Open Parliament Georgia Working Group was held in Kazbegi, Rooms Hotel. The meeting was held within the scopes of the project - “Supporting Parliament of Georgia Involvement in Open Government Partnership”. The project is implemented by the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) in partnership with the Parliament of Georgia within the joint project of the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) "Strengthening the system of parliamentary democracy in Georgia".

The participants of the meeting from Parliament of Georgia were: Guguli Maghradze, Tamar Kordzaia, Malkhaz Vakhtangashvili, Vakhtang Lemonjava and AnzorBolkvadze. The following International and the Non-governmental Organizations presented on the meeting were: UNDP, Transparency International-Georgia, GYLA, Civil Society Institute, GIZ, Civil Development Agency, JumpStart- Georgia, NDI and Economic Policy Research Center. Other Participants of the meeting were representatives of the Parliament, particularly, Secretary General of the Parliament of Georgia, ZurabMarakvelidze, Deputy Secretary General and Head of the Legal Department of the Parliament of Georgia, AleksandreTabatadze, Head of the Informational Technologies Department of the Parliament of Georgia, MerabGotsiridze and Head of the Public Relations and Information Department of the Parliament of Georgia, Nino Beradze. Meeting was organized by Institute for Freedom of Information.

Meeting was opened by MP Guguli Maghradze. She emphasized the importance of the Parliamentary Openness and the participation of Georgia in Open Government Partnership. Director of the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information, Giorgi Kldiashvili spoke about Open government Partnership and about achievements of Georgia within the Open Government Partnership. Also, he highlighted that the Parliamentary Openness was a new direction in Open Government Partnership and Georgia should share and implement this initiative.

The meeting was continued with the presentations of the Chairman of the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information, Levan Avalishvili and the representative of Transparency International Georgia, George Topouria. Levan Avalishvili introduced to the participants of the meeting the research conducted by IDFI - the Issues of Open Parliament in OGP Member Countries. The aim of the research is to provide the thorough information about the Issues of the Open Parliament to the Members of the Inter-Factional Group and the Open Parliament Georgia Working Group. The cornerstones of the research are the action plans of the OGP member countries and the Open Government Guide.George Topouriaon the other hand presented the research prepared by Transparency International Georgia about the Declaration on the Parliamentary Openness. Main areas of the researchare Culture of Parliamentary Openness, regulation of Freedom of Information, easing access to Parliamentary Information etc.

Next presenter, Head of the Public Relations and Information Department of the Parliament of Georgia, Nino Beradze, discussed current and the forthcoming projects of the Staff of Parliament regarding the Parliamentary Openness.

Main part of the meeting was dedicated to the recommendations of the representatives of the International and the Non-Governmental organizations presenting recommendations connected to Parliamentary Openness. International and Nongovernmental organizations presented recommendations they think are crucial to be considered in Open Parliament Georgia Action Plan. Particularly, Recommendations were presented by Civil Society Institute, GYLA, IDFI, TI Georgia, NDI, GIZ and JumpStart Georgia.

At the end, as a result of the discussions, the parties agreed on the list of recommendations, which will be defined in the first draft version of the Open Parliament GeorgiaAction Plan.

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