On November 17, 2023, the Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) held the opening event of the project “Increase the access of media to public information in Georgia", which is supported by the MATRA fund of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Georgia.

The event was attended by the Ambassador of the Netherlands to Georgia, H.E. Ms. Meline Arakelian, the Executive Director of IDFI, Giorgi Kldiashvili, the Head of the Rule of Law and Media Direction of IDFI, Giorgi Davituri, as well as representatives of the media sector, academic field, public institutions and civil sector.

The Executive Director of IDFI, Giorgi Kldiashvili, addressed the attendees of the event with a welcome speech. He spoke about the special importance of access to public information for media representatives, the challenges in the country in this regard, and thanked the Embassy of the Netherlands for supporting the project.

The Ambassador of the Netherlands to Georgia, H.E. Ms. Meline Arakelian, addressed the participants and emphasized the relevance of access to public information and the importance of ensuring access to information by the media sector. Speaking about the project, the Ambassador particularly highlighted the activities aimed at improving the ability of journalists to request public information. H.E. Ms. Meline Arakelian also stated that the Embassy has a good experience of cooperation with IDFI on issues of personal data protection and wished success to the project team in achieving the set goals.

Giorgi Davituri, Head of IDFI's Rule of Law and Media Direction, spoke about the deteriorating statistics of freedom of information in the country and the increased relevance of the measures provided by the project. He presented the main objectives of the project and planned activities to the audience.

The project's goal is enhancing and supporting evidence-based journalism, particularly during the pre-election period, and combat systemic legal and practical challenges in accessing public information. The project aims to increase access to public information for journalists and reduce systemic legal obstacles to access to public information.