Projects

Project Title: Global advocacy on AI –Georgia
Donor Organization: Global Partners Digital
Total Budget: 3,850 EUR
Duration of the Project: September 01 – December 31, 2021

Summary of the Project

The project aims to promote a human rights approach to artificial intelligence by shaping the outcomes of relevant international debates.

As part of the project, the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information will be supported to engage in the two processes (the UN Human Rights Council and the Ad hoc Committee on Artificial Intelligence and UNESCO from a human rights perspective).

The project major deliverables:

 - Engage in advocacy and coordination activities related to the UN Human Rights Council and the Ad hoc Committee on Artificial Intelligence and UNESCO from a human rights perspective.

 - Completing a mapping exercise of future opportunities for regional and global engagement on AI policy.

 - Developing a clear and strategic plan for future engagement in one or more of these processes.  

Contract

Project title: Digital Privacy in Georgia
Donor: Internews and United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Budget: $14,987.50
Duration: August 26, 2021 – November 25, 2021

Project Summary

Within the framework of the project, IDFI aims to conduct research and prepare analytical materials (i.e. blog-post articles, report), which will identify major challenges in terms of protection of digital privacy rights in Georgia, identify interventions needed and design evidence-based recommendations for raising public awareness and launching advocacy campaigns in this direction to address revealed problems. Digital privacy is itself an umbrella term, encompassing digital rights, freedom of information and personal data protection. Three main challenges can be emphasized that significantly affect these components – cyber-attacks, personal data breaches and online content manipulation. Because, nowadays, most of the personal data is stored in digital systems and networks, personal data breaches are often carried out through cyber-attacks, affecting citizens’ digital rights and privacy. Moreover, other fundamental human rights and components of digital freedoms - freedom of information and free use of the Internet are affected by online content manipulation, including the spread of manipulative content by political actors as well as the creation of fake accounts and pages for distorting the information. As long as all of these challenges simultaneously endanger the key components of Internet freedom, in order to address them effectively, a unified and comprehensive approach is needed. Therefore, for assessing the protection of digital privacy in Georgia, identifying related challenges and elaborating effective approaches, IDFI’s research will be simultaneously focused on cybersecurity, personal data protection online and countering online content manipulation.

To protect digital freedoms and privacy in Georgia, it is of paramount importance to identify the existing challenges in the direction of cybersecurity, personal data protection and online content manipulation and then elaborate recommendations for raising public awareness, launching relevant advocacy campaigns and implementing a unified approach against the identified threats.

To this end, the project will include the following activities:

1 . Data collection

2.  Conducting interviews and/or focus group meetings

3.  Data analysis

4.  Preparing and publishing blog-posts and a final report

5.  Preparing and disseminating visual materials about the report findings

6.  Roundtable discussion on elaborated policy recommendations with relevant decision-makers and stakeholders

7.  Online lecture for students on digital privacy based on the research findings

Project Activities and Budget

Contract

Project Title: Study Visit to Tbilisi

Donor Organization: Eurasia Foundation Representative Office

Total Grant Amount: 6,500.00 USD

Project Number: CSSP-KZ-2021-00017

Project Duration: July 1-30, 2021

Project Goals and Objectives

The main goal of the project is to organize a study visit, during which stakeholders have the opportunity to explore the in-depth experience of Georgia, in particular, in the area of ​​openness and transparency, especially in terms of open budgeting and transparent management of public finances. The project aims to give the opportunity to the participants of a study visit to analyze Georgia's experience concerning engagement in the Open Government Partnership (OGP) and occupying the fifth position in the Open Budget Survey.

The first objective of the project is to organize a five-day study visit for the project participants and to compile an agenda, within the framework of which the participants of the study visit have the opportunity to get acquainted with the budget policy of Georgia, including the main budgeting processes. During the study visit, participants will have the opportunity to meet with representatives of civil society as well as government organizations, including the Government of Georgia, the State Audit Office, the Budget Office of the Parliament of Georgia, the Finance Department of the Parliament of Georgia, the Civil Society Institute, Transparency International Georgia and with representatives of the USAID Good Governance Initiative (GGI). At the same time, the participants of the study visit have the opportunity to visit the Ministry of Finance of Georgia, the State Procurement Agency, the Rustavi Municipality, and the Rustavi Public Service Hall and to study the mechanisms and functioning principles of the above-mentioned public institutions.

The second objective of the project is to get information from stakeholders about transparency, citizen involvement, participatory budgeting. It has great importance that Georgia is a member of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) and therefore it is interesting to review the number of commitments that Georgia has taken under the OGP.

Expected Results: To increase the knowledge and practical experience of the participants of the study visit on public finances and budgeting. Equip program participants with practical knowledge and skills on transparency and openness mechanisms so that they can build a change-oriented society and make a positive impact in their own countries.

Long-term Outcomes: Project participants advocate for the introduction of transparency, accountability, and openness mechanisms in their own countries in the process of public finance and budgeting. Also, they will able to raise the level of civic awareness about the Open Government Partnership (OGP) and support their countries in joining OGP.

Budget

Contract

Project Title: - CSO Meter: A Compass to Conducive Environment and CSO Empowerment “(ENI/2021 /423-451)

Donor organization: European Union (EU); Civil Society Institute

Budget: 4300 00 (four thousand three hundred euros and 00 euro cents)

Duration: June 30, 2021 - December 31, 2023

Project Goal:

The aim of the project is to become a member of the project-based regional hub and to upgrade the CSO Meter report.

Main Activities Envisaged by the Project:

- Allocation of an expert/experts within the hub organization who will work on the issues covered by the project and will be responsible for the topic related to the project

- Participate in local and international events of CSO Meter

- Participate in the work process of the CSO Meter Advisory Board

- Update the CSO meter report

- Involve and discuss project-related issues within its competence

- Identify Early warnings for CSO meters according to relevant directions and provide information about them to the customer and other members of the hub

- Participate in the process of monitoring of the living environment of civil societies

- Participate in advocating for recommendations developed within the CSO meter

Project Title: Localizing the 2030 Agenda in Georgia
Donor Organization: The Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
Total Budget: 162.750,00 GEL
Contract Number: 83383644
Duration of the Project:June 15, 2021- February 15, 2022

Summary of the Project

Georgia adopted a comprehensive Decentralization Strategy 2020-2025 in December 2019, making decentralization a key policy priority. This envisages the transfer of more powers and aligned finances to local authorities. If launched coherently, the localization of the Agenda 2030 will support and go hand in hand with the Decentralization Strategy – the latter of which likewise promotes greater citizen participation in decision-making processes to ensure transparency and accountability.

To start the localization process in Georgia, GIZ programme - Good Governance for Local Development (GGLD) - plans a comprehensive analysis of the local SDG-architecture in Georgia. Recommendations, based on this analysis and the detected gaps, shall guide the design and implementation of pilot activities in four selected municipalities to launch the localization process in Georgia. A long-term action plan and further recommendations based on the practically gained experiences through the pilot activities shall lay the grounds for a successful upscaling strategy to comprehensively localize the Agenda 2030 in Georgia. 

Main objectives: 

- Comprehensive Analysis of local context, gaps and recommendations on SDG localization in Georgian municipalities

- Implementation of first activities to launch the localization of SDGs in four pilot municipalities

Activities

To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the following activities will be implemented:

1. Analysis of Current Situation in Georgia and identification of relevant municipal competencies for SDG implementation at the local level. It will contain the following parts:

a) Analysing existing regulations (laws and bylaws) on the role of municipalities in implementing Agenda 2030 at the central and local levels. 

b) The current level of awareness and state of implementation of Agenda 2030 on the local level in the four selected pilot municipalities

c) Monitoring and review at the local level.

d) Studying the best international practice

e) Based on the analysis, gaps and needs in Georgia’s current SDG architecture will be identified at the central and local levels.

f) Recommendations - Most importantly, based on the revealed gaps, challenges, international practice and prospects, practical and evidence-based recommendations will be elaborated.

2. Implementation of pilot activities in the four pilot municipalities (based on recommendations of the analysis)

3. The final report of the project will be prepared

4. The final presentation will be organized to present the prepared analysis and elaborated policy recommendations with the participation of wider audience.

Planned Activities and Project Budget

Contract

Project Title: Global Data Barometer
Donor Organization: Latin American Open Data Initiative (ILDA)
Total Budget: $ 15,400
Duration of the Project:June 9, 2021-April 30, 2022

Summary of the Project

The Global Data Barometer is constituted as a project of the Latin American Open Data Initiative (ILDA) and funded by IDRC under the Open Data for Development (OD4D) partnership/program.

The purpose of this project is to deepen and strengthen the strategic partnership between the Parties for the purpose of providing effective support and contribution to the first edition of the GDB study design, implementation and more specifically, around Data Collection Phase across countries in Eastern Partnership and Central Asia. 

The Global Data Barometer will produce a unique global and regional view of data for public good across a wide range of sectors. As a high-profile study, it aims to influence policy debates at country, regional and global levels - and to support advances in a range of data for development initiatives. 

Activities and Phases

 - Field work, data collection, peer review/thematic review - June 1 - August 31st, 2021

Contract

Contract Type/Project: Direct Award/One-off Contract

Contract number: 8761/2638/01

Project ID/Sector: Strengthening Participatory Democracy and Human Rights at Local Level in Georgia

The subject of the contract: Provision of Consultancy Service on updating Handbook on Transparency and Citizen Participation in Georgia

Donor: Council of Europe

Budget: 3,500 euros

Duration: June-July, 2021

Project Description:

The Council of Europe, in the framework of the Action Plan 2020-2023, is implementing the project "Strengthening Participatory Democracy and Human Rights at the Local Level in Georgia".

Within the framework of the project, it is designed to update the handbook on transparency and citizen participation in Georgia. More specifically, the handbook should be updated with the relevant information, according to the structure that has been already established. 

The third edition will be called the Handbook on Open Local Government and Public Ethics, and as a result of the restructuring of the existing publication, new sub-chapters will be added to the handbook.

In this context, the party updating the handbook was selected. The Handbook will be updated taking into account all the institutional and legislative changes that are related to the content of the handbook. The handbook should include specific information on public ethics, accountability, transparency, and mechanisms for citizen participation, and should analyze relevant local legislation, the most common forms of corruption, and good practices.

Budget and Activities 

Contract

Project Title: Develop Integrity and Transparency Strategy and Action Plan for the City-Halls of Akhmeta and Tsageri Municipalities
Donor Organization: USAID Good Governance Initiative in Georgia, TETRA TECH
Project Contract Number: GGI-SUB-061
Total Budget: 50,048 GEL
Duration of the Project: 10 May, 2021 – 29 February, 2022

Objectives

The overall objective of the project is to strengthen resilience of Akhmeta and Tsageri City-Halls against the threat of corruption.

 Specific objective of this assignment is to support Akhmeta and Tsageri City-Halls in:

 1) Development of Integrity and Transparency Strategy and Action Plan and implementation and monitoring framework; 

 2) Capacity building of the relevant staff on integrity and transparency to apply anticorruption measures in practice.

 Project Activities

 In order to achieve the above-mentioned objectives, IDFI will implement the following activities:

-      Development of a detailed methodology

-      Development of a detailed work plan

-      Conduct a corruption risk assessment

-      Preparation of corruption risk assessment report and recommendations

-      Development of Strategy and Action Plan

-      Conduct Public Discussion

-      Finalizing Strategy and Action Plan

-      Development of a Training Module

-      Development of implementation guidelines

-      Conduct a capacity building activity

Activities

Project Budget

Contract

Project Title: Develop Integrity and Transparency Strategy and Action Plan for the City Halls of Ambrolauri and Lanchkhuti Municipalities

Donor Organization: USAID Good Governance Initiative in Georgia, TETRA TECH

Project Contract Number: GGI-SUB-062

Total Budget: 48,506 GEL

Duration of the Project: 10 May, 2021 – 21 February, 2022

Objectives

The overall objective of the project is to strengthen resilience of Ambrolauri and Lanchkhuti City Halls against the threat of corruption.

 Specific objective of this assignment is to support Ambrolauri and Lanchkhuti City Halls in:

 1) Development of Integrity and Transparency Strategy and Action Plan and implementation and monitoring framework; 

 2) Capacity building of the relevant staff on integrity and transparency to apply anticorruption measures in practice.

 Project Activities

 In order to achieve the above-mentioned objectives, IDFI will implement the following activities:

-      Development of a detailed methodology

-      Development of a detailed work plan

-      Conduct a corruption risk assessment

-      Preparation of corruption risk assessment report and recommendations

-      Development of Strategy and Action Plan

-      Conduct Public Discussion

-      Finalizing Strategy and Action Plan

-      Development of a Training Module

-      Development of implementation guidelines

-      Conduct a capacity building activity

Planned Activities and Project Budget

Contract

Project Title: Enhancing Digital Freedoms through Monitoring, Reporting and Advocacy
Donor Organization: Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation (BST)
Project Contract Number: BST-21.089.GE25.1
Total Budget: $ 29,700 ($ 24,920 requested from BST)
Duration of the Project: May 1, 2021-January 1, 2022

Project Summary

The project aims to strengthen digital freedoms in Georgia through monitoring and reporting the activities and performance of Internet/communications sector state regulator in terms of accountability and proportionality of its decisions with regard to digital freedoms. To this end, analytical blog-posts and a comprehensive report will be prepared based on the monitoring results. To consider the opinions of all relevant stakeholders, workshops/focus group meetings will be conducted. Monitoring results and elaborated policy recommendations will be communicated during the final presentation.

Goal/Objectives

The general goal of the project is to ensure and strengthen safeguards and Internet freedoms in Georgia through monitoring, reporting and advocacy.

To this end, the major objectives of the project are:

• Increase accountability of the public institutions regulating the communications/Internet sphere in the country;

• Foster multi-stakeholder dialogue on the issue of performance of the mentioned regulator and identify common concerns;

• Identify major challenges and controversial decisions of the regulator in the sphere of Internet regulation/digital freedoms;

• Mitigate the elaborated challenges by reporting and devising potential solutions;

• Propose policy recommendations and communicate them with all relevant stakeholders for positive

Activities

1) Preparatory stage: elaborating a comprehensive methodology and submitting FOI requests

2) Holding workshops/focus group interviews

3) Monitoring and reporting

4) Preparing a monitoring report

5) Elaborating policy recommendations

6) Final presentation

7) Cooperation with media

Planned Activities and Project Budget

Contract

Project Title: Promoting PPD in Georgia through Monitoring and Awareness Raising

Donor Organization: Deloitte Consulting LLP, a contractor to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for The USAID Economic Governance Program
Project Contract Number: R-2010-00014
Total Budget: GEL 328,259
Duration of the Project: April 5, 2021 - October 4, 2024

Project Brief Description and Goals

The project aims to continue the operation of the PPD Quality Tracking Mechanism, expand its use in regions outside the capital and raise awareness on PPD among state and non-state actors as well as the wider society. Selected draft laws and regulations will be evaluated based on the extent and quality of inclusive consultation.

The evaluation of the extent and quality of PPD will be based on four pre-identified phases of policy development: policy design and development, legislation drafting, circulation and public comments, and ex-ante regulatory impact assessment (RIA), namely:

- Policy Design and Development - criteria to evaluate the extent and quality of relevant non-government stakeholder (private sector, business, civil society, affected party) or expert (professors/academia, lawyers, economists, think tank, NGOs, international donor organizations) input that government policymakers received in the initial formulation of the underlying policy behind proposed legislation (initial formative stage), at the very first stages of consideration before the commencement of drafting any legislation.

- Legislation/regulation drafting - criteria to evaluate the extent and quality of relevant non-government stakeholder (private sector, business, civil society, affected party) or expert (professors/academia, lawyers, economists, think tank, NGOs, international donor organizations) input in the actual creation of draft legislation.

- Ex-ante Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) - criteria to evaluate the extent and quality of the RIA performed related to the legislation.

- Circulation and public comments - criteria to evaluate the (i) extent and quality of efforts to publicize, circulate, and distribute the proposed draft legislation to the public and stakeholders (private sector, business, civil society, affected parties and the public at large); and (ii) the adequacy and extent of efforts to solicit and consider public feedback.

As a result of the grant activities, the project team will prepare a methodology for evaluating the quality of  PPD in the regions of Georgia, as well as a methodology for evaluating PPD quality in regard to regulations.

The representatives from key governmental institutions as well as the selected municipalities will be better equipped with relevant knowledge and information on high-level PPD. In order to achieve this goal, IDFIwill conduct information and training sessions in the regions of Georgia.

Activities (start date of activities May 01, 2021):

1) Preparatory stage: elaborating a comprehensive methodology and submitting FOI requests

2) Conducting interviews and training sessions

3) Inception study of selected six municipalities

4) Preparing a monitoring report

5) Developing and finalizing PPD quality tracking report

6) Final presentation of the report and social activities

Activities

Contract

Project title: Human Rights for All – Phase II
Donor organization: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Project number: 00118263
Project budget: 8,060 USD      
Project duration: 24 March 2021 – 24 May 2021

Project summary

The National Human Rights Strategy envisages the protection of personal data in compliance with international standards. Considering the challenges brought by rapid technological developments as well as the objectives of the Human Rights Strategy, promoting and strengthening personal data protection in Georgia gains more and more importance. This project aims to assess the current situation in Georgia, evaluate to what extent the objectives envisaged by the Human Rights Strategy are achieved, and identify existing challenges and gaps related to personal data protection.

Within the scope of this project, Human Rights Strategy directions will be objectively evaluated and a shadow report will be produced that will assessthe current situation. In addition, the report will draw specific attention to the directions of the Association Agenda and human rights implications of the measures taken by the government in relation to COVID-19. The report will summarize the situation starting from 2020.

Purpose of the project

The purpose of this project is to contribute to personal data protection in Georgia through documenting personal data protection challenges and gaps in light of the priorities envisaged by the Strategy and Action Plan for the Protection of Human Rights. 

Project activities

1. Preparation of the shadow report - IDFI will prepare a shadow report evaluating to what extent the objectives of Human Rights Strategy 2014-2020 related to personal data protection have been achieved, identifying existing challenges and gaps related to personal data protection in Georgia.

2. Publicizing the shadow report - The shadow report will be presented to all relevant stakeholders, will be published on IDFI’s website, and will be shared on social media.

Planned Activities and Project Budget

Contract

Project title: Supporting CSOs in Digital Archiving - Expert Consultancy

Supported by: International Coalition of Sites of Conscience 

Budget: $1,200

Duration: March 1 – June 15, 2021

Project Objective

Developing a manual that will support civil society organizations (CSOs) in digital archiving to advance the transitional justice processes.

Project Activities

Based on the questionnaire provided by the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, collect and compile responses from at least three organizations in the region (former Soviet states) with digital archiving expertise; Produce a report of approximately eight (8) pages summarizing these responses and outlining the key findings (including the Consultant’s own expertise on the subject). Prepare a brief presentation about the findings.

Contract

Type of grant activity: Building Sustainable Human Capacity in Fighting Corruption

Donor institutions: Foundation to Promote Open Society

Total grant amount: USD 70,064.21

Project number: OR2020-70662

Implementation period: February 1, 2021 – August 31, 2022.

Project Goals

The goal of the project will be to build a community of corruption hunters who will be leaders in prevention of corruption; will be able to manage the risks of corruption; will be involved in defining the corruption cases; and will become active members of the anti-corruption community and society as general.

The first goal of the project is to successfully implement the program, while increasing its sustainability. The modules of the program will be transformed in two academic courses of Bachelor’s Degree which will be offered for 4th year Bachelor’s students at the School of Arts and Sciences. Therefore, the new program will enable ISU students to acquire the academic credits (ECTS) while taking the courses of the program. At the same time, modifying the current modules in academic courses will increase the sustainability of the program, as the academic courses on anti-corruption practices will become a part of the curriculum of the university degree program. Becoming part of the Bachelor’s Degree courses, won’t reduce the ability of the new program to recruit course participants from the private and public sectors, or from other universities. The course participants who are not ISU Bachelor’s Degree students, will receive the certificates for successful completion of the program courses.

The second goal of the project is to elaborate and implement a set of awareness raising, and team building activities which on one hand will increase the visibility of the project and raise the awareness of the society on corruption, and on the other hand strengthen the collaboration among the anti-corruption community and enable the formation of an active alumni network. The last segment of the team-building activities will consist of presenting the sub-projects (ideas) by the course participants which will be awarded based on the project outlines and the analytical papers.  

Expected Impact

Short-term impact: Enabling the ISU students to gather necessary ECTS for studying the modulestransformed in academic courses; engaging the prominent local and international experts in delivery of the course; graduates of the second cohort are becoming the members of the alumni network.

Medium-term impact: equipping the course participants with the necessary knowledge and skills, which will enable them to act as role models and change agents at their work, or through various projects that they will chose to engage with; enlarging and strengthening the anticorruption community by implementing team building exercises, planning, executing joint projects, and improving the visibility of the program and its activities.

Long-term impact: contribute to development of a community of like-minded progressive professionals, who are capable of recognizing opportunities for corruption and preventing corruption, as well as who will uncover corrupt practices and form a critical public opinion about the real human cost to corruption.

Planned Activities

Project Budget

Contract

Project Title: Development of Tbilisi City Hall’s Open Data Portal Concept and Terms of Reference (ToR)
Donor Organization: USAID Good Governance Initiative in Georgia, Tetra Tech ARD
Project Contract Number: GGI-SUB-054
Total Budget: GEL 59,922
Duration of the Project: December 24, 2020 – April 30, 2021

Project Objectives

An Overall objective of the project is to enhance transparency and accountability of Tbilisi City Hall by developing Open Data Portal and introducing effective open data management practices. 

Specific objectives of the project are:

1. Identify specific needs of Tbilisi City Hall in connection with collection, processing and publishing open data as well as existing demand for open data among different stakeholders; 

2. Develop Open Data Portal Concept;

3. Prepare Terms of Reference (ToR) for development of Open Data Portal of Tbilisi City Hall.    

Project Major Activities

1. Prepare a detailed workplan

2. Prepare of detailed methodology

3. Conduct comprehensive analysis 

4. Presentation of Situation/Comprehensive Analysis

5. Develop draft Open Data Portal Concept of Tbilisi City Hall

6. Present draft Open Data Portal Concept to Tbilisi City Hall

7. Present draft Open Data Portal Concept to interested stakeholders

8. Finalize Open Data Portal Concept

9. Develop detailed draft of the technical terms of reference

10. Present detailed draft of technical terms of reference

11. Finalize and submit detailed technical terms of reference

12. Develop and submit all deliverables

Planned Activities and Project Budget

Contract

Project Title: Local Self-Government Index - 2021
Project Donor: Open Society Georgia Foundation (OSGF)
Project Number: LDD/42/20 - 21174
Project Budget: Total budget USD 54,970  (IDFI budget –USD 20,100)
Project Duration: December 16, 2020 – September 16, 2021
Responsible Organizations: Centre for Training and Consultancy (CTC), Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) and Management Systems Development Center (MSDC)

Project Goals

The ultimate goal of the project is to develop transparent and accountable local self-governments, enhance public participation in local municipalities and improve principles of transparency and accountability at the local levels in Georgia.

To this end, the project aims to assess openness and accountability of municipalities based on Local Self-Government Index for the third time for 2021.

Project Objectives

- Provide all preconditions for conducting assessment of municipalities

- Raise public awareness about the Local Self-Government Index

- Conduct monitoring of all self-governing bodies for the third time, prepare a national report and communicate the monitoring results with all relevant local stakeholders

Project Major Activities

Objective 1: Provide all preconditions for conducting assessment of municipalities

1.1. Review the monitoring methodology

1.2. Update of the platform – lsgindex.org – enabling monitoring of municipalities in terms of transparency and accountability

1.3. Mobilization of local monitors and providing instructions

Objective 2: Raise public awareness about the Local Self-Government Index

2.1. Preparing an online webinar

2.2. Conducting public awareness raising activities about the Index

Objective 3: Conduct the third monitoring and prepare a national report

3.1. Conduct monitoring of all self-governing bodies

3.2. Prepare and present a national report of municipalities in terms of transparency and accountability based on the monitoring results

Planned Activities and Project Budget

Contract

Project Title: Capacity Building Grant

Donor Organization: United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

Total Budget: $ 30,000

Duration of the Project:December 9, 2020-September 9, 2021

Summary of the Project

The purpose of the Grant is to strengthen the capacity of Institute for Development of Freedom of Information in the field of data for public good & open data assessment methods and tools andact as a Regional Hub for the Global Data Barometer first global edition 2020-2021; thus, contributing to a drill-down global metrics that can show the policy frameworks, data availability, and uptake, in particular sectors, and can help direct global advocacy and action, and act as a benchmark for policy makers and funders to track progress towards shared goals.

Main objectives: 

- Capacity building for IDFI team on the 4 stages of the Global Data Barometer with focused sessions on each stage; 

- Capacity building for national researchers from across the 11 countries co-implemented with IDFI on the field work/data collection, peer review and thematic review process;

- Continuous mentoring and capacity support to IDFI in the successful implementation ofall GDB phases in the target regions. 

Activities

1. Capacity building for IDFI team on the main GDBphases

2. IDFI conducts global data barometer related capacity building sessions with all staff members of IDFI

3. IDFI conducts capacity building sessions with national country researchers on the GDB methodology

4. Review the GDB expert surveys filled in by national researchers and provide additional feedback

Budget

Contract

Project Title: Increase Efficiency of Public Services in the Georgian Education System
Donor Organization: Open Society Georgia Foundation (OSGF)
Project Contract Number: LDD/34/20-21154
Total Budget: $ 25,000
Duration of the Project: December 2, 2020-August2, 2021

Project Brief Description and Goals

The project aims to analyze the negative effects of COVID-19 pandemic on the education sector and increase the quality and coverage of public services during and after the pandemic.

To this end, the major objectives of the project are:

- Identify challenges facing different social groups in Georgia in terms of the learning process during the pandemic;

- Evaluation of effectiveness of government implemented actions in response to the pandemic and developing the policy recommendations, considering the best practice;

- Developing FOI requests and analyzing statistical data, during the COVID-19 pandemic and before the pandemic period;

- Survey of education service providers and sector beneficiaries

Activities

1) Preparatory stage: elaborating a comprehensive methodology and submitting FOI requests

2) Holding workshops/focus group interviews

3) Monitoring and reporting

4) Preparing a monitoring report

5) Elaborating policy recommendations

6) Final presentation

7) Cooperation with media

Project Activities

Budget

Contract

Project title: Promoting Personal Data Protection in Georgia

Donor organization: Embassy of the Netherlands in Georgia

Project number: 4000004558

Project budget: 243,929 GEL      

Project duration: 1 December 2020 – 28 February 2022

Project summary

The project is related to strengthening the personal data protection regime in Georgia through enhancing the knowledge and awareness of professional groups and students of the personal data protection standards, fostering professional and academic discussions on challenges related to personal data protection, and strengthening the capacity of the State Inspector Service. Within the scope of the project, relevant awareness-raising activities will be carried out, a number of publications/visualizations will be disseminated, working meetings will be organized with target groups, training will be held for the staff of the State Inspector Service, and relevant activities will be organized with the aim of engagement of students. As a result of the project activities, the capacity of the State Inspector Service will be strengthened which will contribute to ensuring stronger protection of the personal data in Georgia.

Purpose of the project

The main purpose of the project is to contribute to strengthening the personal data protection regime in Georgia in the most problematic fields. 

Objectives of the project

-To enhance the knowledge and awareness of professional groups and students of the personal data protection standards. 

-To foster professional and academic discussions on challenges related to personal data protection.

-Strengthen the capacity of the State Inspector Service.

Planned Activities and Project Budget

Contract

Project title: Commemoration of the First Mass Graves of the Victims of the Soviet Regime Discovered in Georgia

Supported by: International Coalition of Sites of Conscience 

Budget: $5,000

Duration: November 1 – February 28

In 2019, it became known that the mass graves of the victims of the 1937-1938 Soviet repressions were discovered in Adjara, Georgia. The discovery of the mass graves is very important event for Georgia because the studies of the stories of the repressed persons, their proper commemoration and immortalization have a key role in the formation of collective memory of the countries and the rethinking of the totalitarian past, which is proved by the experience of the other post-Communist countries. At the initial stage, particular steps were taken by the government for studying the mass graves. However, soon, the state interest and attention toward this issue decreased and there is no significant progress in this direction after a year of the discovery. Moreover, there is a particular controversy among the local Muslim and Christian population regarding the religious ceremonies for burying the discovered bodies, because, presumably, there are Muslims among them, which is also proved by IDFI’s research. For this, 150 bodies are still preserved on the lower ground floor of Holy Mother Virgins Nativity Cathedral in Batumi. Considering this situation, IDFI’s project aims to enhance dialogue between local Muslim and Christian communities, raise public awareness about the discovered mass graves and attract government’s attention to this issue. For this, the organization plans to create special section on the website, which will include the interviews with the descendants of the repressed individuals, their family archives and other materials. Also, with the frame of the project, IDFI will hold a roundtable discussion among local Muslims and Christians and launch an advocacy campaign for the government to take appropriate steps for studying the graves and commemorating the victims of repressions.

Project Objectives

The objectives of IDFI’s project are as follows:

- Raising public awareness about the discovered mass graves in Adjara;

- Enhancing dialogue among the local Muslim and Christian population;

- Attracting government’s attention to the issue of the discovered mass graves in Adjara in order to take appropriate steps for studying the graves and commemorating the victims of repressions.

Project activities

- Identification of the descendants of the victims;

- Conducting interviews with the descendants of the victims of repressions, collecting their oral histories and family archives;

- Creation of the special section on IDFI’s website about the victims of Stalin’s Terror, on which the materials collected within the frame of the project will be uploaded;

- Organizing roundtable discussion on mutual agreement involving local Muslims and Christians;

- Launching advocacy campaign, including writing and promotion of articles, videos and visualizations about the discovered graves and Soviet repressions;

- Elaboration of recommendations for the government in collaboration with international organizations;

- Preparation of final report.

Planned Activities and Project Budget 

Contract