On November 13 and 14, as part of the Regional Information Campaign, the Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) held working meetings with representatives from the non-governmental sector and local self-governments in Batumi and Kutaisi. These meetings marked the conclusion of the information campaign, which, from 2021 to 2023, involved sessions with civil and public sector representatives from the six target municipalities.

In the first part of the meetings in Batumi and Kutaisi, participants received information about the mechanism for assessing the quality of public-private dialogue and the results of the 2020-2022 reports on the "Assessment of the Quality of Public-Private Dialogue in Preparation of Normative Acts." The project team presented the barriers to dialogue and recommendations identified during the two assessments.

The second part of the workshops focused on the municipal budgeting process, addressing the forms of civic engagement and the role of local self-governing bodies in this process. Additionally, participants from the public and civil sectors at the meeting discussed the existing practice of dialogue and shared local experiences.

The information campaign covered the municipalities of Gori, Rustavi, Ozurgeti, Zugdidi, Batumi, and Kutaisi. As part of this initiative, representatives from IDFI and the USAID Economic Governance Program met with representatives of local self-government and over 60 non-governmental organizations.

These meetings helped identify factors hindering dialogue between the private and public sectors at the local level. They also aimed to provide the civil sector with a better understanding of the budgetary process.

The Regional Campaign was implemented with the support of the USAID Economic Governance Program, as part of the project "Promoting Dialogue between the Public and Private Sectors in Georgia through Monitoring and Awareness Raising”.