On July 22, 2022, IDFI and Ilia State University held the awarding ceremony and rewarded the program graduates of the Educational Certification Program. Nino Doborjginidze, Rector of Ilia State University, and Giorgi Kldiashvili, Executive Director, Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) took part in the award ceremony.

As a result of the competition 46 participants were selected for the 2021-2022academic year (23 participants finished the program). At the same time, 48 students of Ilia State University completed at least one subject of the Program. Additionally, 6 students of the Ilia State University graduated from the Program. Totally, in 2022, 29 participants graduated from the Educational Certification Program in Fighting Corruption. Out of these 29 participants 17 are women.

The Educational Certification Program in Fighting Corruption offers the participants such subjects as: Corruption and Good Governance, Corruption and Politics, Anticorruption Policy Governance in Public and Private Institutions and Fighting Corruption – International Actors, Anticorruption Platforms. The lecturers of the subjects are distinguished specialists of the field.

The Educational Certification Program is implemented for three years already by the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) in cooperation with the Ilia State University. In the beginning of each academic year, based on the strict competition, about 40-45 participants are selected from the representatives of public, private and non-governmental sectors and students of higher educational institutions. The participants of the Program, together with the students of the Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree, attend the subjects of the Educational Certification Program in Fighting Corruption which are part of the curriculum of the School of Arts and Sciences. It gives the students opportunity to receive both certificates and teaching credits.

It should be highlighted that apart from the lecturing courses, the Program participants have the opportunity to participate in additional activities, such as, taking part in the trainings and workshops organized by IDFI, participate in the international exchange programs and establish the contacts on the local, and international level.

The Educational Certification Program provides the unique ability for the employees in public, private and non-governmental sectors and students to develop as experts in fighting corruption, receive the theoretical and practical knowledge, share the international experience and support the defeat of corruption on different levels in Georgia.

The program is financially supported by the Open Society Foundations (OSF) under the project “Building Sustainable Human Capacity in Fighting Corruption” and by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) with the scopes of the “Core Support” project.