On November 26, 2020, in the framework of the Certification Program in Fighting Corruption, the member of the Parliament of Georgia - Tamar Chugoshvili, held the open lecture for the participants of the Program. It should be mentioned that Tamar Chugoshvili has received a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University and in 2016-2019 was the First Vice-Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia and Chairperson of the Gender Equality Council.

During the lecture, the importance of creating an independent mechanism for combating corruption was discussed. It has been years since civil society organizations have been actively advocating for the establishment of independent anti-corruption services in order to achieve an independent oversight agency. The current form of fighting corruption that is implemented by the State Security Service of Georgia is not effective and makes it impossible to launch a new phase that aims to eliminate corruption risks.

Tamar Chugoshvili discussed with participants the importance of the fight against elite corruption, the possible structure and functions of an independent anti-corruption mechanism, and the issues on how to effectively apply these mechanisms in practice.

In the process of fighting corruption, it has great importance to share the international experience, to liberate anti-corruption agencies from political influence, to provide them with relevant resources, including qualified personnel, and to actively monitor their activities by non-governmental organizations. At the end of the lecture, there was a discussion as well as an analysis of essential issues that were identified during the lecture.

The Certification Program in Fighting Corruption is implemented by the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) in cooperation with the Ilia State University.

In the second year of the program, the professional certification courses created in the framework of the fight against corruption were transformed into bachelor and master courses at the School of Arts and Sciences of the Ilia State University. Students of the relevant field of the named School, as well as the candidates selected as a result of the competition, will have the opportunity to participate in the mentioned academic courses. Students of the Ilia State University will have the opportunity to receive ECTS and certificates in case of high academic achievement, while students of other universities, representatives of the state, non-governmental and private sector who are selected through the competition, will receive certificates upon successful completion of the program.

The Certification Program in Fighting Corruptionis financially supported by the Open Society Foundations (OSI) and co-financed by the Open Society Georgia Foundation (OSGF).