On March 29, Tbilisi hosted the conference "Close to People - Stronger Civil Society" which was jointly organized by the  Georgian national platform of Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, project- "Civil Society Development Initiative" and Georgian Government.

The event was aimed at supporting Georgia's European integration process and enhancing the role and significance of regional organizations. The event was attended by the 150 representatives of the civil society organizations, government and EU representatives in Georgia.

The introductory speech of the event was given by  Davit Afrasidze - head of the project "Development of Civil Society Initiative"  and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Mamuka Bakhtadze - the Prime Minister of Georgia, Carlo Natale - Deputy Head of the EU Delegation and Natia Kuprashvili - Chairman of Georgian National Platform of Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum.

The conference dealt with the following topics:  European integration and the role of  the civil society, increasing the role of the civil society in the process of regional development, institutional strengthening and  good governance, economic development and market opportunities, environmental issues, connection between the people and the labour rights.

The conference was attended by 18 public organizations (working in different directions) from the region of Adjara, under the leadership of the regional hub (Young Scientists Union "Intellect"):

▪ Elderly women's association "Deserving Old Age";

▪ Adjara Women’s Business Association;

▪ Organic Aquaculture Development Association "Foreji"

▪ Association "Flora and Fauna";

▪ Black Sea Eco-Academy;

▪ Green Sector;

▪ Institute of Democracy;

▪ The voice of the Blind;

▪ Changes to Equal Rights;

▪ Protecting the Rights of the Children and the Parents with Hearing Loss and Problems;

▪ Disabled Support and Information Centre-Adjara

▪ Be Healthy! Be Active!

▪ Keda Adult Education Center;

▪ Youth Union of High Mountainous Adjara

▪ Social Initiatives’ Alliance

Invited organizations exposed their publications, informative materials and illustrations in the exhibition space of the public organizations, to introduce their activities to the public.

In addition to this, the civil society institute organized Georgia-wide contest for journalists - " Journalists for Social Changes," under the project- "Civil Society Development Initiative".

The contest was aimed at rewarding the journalist who strives for the journalism ethics and standards, who consistently and competently reports the civil society, challenges they are facing with, their development opportunities and activities of public organizations

Winner of the contest was revealed based on the survey of the public organizations in Adjara region (each organization cound vote  one time). The winner - Jaba Ananidze, journalist of the newspaper "Batumelebi" was rewarded by a special diploma and promotional prize -Tablet – Samsung _T585.

In the concluding part of the conference, a special panel was dedicated to the topic of supporting volunteerism. The speech, about the civil activism and volunteerism from past to modernity, was given by Giorgi Kekelidze, Simon Janashia, Dato Turashvili and Levan Berdzenishvili.

The event was organized by the  Georgian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, Liberal Academy  Tbilisi and the project "Civil Society Development Initiative".

The project -"Civil Society Development Initiative"-Georgia,  is financed by the European Union (EU) and co-funded by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS).

The "Civil Society Sustainability Initiative - Georgia"(CSSIGE) is implemented under the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) in collaboration with the “Civil Society Institute”(CSI), “Consulting and Training Centre”(CTC), the “Centre of Strategic Research and Development – Georgia”(CSRDG), “Education Development and Employment Center”(EDEC).

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