On 21st of December, the forum on Monitoring of State Activities was held at the Holiday Inn Hotel.
The main goal of the forum was to demonstrate the accumulated knowledge and experience in Georgian Civil Society in various fields of monitoring of the state activities, by offering the space for dialogue, discussion and sharing of experience, in order to enhance capacities and stimulate interest towards recent trends and tendencies, as well as new and innovative approaches and methods in this field.
Representatives of the international programs (Governing for Growth in Georgia, G4G), leading national CSOs (The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information-IDFI; Human Rights Education & Monitoring Center-EMC; Media development Foundation-MDF; Civil Society Institute-CSI) and regional organizations (Ozurgeti Young Scientists Club-YSC; Mountain Development Centre-MDC) shared their own experience and practice in terms of monitoring of State Activities. Forum participants form the different sectors enjoyed the chance to obtain information on development trends and innovative approaches, share experience and set up professional linkages and networks.
The last session of the forum was devoted to the presentation of the Monitoring Methodology Guideline on the State Granting, which was developed within the framework of the project “Civil Society Sustainability Initiative†implemented by the consortium led by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and financed by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development. The guideline describes the mechanisms, spheres, and the pile of monitoring methods of the state granting. The aim of the guideline is to provide theoretical directions, necessary methodological guidelines and practical examples to the state grants’ monitors for better implementation of their activities. After the presentation, CSI announced sub-grant program for monitoring of State Grants to be launched in 2018.
The forum was organized by the Civil Society Institute with financial support from the European Union in the framework of the project “Shaping Regional CSOs into Champions of Policy Dialogue and Public Sector Monitoringâ€. The project aims to support effective participation and governance through increasing CSOs’ capacities in public policy dialogue and monitoring, so that CSOs and their networks are effectively contributing to policy formulation, successfully lobby for local development needs and concerns of their constituency, are effectively implementing Government monitoring, have the ability to uphold public authorities accountable for their actions , call for government transparency and facilitate civic engagement.