Women in Georgia: Cultural Norms and Social Responsibility In spite of declared equality, the lack of women in Georgian politics and at all levels of government is obvious. This was the main topic of the Heinrich Boell Foundation’s public discussion organized in Batumi.
Freedom and Fear The public discussion held at the Heinrich Boell Foundation on 16 May was dedicated to the International Day of Fighting against Homophobia and Transphobia, which is denoted on 17 May.
Report of the Public Defender of Georgia on Human Rights and Freedoms – 2011 This discussion held in HBF’s office had fewer participants than other discussions. Both the moderator and speakers of the discussion presented their arguments regarding the public’s lack of interest towards human rights. “It seems that our society has a similar attitude towards human rights. Therefore, human rights are protected to the extent to which people pay attention to these issues according to the attitudes towards them. Or maybe public skepticism is so high that nobody believes that human rights will ever be protected here,” said Gogi Gvakharia to open this discussion.
Why is Lazika being built? On April 20, the Heinrich Boell Foundation organized a public discussion in Poti entitled “Why is Lazika being built?”
Discrimination as a Grave Circumstance of a Crime: Amendments in the Criminal Code of Georgia In the past, offenders received a five-year prison sentence for property damage or destruction. Following the amendments to the Criminal Code, if it is determined that hatred towards the victim due to his/her ethnic, religious or other type of minority status motivated the crime, the offender will receive a heavier sentence than in the case of a motive such as revenge on the property owner.
The Role of a Citizen in Politics – What Does Civil Activism Mean? “The stereotype that we shifted the attention only to NGOs should be destroyed… In our society it is almost considered that civil activism relates solely to a type of organizational or non-governmental sector.” This view expressed at the discussion precisely reflects the problem or puzzle that the Georgian civil society sector currently faces.
Georgia and Its Future in Europe 80% of Georgia’s population supports EU integration. Moreover, 88% of Georgia’s population thinks that Georgia should become an EU member. However, how the country can join the EU and what steps should be undertaken for a closer integration with the EU remains unclear to the broader public.
Student Self-Governments – Challenges, Perspectives What is a function of student’s self-governance, how student self-government bodies are elected, what is a duration of the elected self-government bodies, how the functions of the student self-governments differ from each other at various Georgian universities, what is a rate of trust in this institution, what are major problems students in Georgia face and how the student self-government bodies support students in solving these problems, what was the reason for establishing an alternative student movement – these were some of the issues discussed during the debate held at the HBF on 14 December 2011.
Resolution 1325: Women, Peace and Security Peace and Security are important not only for women, but wars and unstable environments especially influence women and children. Women and peace, conflicts and safety, gender based violence, human rights, women’s role in conflict prevention and resolution, participation in peace processes, UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and Georgia’s National Action Plan
Administration of Justice and Protection of Human Rights in the Justice System in Georgia A public debate at the Heinrich Boell Foundation South Caucasus Regional Office held on 16 November 2011 was devoted to the issue of Administration of justice and protection of human rights in the justice system in Georgia.