Georgia, December 2020 - December 2023

 Context

Civil participation in local decision-making is a vital aspect of democracy. It allows citizens to make their voices heard and influence decisions that are affecting their daily life. While participatory decision-making has emerged, and a legal framework was developed in Georgia over the past decade, awareness and implementation of the different mechanisms of participation have yet to be enhanced in the local contexts.

In this context, the Division of Elections and Civil Society (DGII) together with the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, initiated a new three-year project titled "Strengthening participatory democracy and human rights at the local level in Georgia". The aim is to improve the legal framework for citizen participation, enhance existing mechanisms and to promote new tools of citizen participation together with civil society actors and local authorities in different regions of Georgia. Furthermore, capacities of local authorities and the National Association of Local Authorities (NALAG) should be strengthened to effectively integrate and implement human rights standards and practices in their policies and strategies. Local inclusion and equal opportunities for all as well as a gender perspective in local policies should be implemented to eliminate discrimination.

The Division of Elections and Civil Society Directorate of Democracy (DGII) will focus on component I – strengthening participatory democracy, whereas the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities will focus on component II – improving human rights aspects in selected municipalities in Georgia. Both components complement each other and are pillars of a well-functioning democratic society.

 Strengthening participatory democracy

To strengthen participatory democracy, the project strives to enhance policy and legal frameworks and existing mechanisms as well as the introduction of innovative participatory tools in at least 10 pilot municipalities from the priority regions (Tbilisi and municipalities in Samtskhe-Javakheti, Kvemo Kartli, Kakheti, Imereti, Guria, Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti). Awareness raising and capacity building of citizens, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and authorities on the importance, the benefits, the different tools and methods and innovative approaches of participatory mechanisms, is another essential area of intervention of the project. Finally, the project will also provide policy and legal expertise and technical assistance to local governments and CSOs, who are interested and willing to implement concrete initiatives for the effective political participation of citizens in their community, in areas like urban planning, development of public space or school participatory budgeting.

The planned activities entail awareness raising campaigns, cascade trainings of representatives of CSOs, authorities and experts, expert support, peer-to-peer exchanges, as well as support to specific local initiatives, as mentioned above. The participation of youth will be prioritised, with young people being the key actors to construct the future, to drive a change of mind set and to improve the participatory culture.

The project will be partially built on the results achieved by the prior implemented pilot projects “Strengthening Participatory Democracy in Tbilisi City Hall in Georgia” (2020-2021), and “Supporting Citizen Participation in Tbilisi” (2019-2020) that helped Tbilisi municipality create a civil participation mechanism in the designing, creating and reconstructing of public spaces.

The expected results of Component I “Strengthening participatory democracy” are

• City councils develop regulatory frameworks and practices to enable an increased public influence on policy and decision-making;
• Public officials, civil society representatives and citizens increase their capacities and awareness for participatory decision-making mechanism to put them effectively in practice for joint political decision taking.
• Effective dialogue platforms are established for the development of strategies and action plans aimed at promoting inclusive and participatory regional and local development;

The project interventions will be based on the best European practice and standards such as the 12 Principles of Good Democratic Governance, the Code of good practice for civil participation in the decision-making process revised, the Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers CM/Rec(2018)4 to member States on the participation of citizens in local public life and the Guidelines on civil participation in political decision-making, and the ETS122 European Charter of Local Self-Government.

The project will be implemented in close cooperation with the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia, the National Association of Local Authorities of Georgia, and the Public Defender's Office and is implemented with the support of the Austrian Development Agency under the Council of Europe’s Action Plan for Georgia 2020 – 2023.