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Transparent and Accountable Governance

Strong and effective democracies need well-functioning legal frameworks, institutions, systems and processes to ensure government performance, accountability, transparency, and checks and balances.  Citizen participation and the free flow of information also play fundamental roles in ensuring government accountability and transparency, as well as in furthering government legitimacy and effectiveness.  USAID will continue to strengthen the overall transparency, accountability and effectiveness of governance in Georgia, including the legislative and executive branches at various levels, while advancing civic engagement and public information.   

Current programs:

The Good Governance Initiative (GGI)
Jan 2015 – Jan 2020
Tetra Tech ARD
The Good Governance Initiative (GGI) seeks to: improve the administrative and financial management of public institutions at all levels; increase the openness of government; strengthen policy development and lawmaking processes; and strengthen institutional oversight of government.
 
Media for Transparent and Accountable Governance (M-TAG) 
Sept 2014–Sept 2019
International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX)
www.irex.org
In support of Georgia’s media sector, Media for Transparent and Accountable Governance (M-TAG) works to build the capacity of journalists to demonstrate accurate and ethical reporting on public interest issues, including key government reforms, as well as support regional media outlets to improve financial viability and transparency. This will be achieved by a set of coordinated activities in support of three objectives: 1) Journalists demonstrate accurate and ethical reporting on public interest issues, including progress towards key government reforms ; 2) Regional media outlets demonstrate improved financial viability and transparency; and 3) Access to balanced and relevant information increased in the occupied territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
 
Momavlis Taoba (Future Generation)
June 2014-Oct 2017       
Project Harmony International
http://www.civics.ge
The Momavlis Taoba project aims to promote greater civic engagement among young people and to expand and institutionalize secondary school civic education curricula through practical applications.  The project works with and supports the Ministry of Education and Science, the Civics Teachers Forum, and other stakeholders to expand the reach of USAID’s civic education activities in secondary schools throughout the country.  In parallel, USAID/Caucasus will partner with USAID’s Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance Learning Center to conduct a rigorous impact evaluation in order to assess the effectiveness of different civic education teaching methodologies.  
 
Human and Institutional Capacity Development (HICD) 2020
Sept 2015– Sept 2020

Mendez England & Associates
www.hicd2020.ge
HICD 2020 supports USAID/Caucasus’ three Development Objectives (DOs) as outlined in the 2013-2017 Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) for Georgia.  The purpose of HICD 2020 is to achieve tangible improvements in the human and institutional capacity of USAID’s strategic partner organizations in Georgia.  These may include governmental, non-governmental, or for-profit entities in both the public and private sector.  HICD 2020 supports selected organizations to address multiple capacity challenges including ineffective business processes, incoherent strategic plans, bureaucratic procedural impediments, underdeveloped human resource (HR) and financial management systems, weak feedback links between staff and supervisors, and inefficient communication strategies.

Advancing Civil Society Capacities and Engaging Society for Sustainability (ACCESS)
Sept 2014–Sept 2019
East-West Management Institute (EWMI) 
www.ewmi.org                        
Advancing Civil Society Organization (CSO) Capacities and Engaging Society for Sustainability (ACCESS) aims to make citizens more aware of and be involved in CSO activities; improve CSO leadership, organizational capacity and sustainability across a range of organizations in and outside of Tbilisi; empower CSOs to more effectively monitor and influence government policies and processes; and ensure that, through local ownership, Centers for Civic Engagement continue to operate as politically neutral gathering spaces for public discourse.

 

Media Environment Strengthening and Monitoring (MESM)
Mar 2016 - Mar 2018
Transparency International Georgia

The purpose of the Media Environment Strengthening and Monitoring (MESM) project is to promote a free and independent media capable of reporting on issues of public interest and acting as an agent of accountability. The project will support public access to relevant information for enhancing civic engagement and promoting government accountability.  The project will monitor and provide policy recommendations for improved functioning of the Georgian National Communications Commission and the Georgian Public Broadcaster.

Petition: People's Voice in Self-Governance
Mar 2016 - Sep 2018
Institute of Democracy

The purpose of the Petition: People’s Voice in Self-Governance project is to support successful civic engagement practices with 20 local self-governing bodies (municipalities) in the Adjara, Guria and Samegrelo-Upper Svaneti regions.  The project will work to empower citizens, identify local problems, prepare petitions to Municipal Councils, and organize advocacy campaigns.
 

Citizens for Open and Effective Local Governance
Apr 2016 - Apr 2018
Center for Strategic Research and 
Development of Georgia (CSRDG)
The project promotes transparent and accountable local governance by increasing public participation in decision-making about the expenditures of municipal development funds. The project will test a model for participatory, transparent, need-based management of public funds and  decentralized and open local governance through creating a replicable and innovative model for participatory, transparent, and need-based management of public funds in two municipalities of Guria Region.