Category: Georgia CSEP

CSEPJune2024-1

Despite reforms in Georgia’s healthcare sector over the last two decades, access to affordable medication has remained a top concern of citizens. A 2023 poll found that 68% of Georgians consider the cost of medicine the biggest issue for the healthcare sector. Civil Society Engagement Program (CSEP) in Georgia CSO grantee, Curatio International Foundation (CIF), evaluated recent government reforms to the pharmaceutical sector and how they have impacted Georgian households’ access to medications. After CIF shared their findings and policy recommendations for how to decrease the costs of medication for Georgians, the state’s universal health coverage program was expanded to offer full medication coverage for various chronic diseases. It also launched a web platform that allows Georgians to access information about drug prices, patient rights, state programs, and eligibility for medication-related subsidies.

Photo by Laura Rivera

CSEPMay2024-1

Georgian law mandates the universal right to early education for all Georgian residents, but research conducted by Civil Society Engagement Program (CSEP) in Georgia grantee, Center for Civic Activities (CCA), showed that for residents of mountainous and ethnic minority populated areas, this type of access proves to be the exception rather than the rule. CCA went door to door in more than 30 villages in these areas, engaging local activists and meeting with residents to help them advocate for their children’s right to early education. In many of these areas, CCA and the CSO Platform Salam helped locals use petitions — a first in the history of the municipalities — to assert their rights. After this campaign, the state announced in early 2023 that it would allocate 1.3 billion GEL for the renovation of 555 kindergartens and the construction of 330 new ones – including some in ethnic-minority populated villages that had previously lacked access to their own kindergarten.

Photo by Laura Rivera

CSEPJun2022-1

In May, the Center for Civic Activities (CCA) received a Rapid Response Grant from the EWMI-implemented USAID Civil Society Engagement Program (CSEP) in Georgia to mobilize citizens in Racha and protect the more than 100,000 hectares of the Racha-Lechkhumi forest that were auctioned off by the Georgian government in April. The auction, which had only one participant, resulted in a 49-year lease of the land for the purpose of developing a hunting farm.

In response to the lack of government transparency regarding the auction and its failure to engage impacted communities in the process, the Center for Civic Activities, in partnership with media portal Mountain News (mtisamebebi.ge), the Racha Community-Based Organization, and the Green Alternative, began an advocacy campaign to hold the government accountable for its decision. The campaign is also advocating for the establishment of a national park in Racha that includes the recently auctioned territory, a process that was initiated by the government more than 20 years ago and promised again most recently in 2019.

As part of its activities, the project team will hold a door-to-door campaign in 30 villages of Racha, informing locals about the terms of the Racha auction and the benefits of establishing a national park. In parallel, the Center for Civic Activities will conduct legislative work for the establishment of a national park and cooperate with members of parliament as well as interested local and international organizations. CCA is also in the process of initiating a court dispute to obtain public information related to the sale of the hunting license and will organize a press tour in Racha for national media outlets to ensure that citizens are informed about the issue and how it may impact them.